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Podcast: Locked On Cougars - Daily Podcast On BYU Cougars Football & Basketball Episode: SHREWD MOVE: BYU Adds John Sanders to Quarterback Room, Filling Depth & Eyeing Future Big 12 IMPACT Transcript: It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Get your daily college sports fix completely ad-free with a 7-day free trial to the Everyday Or Club. Listen to your favorite schools locked on podcast without the interruptions and unlock an exclusive invite to our members-only Discord chat to talk team news 24-7 with die-hard fans. Join the club right now by tapping the link in the show notes to claim your free trial. If you missed it yesterday, BYU has added a quarterback to their roster for the upcoming season. That is John Sanders. I will throw up his highlights from his freshman year. He is a junior college prospect and he is coming to BYU and he will be enrolling for this fall. You're probably wondering, well, Jake, they're set at quarterback. What's going on here? Well, BYU and Aaron Roderick have been very clear that they want to have a full compliment of a quarterback dev chart of scholarship players. In this new era where you have 105 roster slots back in the era's past, you had 123. You were routinely carrying maybe 5-6 quarterbacks in terms of scholarship guys at any given time because you had the extra roster slots. With the roster slots being cut down, obviously each position takes a little bit of a haircut and that is cut down. BYU situation where I think they will annually carry four scholarship quarterbacks. They may have a handful of other guys who are what used to be called walk-ons or they're no longer considered that. I think that Owen Gileman fits into that role who was out of the roster during spring. Can't for BYU, but they have three scholarship quarterbacks. Obviously, headlined by QB1 Bearbock, you had Enoch Watson and Tracy Borgay who would doking it out to be a QB2 as his backup and then you had an open slot for a scholarship quarterback. BYU found the guy to fill that role in John Sanders. If you're watching this on YouTube, I would encourage you to go check it out if you're watching this on the auto audio or just search out his huddle highlights. While he is an undersized prospect, he has listed at 6 foot 180 pounds, he shows a very adept ability to run the type of offense BYU runs and what that means is he's a playmaker. He has the ability to run, he's got it, shows a really live arm and he has just finished his freshman campaign at Antelope Valley College out there in California. He has got three years of eligibility plus potentially red shirt year now, the five for five rule. Obviously, if it comes into effects, it would change that. Aaron Roderick has been unafraid during his time at BYU of going to the junior college ranks in particular in California and finding talented guys. Is the name Jake Rutsloff ring a bell? Yeah, that's exactly what it is. I think John Sanders' situation is a whole lot different than it was with Jake Rutsloff. Sanders is coming to BYU with little to no pressure of having to perform right away. He is going to come to BYU probably as QB4. He'll be expected to run the scout team this coming season, but as he learns the playbook, as he gets more and more ingrained in BYU's offense, understands what Aaron Roderick wants from him as a quarterback. Maybe down the line, he factors more into the QB conversation for the Cougars, but this is a low risk potential high reward addition for the BYU football program. As I mentioned, they had an open roster slot for a scholarship quarterback, and that's what John Sanders is going to fill here. Don't be misconstruing anything I'm talking about here when it comes to John Sanders and saying, no, Bear Bach, Meyer, is unequivocally BYU starting quarterback. I know the client is talking, like to say, every position is up for grabs. Bear is the guy. He is the BMOC, big man on campus when it comes to BYU at the quarterback position right now. But guys like John Sanders, they're coming in with the idea of they're going to make an impact in this case for him as a scout team member this year. Go out there and help BYU's defense get as ready as they can be for big 12 competition. And then maybe down the line, you ultimately get your chance to be a starting quarterback. He's got collegiate experience, albeit at the junior college level from this past year. And oh, by the way, he's already got to be somewhat familiar with BYU because he's from St. Francis High School out in the Bay Area in California and if that high school sales familiar to some of you who pay attention to recruiting, that is the same high school that Kingston, Kiana Ina, running back, commit for BYU who's currently serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they both played in high school together. So yeah, this seems like a really, really savvy pick up and it shows that Aaron Roderick, he will find talent no matter where it's at, junior college, high school, transfer portal. If he finds a guy that he believes in, are you going to tell me that you're not going to sign off on this because A-Rod found Bear Bachmeyer. He has coached up the likes of Zach Wilson and Jaren Hall. He got the best out of Jake Redsoft and felt like in so many different ways during his time in Provo. A-Rod does a phenomenal job coaching up and finding talent in the quarterback position and be while you benefit from it, having guys like that in their system. So I really like this John Sanders pick up, it fills a need for BYU but it also makes sure that they are not going to be in a situation where they are caught short when it comes to the roster for this coming season. It would take, I think, some pretty extraordinary circumstances to have a guy like John Sanders be called upon the season. We're talking three season ending injuries probably to the guys in front of him on the depth chart but they had a guy like Emerson Geilman last year, Owen is older brothers now on the roster, Emerson is on a mission