Leading up to the first game of the historic 2026 season, hornetsports.com will take a look at each position group. Today features the quarterbacks coached by Bobby Fresques.

• Sacramento State does not return a quarterback from last season's roster but the team will still have a familiar face under center in 2026. Carson Conklin returned to the program during the spring after spending the 2025 campaign at Fresno State. Conklin redshirted with the Hornets in 2023 and became the team's starter for the majority of the 2024 year. That year, he set school freshman records with 2,876 passing yards and 28 touchdowns on the way to finishing third in the Jerry Rice Award (the top FCS freshman). Conklin had four games with at least 300 passing yards, including 389 against UC Davis. He enters 2026 ranked 12th in school history with 3,620 passing yards and is tied for sixth with 34 TD passes.
• While at Fresno State, Conklin appeared in six games. He helped the Bulldogs to a win at Boise State which snapped the Broncos' national-leading 16-game home winning streak.
• Jackson Sharman comes to the Hornets after three seasons at Idaho State. The redshirt junior appeared in seven games with the Bengals where he completed 35-of-61 passes. A native Californian, Sharman prepped at Torrance West HS where he passes for 1,800 yards  and 16 touchdowns as a senior.
• Jalen Patterson joined the Sacramento State program in the spring following a redshirt season at New Mexico State. Patterson was three-star recruit out of San Jacinto HS and one of the top dual-threat QBs in the state. As a senior, he led the Mountain Pass League with 1,545 passing yards and also rushed for 650 yards and 12 touchdowns.
• The team will add a pair of additions in the fall. Brian Salazar earned second team all-conference honors at Citrus JC in Glendora, Calif. That season, he threw for a school-record 3,210 yards and 36 touchdowns while completing 63.4 percent of his passes. Salazar had at least one TD pass in all 11 of his games and had multiple passing touchdowns in 10 contests. He set his season high with 432 passing yards and six touchdowns against Santa Barbara City JC.
• Liam Meeker will be a true freshman in the fall and joins the team along with his twin brother, tight end Luke Meeker. Liam was a three-star recruit out of Mira Costa HS in Manhattan Beach, Calif. He earned all-conference honors after throwing for 1,809 yards and 16 touchdowns and also rushing for 501 yards and eight TDs.