Texans set for open competition at QB1 after record-breaking recruitment class

BY GAVIN PATRICK

Sports Editor

After a historic 2025 season, Tarleton State Football has reloaded for 2026 — and in a big way, tabbing the No. 1 rated transfer portal class in the FCS, according to Athlinkd and 247Sports.

It’s the most successful recruitment class in program history — as the team vowed to replace, per head coach Todd Whitten, 42 seniors and eight transfers.

Fans have had the chance to celebrate their record 63 new Texans for two months now. But a few weeks before spring training began, coach Whitten gave a more tempered outlook on whether the team hit it out of the park.

“We’ll know when we play Prairie View,” he said, referring to the first game of the 2026 season on Aug. 29.

Nonetheless, Whitten is excited by what he’s seen so far from the class.

Of the 63 newbies, 54 are transfers and nine are high school signings. Seventeen players come from the FBS ranks, headlined by Arizona quarterback Braedyn Locke, who was ranked as the number one QB transfer by FCS Football Central.

The Texans also nabbed Wyoming quarterback Kaden Anderson — the number seven QB transfer — Jackson Gilkey from Weber State and Kauna'oa Kamakawiwoole from Golden West College.

The talk of the town is sure to be the quarterback position in the spring and summer months. Whitten declared the position an open competition, saying reloading at signal caller— after the departures of Victor Gabalis and Daniel Greek — was “priority number one” in the recruitment period.

“We gotta find our best guy,” Whitten said. “We'll let the guys battle it out, have equal reps, evaluate them, scrutinize them after every practice — and see what we find.”

Some fans have been quick to assume that Locke will have the leg up in the quarterback battle, having the most distinguished upbringing.

Locke was a four-star recruit out of Rockwall High School in Texas, where he set the Class 6A state record for touchdown passes. In fact, he played one season — in 2019 — with the NFL’s latest leader in receiving yards, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, with video of the two’s connection resurfacing on social media ahead of Super Bowl 60.

Locke was the backup at Arizona last season and has appeared in 20 collegiate games across three Power 4 schools, as he heads into his final year of eligibility at Tarleton.

Whitten praised Locke for his arm talent and called him a “talented young man.” He said Locke “certainly has a chance” to remake his career at Tarleton — like other FBS retreads have done at the FCS level. But even as Locke seems cut out to do well in the quarterback battle, Whitten left the door open for a surprise.

“Certainly, Braedyn’s coming from the most prestigious place, but you just never know,” he said.

As for the other three quarterbacks, Anderson started every game at Wyoming last season, throwing for 1,971 yards (164 per game) and 12 touchdowns against 10 interceptions. Gilkey is coming off a season-ending ankle injury, but is ready to go for spring training after starting the first five games of last season for Weber State. And Kamakawiwoole, who goes by Oa for short, threw for 2,286 yards and 25 touchdowns at Golden West in 2025.

“You've got to have guys that can throw it and throw it accurately,” Whitten said. “And I think we've accomplished that with not only Braedyn, but all of our guys that we brought in. So, it'll be a good battle.”

Experience was the calling card for the Texans’ 2026 recruits and will continue to be in the coming years, as the team aims to maximize their window for a championship.

“We're going to try to stay old every year, that's our plan,” Whitten said. “We always want to be well represented with our senior class, and we'll do that again.

This year’s team will have 40 juniors and 29 seniors, according to Whitten, making up about 60% of the roster — a similar share as last year.

“We tend to hang on to our players, we don't lose them very often. And so [the] year after next, we could have another really big senior class.”

As a whole, Whitten summed up the class as “complete.” The biggest emphasis came on the defensive line, with 14 new players coming in. Arguably, the biggest signee at that spot was interior lineman Kareem Edmon from Kilgore College.

Whitten usually isn’t one to boast, but he expressed a particular pride in landing Edmon, who also fielded offers from Oregon State, Stephen F. Austin and UTSA, among other schools.

“I really don’t like to go out in public and say, ‘We beat these guys.’ We beat these guys recruiting, we did that,” Whitten said on his radio show, the Todd Whitten Show. “I did not think we would get Kareem. There were multiple FCS offers that he had, and we beat every one of those guys. I think he will be an impactful guy for us.”

Another standout signee is wide receiver BJ Fleming from North Dakota. When asked which players are poised to make an immediate impact, Fleming was the first one mentioned by Whitten.

Fleming was an all-conference player in the Missouri Valley Conference last season and led North Dakota in receiving with 837 yards and seven touchdowns on 48 receptions. Whitten anointed him the fastest player on the team, which is “really saying something,” he said, considering the good team speed overall.

“We have a lot of fast guys out there, but he really seems to just have a different gear,” Whitten said. “I think he sure has a good shot to be one of the main guys.”

Whitten also said he expects another jump from Marquis Willis, who steps into a bigger role following the departure of Cody Jackson in the portal.

The Texans also added Tanner Schmidt from Golden West — who was the offensive player of the year in his junior college conference — DeAndre Buchannon from West Georgia and three others from Florida State, SMU and Alabama State to round out a reloaded group of receivers.

“That’s another good list for us, and we’re going to be talented there again, I think,” Whitten said.

On the offensive line, the Texans added Caleb Flores from Incarnate Word, who brings over 2,000 snaps in his collegiate career to Stephenville. Whitten expects Flores to “get after it right away” after he chose Tarleton over multiple other competitive offers. Flores will have an opportunity to replace Kurt Hatch, who graduated, at right tackle.

“We’ve been good up front for… I don’t remember when we were not good,” Whitten said. “And I think there will be more of that.”

The last major question the Texans have to answer is at running back, following the surprise transfer of All-American back Tre Page III, who landed at Oklahoma State.

Tarleton signed four running backs in the portal, most notably Miequle Brock from Nicholls State. Brock made second-team all-conference last season and — amazingly — led his team in catches (41) and receiving yards (340).

The Texans have become known for rotating running backs and will take the same approach this year, led by the returns of Tylan Hines and James Paige. Whitten said Brock will fit right into the mix, along with two other transfers — Aiden Ramos and Cade Searcy — who bring some much-appreciated depth.

“We’re a team that really values being able to run the ball, and so we’ve gotta have multiple guys in there,” Whitten said. “Sometimes we may just feature one guy, but you gotta be ready. You saw last year, just about everybody got banged up in that room.”

The 2026 season will see a lot of new faces in Stephenville, and the key — as it is every year in college football — will be how well and how quickly the new pieces can jell, as the Texans look to be the favorite in the UAC once again.

“That's one of the fun things about coaching to me,” Whitten said, “is A: seeing some of the fellows that are in the program step up and find their way, and then B: getting to work with some new kids and seeing how well those guys can be a part of our team. But we have a good place to start in that we're really athletic and we can run well.”