Without any inside knowledge, i think the decision of Locker coming to Davis reflects on the quality of our program, and the respect Coach Plough has earned in the "recruiting marketplace".

. Locker transferred as a junior in the midst of the season (after four games), then tore an ACL in week 1 of his senior campaign. Played at a low level San Diego school, All of which can make him overlooked.
As seems to be the norm, he’s had a lot of high level private coaching
https://thecoastnews.com/maranathas-top-qb-jake-locker-aims-to-turn-heads-in-final-season/

Fantastic post!!

LeFan beat me to it. Since he's out for a year with the ACL, they'll treat him like a '27 signee basically. Or he can take unlimited medicals like the Montana kid and start his freshman year in 2029 or so.

Has the pedigree. Seems to be our M.O., going after kids with a family history at QB! One of them should be able to win!

Is this Jake Locker related to the former NFL QB Jake Locker? Not his son. Jake Locker sons are named Cooper, Colt, and Cade and they live in Washington state.

I’m sure he’ll be great for us but I watched his film and man he’s playing with and against some low level guys. School looked like it could’ve been a JV team in the state of Vermont!

No idea. Would have made for a nice story. I had never heard of his school so I looked them up on MaxPreps and there was only one small school on the schedule I had heard of before (Coronado). Used to be a great Irish pub in Coronado, by the way if any of yall ever make it out there.

His first week will most likely be a shock. Might take a second to get used to throwing to our guys with FBS type speed at receiver.

There are a lot of things a young QB from smaller competition has to adjust to, even before the ball is snapped: is the protection right, what's the coverage telling me, shit, those defensive guys are fast, and, oh yeah, the receivers are faster than I've ever played with! That's why it is the hardest thing to do well in sports aside from hitting a baseball.

The novelty might be mitigated by his participation in QB development training and camps which I know he participated in or or 7x7 tournaments which I suppose he did..
He was a freshman and sophomore at a higher level school, La Costa Canyon, where he played but i don't think on varsity..

And I'm in no way questioning his abilities or pedigrees. It is hard for ANY QB from ANY program to adjust to ANY level of college football. It just hits different (literally).

Parker Johnson (PJ) class of 2026 who played for two different high schools in 2025, announced he committed to Davis a few weeks ago. This was mentioned in the 2026 preview thread.
Team hasn’t confirmed that to my knowledge. Apparently had multiple FBS offers, but ended up without a home.

Wow! It's very uncommon to get a four star athlete. However, his poster shows three stars.

He is rated 85 on 247. That's about as high as we get. But only about half the recruits at that 3+ level live up to expectations. But he is a versatile player.

How did we land Casey Merrill?

He was a beast. I remember the playoff game against Bethune Cookman and we started yelling Casey! Casey! Casey! He ended up in their backfield on each snap