BEAUMONT, Texas – An entire offseason has come and gone since Lamar made its run to the NCAA FCS Playoffs, and with players having officially reported for preseason camp, it's time for the 2026 version of the Cardinals to write their own chapter. It also means LamarCardinals.com will once again be posting its annual position-by-position breakdown leading up to the team's season opener Saturday, Aug. 29 at home against Abilene Christian.
 
Today LamarCardinals.com will break down the LU quarterbacks.
 
QB Quick Facts:
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 2/1
Starters Returning/Lost: 1/1*
Newcomers: 1
*More on this in the storyline 
 
Stats:  LU's quarterbacks completed 188-of-321 passes (.586) for 2100 yards and 13 touchdowns with only 10 interceptions. The Cardinal signal callers also carried the ball 124 times for 344 yards and five touchdowns.
 
Key Player: Aiden McCown (194-112-6/1,436 yards/10 TDs) is the returning starter from last year.
 
The Storyline
This should be the deepest quarterback room since head coach Pete Rossomando's arrival despite having lost a starter. Yes, we did list McCown as a returning starter but due to the unique situation at quarterback last season, the Cardinals enter 2026 returning their starting quarterback despite having lost their starting quarterback (hang in there with us on this).
 
Last season, Robert Coleman broke camp as the starter. It was his third consecutive season as the Cardinals' starter but at the very end of the second game he went down with an injury. McCown came in and started the next five games but due to another injury to Coleman late in the season, McCown returned to the starting role for the final two games of the year. Because of that, the two players wound up splitting starts so it can be viewed that LU is returning its starter despite having lost its starter.
 
Being thrust into the starting role last year, McCown acquitted himself well guiding the Cardinals to wins in his first five starts. We've listed his 2025 stats earlier so no need to repeat them here, but it was clear he had taken a step forward by the time spring ball came around. He has gone from being the guy not too many folks knew much about (heading into the Texas Southern game last season) into a leader.
 
"Aiden has grown a lot, but he has always been a hard worker," said Rossomando. "He really became a student of the game during the offseason. He is learning things about defenses, how to identify them which helps him make faster reads. He has become so much better in each of those areas during the offseason. He has also worked on his throwing mechanics and has become much more efficient. He didn't have to change a whole bunch but he did enough to make himself more efficient delivering the ball."
 
Even though Lamar has a proven leader returning at the position, all fans know you are only one play away from that changing. Through recruiting and the portal, Coach Rossomando and his staff have added talent to the position to go along with two other returnees.
 
Local product Lucas Powell returns for his third season with the program after redshirting the 2024 campaign. He saw time in four games last year. He is joined by Julian Salazar who redshirted the 2025 season but was signed as a highly recruited talent out of Clear Springs High School. LU also added Braeden Imhoff on early signing day and Evan Bullock (Louisiana Tech) as part of a nationally-ranked transfer portal class in February.
 
Both Powell and Salazar were first-team all-district selections coming out of high school who now have another year of experience under their belt, while Bullock comes to Beaumont having put up big numbers at Louisiana Tech. A Conference USA All-Freshman team selection, Bullock completed 226 passes for 2,365 yards and 14 touchdowns during his time in Ruston, while Imhoff signed with Lamar after being named the District 6-6A Offensive Player of the Year.
 
"Evan has some FBS experience after his time at Louisiana Tech where he landed on the league's all-rookie team," said Rossomando. "He has a strong arm and has done a great job of picking up our offense. Julian Salazar has all the tools – he is a great runner, great arm talent and now he is really starting to pick up the nuances of playing quarterback. He has really come along. Lucas Powell gives us a dual threat – he can run and he is an accomplished passer. He does a great job of anticipating routes and coverages and he's come along way as well. We also have incoming freshman Braeden Imhoff who is super talented and he is just learning the process right now. We have five talented guys in that quarterback room that we feel really good about.
 
"Every quarterback battle is a battle. You just want to see guys who continue to improve and these guys have, and they have also done a good job of supporting each other," added Rossomando.