With all the movement around college football with the transfer portal, players leaving for the NFL draft in the off season, and injuries causing changes in the depth chart, it can be difficult to keep up with what’s going on, on opposing teams’ rosters.
Realdawg’s Kaila Olin provides three names to know on the California Golden Bears roster heading into Washington’s first road game of the season.
Jackson Sirmon – Senior Linebacker #8
This is a name very familiar to the Washington program as Sirmon had spent four seasons with the Huskies before entering the transfer portal at the very end of December. He later announced his family reunion by committing to play for Cal and his dad, defensive coordinator for the Golden Bears, in January. Sirmon left the UW as Washington’s leading tackler on the team and with two years of eligibility remaining. What really comes full circle, is the Cal game last season that went into OT. The Golden Bears lost the game due to fumbling the ball on the goal line. Guess who forced the fumble—Jackson Sirmon. He also hasn’t lost a step since his transfer as he is Cal’s leading tackler with 52 on the season so far, with the next closest tackler totaling 32. Sirmon has 1.5 sacks, two passes deflected, one forced fumble, and one interception.
Jaydn Ott – True Freshman Running Back #6
Jaydn Ott is a talented running back, especially as a true freshman. He leads in the run game for the Golden Bears by almost 450 yards with 580 yards on the season with 89 carries. In their win over Arizona, Ott set a Pac-12 record for most yards in a single game by a true freshman. His 274 rushing yards that game is the most in all of FBS in a single game. Ott is responsible for five of the seven Cal rushing touchdowns with a long of 73 yards. On top of running the ball, he has also caught 19 passes for 117 yards with a long of 18 yards and two touchdowns. Ott’s number hardly gets called on third downs with only have seven rushing attempts all season in third down situations and none on fourth downs. The bulk of his carries also come when the distance is six yards to go or longer with only 14 of his 89 carries coming with five yards to go or less. Ott will give the Washington defense fits as he has proven to be a superstar on the rise.
Jack Plummer – Senior Quarterback #13
Jack Plummer spent four seasons with the Purdue Boilermakers before hitting the transfer portal in November of 2021 and announcing his new home with the Cal Golden Bears shortly after. In his final season with Purdue, Plummer threw for 864 yards and seven touchdowns without an interception in five games. He was named QB1 for the Boilermakers during fall camp but lost his starting job just four games into the season. Plummer with two years of eligibility left came into the Cal program after four-year starting QB, Chase Garbers, left for the transfer portal. This season, Plummer has passed for over 1,500 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions. All of his games so far, except for one, has resulted in 245 passing yards or more with the one exception being their loss at Notre Dame. Plummer has the ability to make plays and you shouldn’t let his ranking of No. 50 in FBS in average passing yards per game deter his talent on the field.