right now who was running the Skylott team last year and they needed somebody to do that. That's what John Sanders, I think he understands. That is what his role will be as he earns his way with the BYU football program. So yeah, really nice pickup, it fills a need. When I say need, usually we're talking about needs, right? Well, it means they have a dearth of talent. No, they're not lacking for talent at quarterback, led with the likes of Bear Bach, Meyer, but they want to make sure that a QB covered stays full at all times. Now, obviously the expectation is that by next season, the guy like Ryder Lyons, if he does follow through on the plan to serve a one year mission or go out on the mission field for one year and then enroll, well, that would add another body to the quarterback room but hey, these things have a way of working themselves out. Guys with the transfer portal and simply put in this day and age when it comes to NILM the like, guys get cut. And I know that sounds like almost heinous to say, but we've entered an era of college sports where it's pro, isn't it? Like, and I think we can acknowledge a state for a state. But beyond that, I think that the explanation I would imagine the way it went with guy like John Sanders is, hey, we like your skill set. We obviously believe that you have the capability of being a quarterback at the level we play at speaking of the power four level. And while you may have been under recruited coming out of high school, he, speaking of John Sanders, went out and proved at the junior college level that he was capable of playing at a higher level of football and it paid off for him. Very few guys in this day and age are willing to go to junior college route because more and more junior colleges are thought of as being just a place for guys to go and play some ball if they want but doesn't really get them anywhere. Well, I think that in the case of BYU, when Aaron Roderick spoke with John Sanders and I understand it, he took an official visit this past weekend, they probably sat down with him and said, Hey, we believe in your talent. And he's probably like, well, what, what Darren Keith can give me? Like, well, just look at Jake Retsloff. We brought him in, he was a backup and their expectations in due time. He would get his opportunity and he got that and he, and he ran with it. And yes, things didn't end the way that I think Retsloff or BYU wanted them to end because obviously he left school and enrolled at Tulane. But it shows that a junior college prospect can still end up as a power four starting QB and that's got it have been part of the pitch at minimum to a guy like John Sanders. So I hope it works out for him and I hope he has a phenomenal year this year in my mind, running the scout team, learning this playbook, really kind of working himself and getting into position. And then in future years, maybe he has an opportunity to work with the depth chart and establish himself more in the pecking order with the BYU football program. Show notes: The BYU Cougars solidify their quarterback depth by securing junior college talent John Sanders, raising the stakes in Provo’s competitive QB room. Is this a move to push contenders like Enoch Watson and Treyson Bourguet, or simply insurance behind established starter Bear Bachmeier? With Sanders joining the mix, questions swirl around how the Cougars will balance immediate needs and long-term development at the position, especially in a climate shaped by NIL incentives and fluid roster management. Jake Hatch breaks down the rationale behind Aaron Roderick’s bold approach to roster construction, emphasizing the importance of maintaining four scholarship quarterbacks within the current 105-man roster limit. Sanders arrives fresh from Antelope Valley College with a reputation for athleticism, a live arm, and the kind of mobility suited to BYU’s dynamic offense. While he enters as a likely QB4 expected to lead the scout team, parallels are drawn to the path of Jake Retzlaff—a JUCO transfer whose opportunity eventually arrived amid BYU’s shifting depth chart. The conversation explores how Sanders’ California high school connection with running back commit Kingston Keana'aina reflects the Cougars’ expanding recruiting pipeline. Key topics include the realities facing modern college football players, from increased player movement via the transfer portal to roster management in an era where scholarship slots are at a premium. Hatch explains how even walk-ons and former scout team leaders like Emerson Geilman have played significant roles in recent BYU squads, and how every roster addition is carefully calculated to avoid situations where the team is caught thin at critical positions. With names like Ryder Lyons and a changing landscape of prospects arriving through missions or the portal, the discussion pivots to what the future might hold for BYU’s quarterback group. Will John Sanders eventually rise above his initial scout team role and challenge for snaps, or is he a strategic depth piece designed to keep the Cougars prepared for the demands of Big 12 play? One thing is clear—Aaron Roderick’s willingness to find and develop quarterback talent, regardless of origin, continues to shape the trajectory of BYU Football. Support Locked On Cougars: Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms and on YouTube! Join the NEW Locked On Cougars Everydayer Club by clicking here! If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Jake Hatch brings you daily coverage of the BYU Cougars with the Locked On Cougars Podcast. Locked On Cougars brings BYU fans the latest news and comprehensive coverage when it comes to the BYU football and basketball programs as well as a look at the other teams in the BYU athletic department. Jake gives you his unique insights and insider information about the Cougs as they continue "on the trail to fame and glory" every weekday, along with interviews with players, coaches, experts, and alumni that you will not find anywhere else. 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