When the official NCAA transfer portal opened up this 2026 year an enormous flash flood of names began to make the new cycle. To date there are over 4,700 college football players currently in the portal today from division I alone.
Yeesh.
That number went down by one when Dalesean Staley made the decision to get out.
DB Dalesean Staley
The senior DB has officially removed himself from the portal and thus eliminating himself from the process of leaving to a different team, school and living environment. These are all factors that lead to make such an important decision on a young man’s future.
But in the end, we know it’s all about the dollar-dollar bill ya’ll. And that’s just fine. If it’s all about business decisions these days, we’re more than happy to have Staley doing business with the red & black, back on the Mesa.
Getting Staley back to this year’s defense is a huge get. The 6’1″ 192 lb safety out of Kansas City, Missouri has been a fantastic piece of the SDSU defensive puzzle the last two seasons. Originally a transfer from Northern Iowa, Staley made his presence known at SDSU with a 60 tackle season in 2024.
This past year he elevated his play even more to log 76 total tackles, while also forcing 1 fumble and collecting 1 interception. His experience in the defensive scheme with more of an opportunity paid off very well.
And so having his return to the unit that lost so many others up and down the line, should certainly give himself more opportunity to shine, but also to lead. With an expanded responsibility in the New Mexico Bowl this past December, Dalesean logged 13 total tackles against the nation’s top scoring offense of North Texas.
SDSU would eventually lose this game by the small margin of 49-47. But with all the starters that were out of the lineup in addition to a first go at it from new DC Demetrius Sumler, that’s nothing to hang their heads at. Dalesean’s performance that game showed all heart.
The SDSU defense came into the portal with a lot of holes to fill. But there have been questions all around on who will be entering the portal while it is still open for one more day, ending on January 16. We are continuing to document the additions here in our portal tracker.
DL Krishna Clay
Also making his intentions known that he was coming back to SDSU in 2026 was DL Krishna Clay. Though never officially in the transfer portal, having this kind of declaration certainly helps sure up the unity that is a contagious thing.
In 2025 Clay’s contributions went down from his previous year in the program. Certainly increased competition made the defensive unit much tougher to get snaps from. With another year of development and conditioning under his belt, Clay will be depended upon to hold up his experience in meaningful ways in 2026.
WR Nathan Acevedo
Nathan Acevedo added to the list of returning players that had some minor speculation of his status going elsewhere. He made a big impression in the bowl game with his dazzling speed and catching ability. With not a ton of targets during the season it was fair to question whether Acevedo would hunt for opportunity elsewhere or if the program would move on.
But Acevedo will be returning officially and can perhaps make a step forward in quality depth in the receiver and special teams units. That’s especially true now knowing that he has the ability to take it to the house after showing his huge punt return TD against the Mean Green.
RB Christian Washington
A more curious player was RB Christian Washington’s status to the program. Washington saw his first year on the Mesa getting a lot of action last season as the #2 back in the offense behind Lucky Sutton. There he stacked up 563 yards on the ground, good enough for just over 5.7 yards per carry.
Washington scored 4 TDs on the season and had some very strong runs through out the season. It was just about the identical output he had the prior year at Coastal Carolina, except he was doing it at home in front of friends and family.
Ultimately we believe that element really carried through to his decision to continue the climb at SDSU. Washington’s role can increase in the different ways he touches the ball next season. His amount of touches may give or take some here and there, as Lucky Sutton has established himself as the clear #1.
But don’t let that deter from the potential impact Washington may have. Many times he was out on the field in key situations. If Lewis can dial up some more in space opportunities for the young man, maybe we’ll see that speed dash across the field even more. Either way this is also a big win to keep in the red & black.
QB1 Jayden Denegal
The big one to hear from lately was QB1 Jayden Denegal. At this point in time, there is still room to add an experienced QB to the room for more competition. Just added from the portal was redshirt freshman Stone Saunders out of Kentucky. But while he is ready to mix it up, there’s no starting experience there.
Denegal is recouping from his non throwing shoulder surgery and so this added to his return to SDSU no doubt. But was his return dependent upon having that leg up on the competition to keep QB1 status? Were there any guarantees made to him that it’s his job to have and that he could lose it only if things go awry again?
No answer there just yet. But in my book Denegal is the QB1 to start camp. With his first year in Coach Lewis’ system, there were flashes of brilliance, just inconsistency. He throws a very pretty deep ball and has the ability to scramble out of the pocket for big gains.
If Denegal can stay healthy, trust his targets around him, and focus on when the right time to run purposefully out of the pocket is, he can have a record breaking year at State. But also wouldn’t be mad if SDSU brings in veteran arm to compete.
Either way, Aztec Nation should feel optimistic with Denegal returning. The toughness and leadership he showed playing while hurt is the kind of guy we should all rally around.
New SDSU Football Players to be added from the transfer portal:
OFFENSE:
OL Isaac Lucas
OL Matthew Montgomery
OL Charlton Luniewski
OL Mercer Luniewski
OL Dennis Jones II
WR Justius Lowe
WR Marshel Sanders
WR Aldrich Doe
TE Kime Fangupo
RB Javion Kinnard
DEFENSE:
DL Tuaoa Tauiliili
EDGE Kai Wallin
EDGE Djibril Abdou Rahman
LB Cameron Cooper
LB Djibril Abdou Rahman
LB Sione Hala
DB Caleb Ricks
DB Soloman Davis
SPECIAL TEAMS:
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