Jaden Rashada opens up about lengthy transfer process after leaving UGA

Jaden Rashada opened up about his lengthy transfer process after leaving Georgia, eventually landing at Sacramento State. Head coach Brennan Marrion, the program and the way the offense cooperates appealed the most to Rashada.

Going from Florida commit, Arizona State QB and Georgia backup to Sacramento State is a wild ride for sure. But Rashada was very intentional with this move, a move to a team that is expected to reach FBS football in 2026.

But if this new chapter unlocks his potential and gets his career on the right path, this will be one heck of a comeback story. Rashada said he liked the plan laid out for him on the west coast.

“It was a lot to figure out honestly,” Rashada said to CBS Sports. “This move had to be pretty critical and intentional. … I was more picky this time around. I had more pure intentions of what I wanted to get out of it. … Most importantly, I missed the game. I love football. This is what I’ve been doing since I was a kid. I missed playing the game. I wanted to play for a head coach who had my back and had a plan for me.”

Despite being third string at Georgia, Rashada was thankful for his time with the Bulldogs. He received a new perspective being a quarterback.

“I learned a lot there,” Rashada said of his time at Georgia. “I did notice being able to get your feet wet at first and come in and sit last year, I was itching to play football. Not only that, be in the right fit and the right scheme with the right coaches. That’s what was most important.”

The former four-star prospect was a true freshman in 2023 at Arizona State and was able to take a redshirt after appearing in just three games. He started the first two games of the season for the Sun Devils before suffering an undisclosed injury that caused him to miss the next nine games. He returned to play in the regular-season finale against Arizona.

When the dust settled on Rashada’s freshman season, he had completed 44-of-82 passes (53.7%) for 485 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. He also carried the ball 14 times for 23 yards.

Rashada made news coming out of high school when he requested to be let out of his signed letter of intent to Florida. According to published reports, the Gators were unable to live up to their NIL promises to Rashada, causing him to look around. The California native settled on Arizona State with respected offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham taking over as head coach.

As a prospect Rashada was ranked as the No. 73 overall prospect in the 2023 class according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average of all four sites that publish recruiting rankings. He was the nation’s No. 6 quarterback and the No. 6 prospect in California.

Rashada will have three years of eligibility remaining in his college career. We’ll see how it pans out at Sacramento State this coming year.