The new age of college athletics and the transfer portal is in full swing, with San Diego State football revamping its roster through the portal ahead of the 2026 season.
Over 10,000 college football players across all divisions entered the 2026 transfer portal when the window opened up on Jan. 2 through Jan. 16. In this new age of collegiate athletics, student-athletes are free to bounce from school to school each year with no commitments or obligations to their current programs, forcing schools to bid top dollar to either retain or recruit student-athletes.
For SDSU football, this year’s transfer portal window for head coach Sean Lewis and the rest of the football staff proved to be a crucial period for the Aztecs. Coming off a 9-4 season, the best since the 2021 team went 12-2, the program now seeks to build momentum towards sustained year-to-year success as the program heads to the Pac-12 later this year.
The Aztecs have already lost big names to the transfer portal, including key defensive players like Owen Chambliss, Trey White, Dwayne McDougle and Ryan Henderson.
Despite these losses, SDSU has brought in over 25 new players via the transfer portal, adding improvement and depth to both sides of the football.
QB
The Aztecs have brought in one quarterback from the transfer portal, Stone Saunders, a redshirt freshman who is transferring to SDSU from the University of Kentucky. In high school, Saunders led his team to two state championships and threw for 13,719 yards and 204 touchdowns. Saunders joins a quarterback room with returners Jayden Denegal and Bert Emmanuel Jr., as well as incoming freshmen Draiden Trudeau and Brady Campbell.
OFFENSIVE LINE
The Aztecs’offensive line was one of the team’s biggest strengths last season. The group opened up the run game for SDSU last season, rushing for over 2,500 yards, averaging 4.7 yards per carry and totaling 25 touchdowns. The Aztecs now look to replace four starters who are graduating from SDSU, bringing in five offensive linemen from the portal.
Isaac Lucas – Ball State
Matthew Montgomery – Western Illinois
Charlton Luniewski – Michigan State
Mercer Luniewski – Michigan State
Dennis Jones II – Texas Southern
SKILL POSITIONS
The SDSU wide receiver, tight end and running back rooms for 2026 are deep and talented. Returners Jordan Napier, Nathan Acevedo, Christian Washington, Lucky Sutton, Jacob Bostik and Donovan Brown headline a deep array of talented weapons for this SDSU offense. The Aztecs went to the portal and added even more talent and depth to this group.
WR Justius Lowe – Lowe comes to SDSU from a talented skill-position room and program in Eugene, Oregon, that reached the College Football Playoff this past season. Lowe accumulated 259 yards and one touchdown over two seasons for the Ducks.
WR Marshall Sanders – A junior college product from College of the Sequoias in Central California, Sanders totaled 929 yards and four touchdown receptions in 2025. Sanders had a standout game, recording 199 yards receiving on 10 catches against Fresno on Nov. 1.
WR Aldrich Doe – Doe started all 12 games for Bryant University in 2025, where he had a career high 467 yards on 37 receptions with two touchdowns.
TE Kime Fangupo – Standing at 6 feet, 4 inches, and 250 pounds, Fangupo is another JUCO product coming by way of Snow College in South Jordan, Utah. Fangupo had five catches for 30 yards in 2025 for Snow College.
RB Javion Kinnard – Kinnard comes to SDSU from former Mountain West rival Colorado State. As a freshman in 2025, Kinnard saw limited action, playing in 10 games, totaling 56 yards rushing on 12 carries. Kinnard did see opportunities in the passing game, where he had 18 receptions for 228 yards and one touchdown.
DEFENSE
In 2025, the bread and butter for the Aztecs was their defense, which ranked sixth in the country in points allowed per game at 15.4, and passing yards allowed at 164.2, with a run defense that allowed 129.6 yards per game. SDSU lost some big pieces on the defense with Trey White and Owen Chambliss transferring out to other schools, and cornerbacks Chris Johnson and Bryce Phillips are both likely heading to the NFL. SDSU brought in 11 defensive players from the transfer portal to combat those losses.
DL Tuaoa Tauiliili – Portland State
DL Gauriel Lightfoot – Colorado
EDGE Kai Wallin – Wallin spent last season at Oregon State, where he played in seven games, racking up nine tackles and one sack. He spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons at Nebraska.
EDGE Djibril Abdou Rahman – In two seasons with Rutgers, Abdou Rahman had nine tackles, one sack and one pass deflection for the Scarlet Knights.
EDGE Nate Henrich – Henrich spent two seasons playing Division II at Gannon University, where he recorded seven tackles and one QB hit in six games played.
LB Cameron Cooper – In 13 games for Western Colorado in 2025, Cooper balled out, recording 81 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss, five sacks, one interception and four quarterback hits.
LB Sione Hala – Hala comes to SDSU from Weber State, where he played during the 2025 season, in which he accumulated 64 total tackles, three pass deflections, one and a half sacks and one interception.
DB Jalen Thomeson – Thomeson spent the last three years at Ohio University, where he had 113 tackles, one forced fumble and one interception over the past three years.
DB Solomon Davis – Davis only played in five games over the past two years while at the University of Oregon. In his two years, he has nine tackles and half a sack.
DB Jason Oliver – Oliver transferred from Colorado to Sacramento State in the 2025 portal cycle. Last season with the Hornets, Oliver recorded 36 tackles, nine pass deflections, one sack, one forced fumble and two interceptions.
DB Mike Lindsay – A Southern California native, Lindsay had 28 tackles, five pass deflections and one interception.
The Aztecs also went out and added talent on special teams as well, bringing in punter Camden Cowgill from Palomar College in San Marcos.
As spring ball approaches and the official move to the Pac-12 conference in July, SDSU football has restocked its roster with the goal of becoming Pac-12 champions in 2026.
