Jonathan Brady

Just two days after reeling in a commitment from Utah wide receiver Mikey Matthews, Cal has added another piece to its wide receiver room — New Mexico State transfer receiver Jonathan Brady. Brady announced his pledge to the Bears Thursday morning via X, formerly known as Twitter.

Brady spent two years at New Mexico State, making an impact as a true freshman in 2022 and continuing to be a vital piece to the offense and special teams in 2023. After spending two seasons with New Mexico State, Brady will have two seasons of eligibility remaining plus a redshirt year available.

This year, as a true sophomore, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound receiver led his team with 39 catches for 621 yards, and tallied four receiving touchdowns. This was also almost double the receiving yards Brady recorded in 2022, as a true freshman, when he had 310 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

According to PFF, Brady 505 snaps in 2023 ranking him second among Aggies receivers. He also graded out as the second-best receiver at NMSU this season with an overall mark of 71.2.

Much like Matthews, Brady has the potential to contribute to the Bears on special teams; in 2023, the sophomore recorded 177 yards in kick returns on six attempts, coupled with 93 punt return yards on 11 attempts.

In both the wide receiver room and on special teams, Cal could certainly use the help. The Bears have lost a lot of talent at receiver this offseason; among other departures, top receiver Jeremiah Hunter transferred to Washington, Taj Davis has moved on from the program, while Monroe Young and Brian Hightower are out of eligibility.

When it comes to special teams, Cal was ranked unfavorably in the FBS in punt and kick returns in the 2023 season, sitting at No. 122 in punt returns and No. 61 in kickoff returns.

Brady is the fourth receiver to announce his transfer commitment to the Bears, following Notre Dame’s Tobias Merriweather, Colorado’s Cole Boscia and Utah’s Matthews. The Bears had earned the commitment of Tufts transfer Jaden Richardson earlier this offseason, but the DIII transfer flipped to USC.

The Las Vegas native played at Bishop Gorman High School, once home to Cal running back Jaydn Ott, where he earned offers from Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington as a two-star recruit before deciding to sign with the Aggies.

Overall, Brady is the 12th transfer addition this offseason for Cal, which now has the 17th-rated transfer class in the Rivals transfer portal rankings.

– LB Teddye Buchanan (UC Davis | Dec. 5)

– QB Chandler Rogers (North Texas | Dec. 11)

– DL Aidan Keanaaina (Notre Dame | Dec. 16)

– DB Marcus Harris (Idaho | Dec. 17)

– OL Rush Reimer (Montana State | Dec. 18)

– K Ryan Coe (North Carolina | Dec. 21)

– WR Tobias Merriweather (Notre Dame | Dec. 21)

– WR Cole Boscia (Colorado | Dec. 21)

– RB Kadarius Calloway (Old Dominion | Jan. 3)

– OL Victor Stoffel (Temple | Jan. 8)

– WR Mikey Matthews (Utah | Jan. 9)

– WR Jonathan Brady (New Mexico State | Jan. 11)