One of the most asked questions for the San José State Spartans football team for the 2026 season is who will be the starting quarterback?
With former starting quarterback Walker Eget transferring to Duke University, the Spartans have to look at other options for the position.
The Spartans signed former Hawaii quarterback, redshirt-senior Luke Weaver, through the NCAA transfer portal and acquired freshman quarterback Daniel Rolovich from high school.
Weaver played five games for the Rainbow Warriors, throwing for 628 yards and three touchdowns on 63 attempts.
He also helped win the Hawaii Bowl against the University of California, Berkeley, where he threw a game-winning touchdown to lead the Rainbow Warriors to a 35-31 win on Dec. 24, 2025.
The team kept redshirt-freshman quarterback Robert McDaniel from last year’s room to round out the group this season.
At the Spartans’ spring game on Saturday, Weaver was seen taking snaps with the first team, with McDaniel taking snaps with the second team.
SJSU head coach Ken Niumatalolo said it isn’t clear who will be the starting quarterback next season.
“It’s a tough battle,” Niumatalolo said. “It’s really close between Luke (Weaver), Daniel (Rolovich) and Robert (McDaniel).”
It’s a decision Niumatalolo said will rest on his offensive coordinator, Craig Stutzmann, who joked about the decision when it was brought up.
“It might be two minutes before kickoff versus the Trojans,” Stutzmann said. “It’s a close battle (and) we chart everything.”
On a serious note, Stutzmann was adamant that the decision needs to be made well before the first game so that his quarterback can get the most practice possible with the starters to build chemistry.
“We want whoever that starter is to get a ton of reps,” Stutzmann said. “We’re probably going to look down to two (quarterbacks), maybe after the first weekend out from fall camp.”
With the starting job a close competition, Stutzmann had praise for every quarterback as he complimented their talent and potential.
“(Weaver) never gets rattled; the ball moves down the field with him,” Stutzmann said. “(McDaniel) has had a really good spring. He’s throwing the ball well, and he’s got arm talent, and his touchdowns are high.”
