Transfer QBs will play pivotal part in NCAA football season

Love it or hate it, the transfer portal is the new wave in college football, with players bouncing from team to team and elite programs readily able to replenish outgoing NFL talent.

Since December, a record 2,707 FBS players entered their names in the portal, according to ESPN, with 883 ending up on rosters of schools in Power Four conferences.

Colorado was active for a second straight year under Deion Sanders, but it was Indiana – which brought in Canadian quarterback Kurtis Rourke – that had the most activity via the portal, with 37 outgoing players and 31 incoming, including 13 that followed new head coach Curt Cignetti from James Madison.

Rourke was far from the only signal-caller on the move – in total, 192 scholarship quarterbacks switched programs ahead of this season.

Here’s a look at some of the notables transfers that are expected to have immediate impacts:

Dillon Gabriel, Oregon, Senior

2023 with Oklahoma: 3,660 passing yards, 69.3 per cent completion rate, 30 TD, 6 INT

Out with Heisman finalist Bo Nix, in with Gabriel.

The Ducks quickly restocked at quarterback, adding Gabriel, who entered the transfer portal after winning 10 games with Oklahoma last season and keeping the Sooners in the playoff picture until early November.

Oregon lost its top pass catcher from last year, Troy Franklin, to the NFL Draft (like Nix, selected by the Broncos), but still boasts one of the top receiver rooms in the nation. Tez Franklin, who had 86 catches and 10 touchdowns, is back in Eugene, joined by Evan Stewart, who transferred to the Ducks after spending two years in the SEC with Texas A&M.

Gabriel – the preseason Heisman favourite – will help transition Oregon from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten, where it’ll get acquainted with Ohio State in October, before a visit to the Big House to face Michigan in November. A berth in the conference championship would make the Ducks a near-lock for the playoff, after they came up a win short last December.

Will Howard, Ohio State, Senior

2023 with Kansas State: 2,643 passing yards, 61.3 per cent completion rate, 24 TD, 10 INT

It was a game of quarterback musical chairs at Ohio State, with Kyle McCord moving to Syracuse after his first year as the Buckeyes’ starter, and Howard shifting from Kansas State to Columbus via the portal.

Howard has no shortage of tools at his disposal, with Ohio State boasting one of college football’s most talented rosters.

The Buckeyes replenished their wide receiver room following Marvin Harrison Jr.’s departure for the NFL, adding five-star recruit Jeremiah Smith, who is expected to play alongside senior Emeka Egbuka and have an immediate impact as a true freshman. Running back Quinshon Judkins joins from Ole Miss, having rushed for 2,725 yards and 31 touchdowns in two years in the SEC.

Ohio State also used the transfer portal to secure its future at quarterback, landing five-star recruit Julian Sayin – an early enrollee at Alabama that switched course following Nick Saban’s retirement.

Cam Ward, Miami, Senior

2023 with Washington State: 3,735 passing yards, 66.6 per cent completion rate, 25 TD, 7 INT

Ward was an early-season Heisman candidate in 2023, after passing for 1,393 yards and 13 touchdowns without an interception in Washington State’s first four games, which included a pair of wins over ranked teams. But it was downhill from there – the Cougars lost their next six games and seven of their final eight, with the lone win coming at home against Colorado.

At Miami, he’ll have a chance to revamp an offence that is yet to take off under head coach Mario Cristobal, who took the reins in 2022 after spending the previous four seasons on Oregon’s sideline.

Ward has his share of options, with the Hurricanes returning leading pass-catchers Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George, and having added fellow transfer Sam Brown, who had 62 catches with Houston. Miami also nabbed one of the top running backs in the portal in Damien Martinez, who rushed for 1,185 in 2023 with Oregon State.

DJ Uiagalelei, Florida State, Senior

2023 with Oregon State: 2,638 passing yards, 57.1 per cent completion rate, 21 TD, 7 INT

Uiagalelei fills the gap left by Jordan Travis, who jumped to the NFL as a fifth-round pick, and whose broken ankle in mid-November was the reasoning behind the selection committee’s controversial decision to leave undefeated Florida State out of last year’s playoff.

The Seminoles made certain to leave no questions at quarterback this season, securing Uiagalelei, who paced Oregon State’s offence in a loaded Pac-12 in 2023.

Uiagalelei is no stranger to the ACC, having spent the first three years of his college career at Clemson, leading the Tigers to consecutive double-digit win seasons in 2021 and 2022 before being bounced in favour of current starter Cade Klubnik.

At Florida State, he’ll have an opportunity to lead the Seminoles to their second consecutive conference title, but faces an uphill climb after last weekend’s loss to Georgia Tech in Dublin.

