Jaron‑Keawe Sagapolutele is the freshman phenom who turns a season on its head. He has displayed poise beyond his years, and his timing is like a veteran with an arm talent that forces defenses to cover the whole field. The numbers are phenomenal. 3 games, 6 TD, 780 yards with a 67% completion rate and one interception. His film shows a lefty who drops bucket balls of 40-plus yards with ease. He has a sturdy pocket presence with his broad 6’3 frame and has been a menace to all his opponents, guiding the Golden Bears to a 3-0 start. And his magic has shot him to the limelight, with Pat McAfee discussing some serious business regarding his future.
McAfee talked about him on his show. He said, “That Sagapolutele kid. He’s got a 3.75 GPA. I looked it up. 3.75 GPA. Six foot three. Because when you watch him play, it’s like ‘this guy’s got to be just all ball. This guy’s got to be absolute.’ [He] can move, and he’s humble sh-t… Yeah, he throws darts, and it’s fun, and he’s making guys open with his throws.” McAfee’s comments are not hyperbole at all. If you watch Sagapolutele, you’ll know. He somehow sees the gap in tight positions, and when he doesn’t, he makes it himself. The windows are attacked even before they are open, and the defense keeps guessing where the ball will land next.
McAfee went even deeper on a single sequence that has turned heads of both fans and defense. “I think it was week one, and instead he goes, he literally drops it front shoulder on the guy. It’s like that was a 43‑yard ball into a bucket… It’s like this guy is the one next offseason. I can’t wait till West Virginia goes and says, ‘Aloha, Mahalo for everything you’re about to do for our state.’” If you’re missing the commentary between the lines, let us help you. McAfee is hinting that if Sagapolutele ever hits the market, McAfee would gladly help WVU with the welcome party decorations. Moreover, we live in the NIL era; Sagapolutele does not necessarily have to ‘hit the market’; he can be made available if McAfee’s heart and bank balance desire.
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If you want any more proof of how captivating Sagapolutele is, listen to what Pat McAfee said after. “You literally can’t snooze when Sagapolutele is playing football. Sunday morning’s coming, my daughter does not know that Sagapolutele is playing. Okay, she’s sleeping through it somehow. And I know that she is gonna wake up and I’m gonna want to hang out with her because Sunday’s like great morning to hang out with my daughter, really the only one. But as I’m watching this guy play, it’s like have to stay up this guy’s so good at football.” This is exactly the nudge you deserve to watch the Golden Bears every Saturday. If one of the biggest names in sport is skipping time with his daughter for a 19-year-old gentleman, then that gentleman might not be so gentle with the defense after all.
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We will be hearing Jaron‑Keawe Sagapolutele’s name for a long, long time. His accuracy, anticipation, processing, and control are the ones that scale when players make the transition to pro ball. The buzz from Pat McAfee is proof of how clean Sagapolutele’s talent already looks and how much ceiling is still untouched. Week 1 was his first collegiate start. If he keeps stacking starts like this, the Bears are very well on a path to go big this year. The second half of their schedule is where the heat will be harsh. SMU, Virginia, and the Cardinals will punish every small mistake, but as long as Sagapolutele handles the center, their mistakes won’t go unpunished either.
A freshman QB turning Cal’s gamble into gold
We might be doing too much of this, but Sagapolutele deserves it. Cal’s 27–14 win pushed the Bears to 3–0, and the league tagged him Rookie of the Week for the second time in three weeks, with early totals of 67% completions, 780 yards, six touchdowns, and just one interception, landing him in the On3 Heisman top 10. The arrow’s up, and the spotlight’s only getting brighter. And this was not McAfee’s first time going all out on Sagapolutele.
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He has been on record talking about him yet again in the NIL sense. Earlier this week, Pat McAfee said, “The guy, he’s going to get paid so much money this offseason. I apologize to the Calgary team. Maybe the Cals are able to keep up, though, after an off-season of losing a lot of their guys to other schools. It would suck if the Cal Bears just became a feeder system for other schools, but there’s a chance that is what Cal currently is.” Now, we can’t say for sure if Cal is the feeder system for other schools, but if they are and if Sagapolutele becomes available next year, the entire CFB world will break loose.
He was earlier committed to Cal, then flipped to Oregon, likely because he would not have been starting for some time there, and then again committed to Cal. In hindsight, it was a good decision. Now, he has very well proven that he deserves the starting job anywhere he goes. If he keeps up this standard of performance against better teams in the latter half of the schedule, his name in Heisman conversations won’t be an exaggeration.