Three San Diego State players revealed on social media that they will be entering the transfer portal.
The most significant departure is starting wide receiver a redshirt freshman from Fontana who had a standout season for the Aztecs.
In addition, backup quarterback Javance Tupou’ata-Johnson and reserve running back Jaylon Armstead also announced their decision to enter the portal.
With the portal opening on Monday, the Aztecs now have 12 players from the 2024 roster who have chosen to enter.
Napier recorded 43 receptions for 440 yards and four touchdowns this season, with catches of at least 29 yards in six games. He also had four games with catches of 40 yards or more, showcasing his playmaking ability, which made him a top target for SDSU starting quarterback Danny O’Neil.
Tupou’ata-Johnson, a redshirt freshman from Oakland, started against Cal after O’Neil sustained a knee injury in the previous game against Oregon State. He completed 13 of 29 passes for 156 yards and one touchdown, with two interceptions. Over the course of the season, he played in parts of three other games, finishing with 222 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions on 20 completions from 39 attempts.
Armstead, a senior from Los Angeles, appeared in only the first three games of the season, rushing 13 times for 42 yards. He still has the option to redshirt and gain an additional year of eligibility. After rushing 103 times for 448 yards and eight touchdowns in 2023, Armstead played a limited role this year, mainly behind starter Marquez Cooper and backup Cam Davis.
Despite SDSU’s disappointing 3-9 record this season, several young players, like Napier, stood out with strong performances.
Sophomore edge rusher Trey White led the nation in sacks for much of the season, finishing with 12 1/2 sacks, tying for third on SDSU’s single-season list. Sophomore linebacker Tano Letuli and junior cornerback Chris Johnson were the team’s top tacklers. Safety Eric Butler and offensive lineman Ross Ulugalu-Maseuli also impressed, earning recognition for their play.
There are concerns about losing more players to the transfer portal, as happened last year when 11 of SDSU’s 37 portal entrants moved to Power Five schools.
Sources believe most of the players are likely to stay, although Napier’s departure indicates the Aztecs won’t keep all of them.
One important caveat is that players can change their minds. For example, former SDSU offensive lineman Drew Azzopardi initially told coaches he was staying after the 2023 season, but days later entered the portal and eventually transferred to Washington, where he started at right tackle this season.
Players have until December 28 to enter the transfer portal.
“There’s been a handful of guys that have jumped in,” SDSU coach Sean Lewis said. “There’s other guys that are still on the fence.
“The majority of the guys have said that they believe in what we’re doing. They see the clear vision and are going to finish what they started.”
Those comments came Tuesday morning, when Lewis was discussing SDSU’s 18-man 2025 signing class.
Lewis said he had conducted exit interviews with 40 players, half the team with remaining eligibility, and at that point only two players in those discussions indicated they were going to transfer.
Lewis had 14 scholarships “in my back pocket right now” out of 85 allowed by the NCAA. Make that 17 scholarships now.
“I still have the rest of this week to go through final exit interviews with the second half of the team,” Lewis said Tuesday. “Just through the natural course of events, there’s still probably going to be a few more guys that come in and tell me that they have other ideas for what’s going on. Or they’re going to tell me they’re going to stay. …
“Everyone that you bring into the program better be providing tremendous value and doing it at a championship level because that’s what the expectation is.”
SDSU brought in 18 transfers last year during the winter portal period (and eight more following April’s spring portal period), though nearly two weeks passed before the Aztecs began plucking players from the portal to fill out the roster.
They expect to act more quickly after the portal opens on Monday.
“We’re going to be active,” Lewis said. “We’re going to be busy. Again, you’ve got to work quick in this day and age. We’re going to hit the ground running.”
Quarterback will be among the positions SDSU coaches will be eyeing in the portal.
“It will be something that we’ll look at,” Lewis said. “We’re going to be looking at evaluating the talent in all position groups, and if we find the right one when it comes to quarterback play, we’re going to do that.”
Tupou’ata-Johnson’s departure will leave SDSU with just three quarterbacks: O’Neil, who secured the starting role last season as a true freshman, junior Kyle Crum, and incoming freshman JP Mialovski.
AJ Duffy, a sophomore transfer from Florida State and one of last year’s transfers, was placed on indefinite suspension in October for an undisclosed reason while ranked third on the depth chart. He was not reinstated before the end of the season and is not anticipated to return.
Leave a Reply