Riley Leonard, Notre Dame, Senior

2023 with Duke: 1,102 passing yards, 57.6 per cent completion rate, 3 TD, 3 INT

Leonard’s numbers with the Blue Devils don’t jump off the page, but he did lead Duke to four straight wins to start last season before an ankle injury against Notre Dame in late-September derailed any hopes of contending for an ACC title. Now he joins the Irish, and has been cleared as a full-go after a pair of offseason surgeries.

Notre Dame got limited production from its receivers group last year, but added a trio of pass catchers via the portal, including Kris Mitchell, who had 64 catches and 1,118 yards last season at Florida International. Also working in Leonard’s favour: The Irish brought offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock back for another stint in South Bend, after he had a large hand in Jayden Daniels’ ascent to the Heisman last season at LSU.

Will Rogers, Washington, Senior

2023 with Mississippi State: 1,626 passing yards, 59.9 per cent completion rate, 12 TD, 6 INT

Washington is hoping for similar success with Rogers that it had with Michael Penix Jr., who transferred from Indiana in 2022 and led the Huskies all the way to last year’s CFP National Championship game.

The challenge: Replicating last year’s success without wide receivers Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan, each of which went in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft. In total, Washington is returning just two of 22 starters from last year’s team, and also lost head coach Kalen DeBoer to Alabama, replacing him with Jedd Fisch, who led Arizona to a bowl win last December.

In four years at Mississippi State, Rogers passed for 12,315 yards, which is second in SEC history. Now, he shifts to the Big Ten, helping the Huskies get acclimated following the dissolution of the Pac-12.

Aidan Chiles, Michigan State, Sophomore

2023 with Oregon State: 309 passing yards, 68.6 per cent completion rate, 4 TD, 0 INT

Chiles is one of the most intriguing players in college football this season, having transferred to Michigan State from Oregon State, reuniting with former Beavers head coach Jonathan Smith, who accepted the Spartans’ position in November.

Chiles backed up Uiagalelei as a freshman in 2023, and was electrifying in spot duty, throwing for four touchdowns and rushing for three more. As a dual threat, he’ll get a chance to revive a reeling Michigan State program that’s managed only nine wins in the last two years combined, though it won’t come easy in the revamped Big Ten.

Kyle McCord, Syracuse, Senior

2023 with Ohio State: 3,670 passing yards, 65.8 per cent completion rate, 24 TD, 6 INT

McCord did everything that was asked of him in the first 11 games of last season, but threw two interceptions in the Buckeyes’ back-breaking loss to Michigan – a game that squashed Ohio State’s playoff hopes and effectively ended his career in Columbus. With head coach Ryan Day unwilling to commit to him as his starter moving forward, McCord hopped in the portal and made the move to Syracuse.

With the Orange, McCord will team up with incoming head coach Fran Brown to try and breathe some life into a program that went 24-37 over the last five years under Dino Babers.

Grayson McCall, NC State, Senior

2023 with Coastal Carolina: 1,919 yards, 67.4 per cent completion rate, 10 TD, 6 INT

McCall, a three-time Sun Belt player of the year, moves to NC State for his final year of eligibility.

Between 2020 and 2022, he threw 77 touchdown passes with just eight interceptions, carrying Coastal Carolina to 31 wins and a bowl appearance each season, after the Chanticleers had won a total of 13 games the previous three years. McCall was limited to just seven starts in 2023, and was shut down following a concussion in a game against Arkansas State in October.

At NC State, McCall takes the reins for a team that won nine games a year ago, and could challenge Florida State, Clemson and Miami for top spot in the ACC. The Wolfpack added another intriguing transfer in wide receiver Noah Rogers, a five-star recruit that redshirted his freshman year at Ohio State in 2023.

Kurtis Rourke, Indiana, Senior

2023 with Ohio: 2,207 passing yards, 63.5 per cent completion rate, 11 TD, 5 INT

Rourke, who’s from Oakville, Ont., earned MAC Most Valuable Player honours two years ago after throwing for 3,256 yards and 25 touchdowns, but tore his ACL late that season and never fully returned to form as a senior in 2023.

He opted to use his bonus year of NCAA eligibility to forgo the CFL Draft and transfer to Indiana, which is seeking a revival after hiring head coach Curt Cignetti away from Air Force.

Contending in the Big Ten seems a little ambitious this season for the Hoosiers, but Rourke will get a chance to work his way back onto the NFL radar in a Power Four conference, with a schedule that includes games against both Michigan and Ohio State.