Signing Day recap: San Diego State adds 18 players from transfer portal in 2025 recruiting class

San Diego State added two quarterbacks from the college football transfer portal

Bodie De Silva | Feb 6, 2025

Central Michigan quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr. (3). / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

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San Diego State Aztecs

San Diego State’s 2025 football recruiting class features 37 signees with 18 of them coming from the college ranks.

During Wednesday’s National Signing Day press conference, San Diego State’s head coach Sean Lewis urged the importance of recruiting players from high school but said of the transfer portal, “We still need to be smart and be efficient in where there are holes.”

The Aztecs lost three quarterbacks to the transfer portal from last season’s roster and have added three to this year’s team, two coming from previous college stops.

Bert Emanuel Jr. played in 13 games over three seasons as a signal caller at Central Michigan. During that time, he tossed five touchdown passes and threw three interceptions while utilizing his athleticism to score 12 touchdowns on the ground.

Battling with Emanuel Jr. in the quarterback competition will be Jayden Denegal. A three-star recruit of out Apple Valley High near Victorville, Denegal enrolled at Michigan in January of 2022. He played in seven games over three seasons with the Wolverines, tossing a touchdown pass during the 2023 National Championship season.

“They’re both big kids, both dual-threat kids that have the ability to stress the defense in a lot of ways,” Lewis said on Wednesday of the two quarterbacks.

Christian Washington was a standout locally at Helix High, rushing for 2,241 yards and 31 touchdowns during his senior season. He played two seasons at New Mexico and spent this past year at Coastal Carolina, finishing with 573 total yards and five touchdowns. He’ll join the group working to become San Diego State’s starting running back following the graduation of Marquez Cooper.

Another local standout returning home is Josiah Cox. The 2022 San Diego Section Defensive Player of the Year at Lincoln High, Cox enrolled at Arizona State. He played in 10 games for the Sun Devils before spending this past season at New Mexico State where he made 35 tackles and grabbed two interceptions. He’ll return home to play at Snapdragon Stadium where he helped Lincoln capture their first San Diego Section Open Division title three seasons ago.

Here are San Diego State’s 19 high school signings for the class of 2025.

Seth Adams, Southeastern Louisiana, tight end

Mason Baker, American River College, offensive line

Jacob Bostick, Texas A&M, wide receiver

Josiah Cox, New Mexico State, safety

Jayden Denegal, Michigan, quarterback

Bert Emanuel Jr., Central Michigan, quarterback

Malachi Finau, Hawaii, defensive line

Dallas Fincher, Michigan State, offensive line

Jackson Ford, Tulsa, tight end

Hunter Green, Northern Colorado, punter

Bayo Kannike, Utah Tech, offensive line