Winners and losers in the college football transfer portal - ESPN Insider

[iowajerms]

Part 1 of 3

Winners and losers in the college football transfer portal

The transfer portal has dominated college football's offseason, enchanting and infuriating fans along the way.

On this we can agree: The portal, like realignment and satellite camps before it, successfully filled the void between the national title game and the start of preseason camps. In a sport lacking a transactional period outside the coaching carousel, the portal provides daily intrigue. Hundreds of players have been affected, as has almost every FBS team.

Just like the players, certain teams emerge from the portal better off than others. Some teams have filled multiple needs, and some have seen their rosters damaged by departures.

The portal remains very active, but it's time to assess the winners and losers (so far) of Transfer Portal Year 1. This list assesses additions and subtractions, and not only players immediately eligible for the 2019 season. Both the quantity and quality of portal players affected these selections.

Winner: Miami

No new coach embraced the transfer portal like Miami's Manny Diaz, who celebrated new roster additions with portal-themed Twitter GIFs. Miami bolstered both sides of the ball with known names from notable programs. Although Ohio State quarterback transfer Tate Martell made the biggest national splash, Miami also added wide receiver K.J. Osborn, who caught 53 passes (seven touchdowns) for Buffalo in 2018.

After losing standout linemen Gerald Willis and Joe Jackson to the NFL, the Hurricanes picked up former Virginia Tech defensive end Trevon Hill, who had 5.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss in 2017. Miami also added two potential impact defenders from UCLA in tackle Chigozie Nnoruka and edge rusher Jaelan Phillips, ESPN's No. 3 overall recruit in 2016, who has struggled with injuries. Safety Bubba Bolden, a safety from USC and an ESPN 300 recruit in 2017, is another potential impact addition.

Although the Canes could miss wide receiver Lawrence Cager, who transferred to Georgia, their net portal result is undoubtedly positive.

Loser: Penn State

From early NFL draft exits to 2020 recruit flips to a sizable portal contingent, Penn State's roster has been partially reshaped by a turbulent offseason. Coach James Franklin and his staff have recruited well enough recently to forge ahead, but if things go the other way, many will point to the surprising amount of attrition since December.

After waiting several years behind quarterback Trace McSorley, Tommy Stevens needed a stronger playing-time guarantee and transferred to Mississippi State, leaving unproven Sean Clifford as McSorley's successor. Other potential offensive contributors to depart include wide receivers Juwan Johnson (Oregon) and Brandon Polk (James Madison). Penn State's defense loses a group of likely second- and third-stringers, along with former starting linebacker Manny Bowen, who was briefly reinstated last summer but ultimately decided to enter the portal and landed at Utah.

Winner: Missouri

The Tigers belong here for multiple reasons. Not only did they bolster their quarterback room for 2019, and possibly beyond, with Clemson's Kelly Bryant and TCU's Shawn Robinson; Missouri also has yet to see any seniors enter the portal, even though they can transfer without sitting out this fall because of a bowl ban (Mizzou is appealing). That's a testament to coach Barry Odom, who took over the job at a difficult time for both the program and particularly the university but has quietly steadied things in Columbia.

Bryant helped Clemson to the 2017 ACC championship and the College Football Playoff, recording six wins against ranked teams and being named a Maxwell Award finalist. Robinson started games in each of the past two seasons at TCU and could be a good fit for a Missouri offense that surged behind Drew Lock. The Tigers also added wide receiver Jonathan Nance, who led Arkansas in receptions (37), receiving yards (539) and receiving touchdowns (5) in 2017.

Loser: UCLA

Similar to Penn State, UCLA's overall number of portal entries jumps out more than the impact those departures could have. In fact, the Bruins are losing even fewer obvious contributors than the Nittany Lions. Unlike Penn State, though, UCLA comes off of a losing season (3-9) and signed a 2019 recruiting class featuring only one ESPN 300 prospect and no other four-star players. UCLA's portal contingent includes several onetime elite recruits such as Phillips, linebacker Mique Juarez (Utah) and offensive lineman Josh Wariboko-Alali. Also gone is quarterback Devon Modster, who announced his transfer weeks into the 2018 season and landed within the league at Cal.

Coach Chip Kelly has proven that he can win big at this level, even without the most celebrated recruits. The Bruins added quarterback Colson Yankoff from Washington, ESPN's No. 68 overall player in the 2018 recruiting class. But there's understandable angst about UCLA's roster makeup right now.

 

[iowajerms]

Part 2 of 3

Winner: Maryland

First-year Terrapins coach Mike Locksley is known for his recruiting prowess, especially in his hometown of Washington and the surrounding areas. But Locksley and Maryland made several potentially key additions through the transfer portal. Among those joining the Terps are two former Virginia Tech starters, quarterback Josh Jackson and defensive back Sean Savoy (played offense for the Hokies), as well as linebacker Shaq Smith, a former top-25 national recruit who had a key reserve role for Clemson in 2018. Smith will play alongside linebacker Keandre Jones, who appeared in 33 games at Ohio State before entering the portal. Maryland also added some depth at tight end with Tyler Mabry, who had 27 receptions for Buffalo last season.

Another reason Maryland belongs here is minimal attrition, despite a tumultuous 2018 that included the death of offensive lineman Jordan McNair, multiple investigations into the program and the firing of coach DJ Durkin on Oct. 31. The Terrapins lost a few players to the portal, including former starting quarterback Kasim Hill and defensive back Qwuantrezz Knight, but things could have been much worse.

Loser: Virginia Tech

After a 19-8 start to the Justin Fuente era, Virginia Tech has entered a spin cycle of mostly bad news. The Hokies are all over the portal, almost exclusively with players leaving Blacksburg for other programs. They're also losing quite a few experienced players, such as Jackson, Savoy, Hill and wide receiver Eric Kumah, a former starter who transferred to Old Dominion. Even tight end Chris Cunningham, who will join Kumah at Old Dominion, made five starts during his Virginia Tech career.

The Hokies did add Oregon quarterback transfer Braxton Burmeister, who started five games for the Ducks in 2017. Virginia Tech's overall returning production is good, but the number of players in the portal doesn't exactly boost optimism for a turnaround in Year 4 for Fuente.

Winner: Oklahoma

In the ultimate sign of college football in 2019, Oklahoma looked to the transfer portal to replace Kyler Murray, the second consecutive Sooner quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy and become the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft. OU landed quite the prize in Jalen Hurts, a multiyear starter at Alabama who lost his job to Heisman runner-up Tua Tagovailoa last season. While Hurts' arrival pushed Austin Kendall into the portal, OU gladly will take the swap before turning to a parade of highly recruited quarterbacks in 2020 and beyond.

The Sooners also retained wide receiver A.D. Miller, who seemed headed for Illinois before reversing field. There were some departures, including defensive linemen Derek Green and Ron Tatum, whose exits reduce options at a position that must improve under new coordinator Alex Grinch.

Loser: Louisville

This isn't a knock on new Cardinals coach Scott Satterfield or his staff. A mini-exodus seemed inevitable after the toxic end of Bobby Petrino's second stint leading the program. Defensive end Jon Greenard is the biggest loss, as he emerged as Louisville's top pass-rusher in 2017, with seven sacks and 15 tackles for loss before missing almost all of last season with a wrist injury. Greenard will suit up for Florida this fall. The Cardinals defense also loses young tackle Allen Love to Mississippi State.

The portal also hit Louisville's offensive skill depth fairly hard, particularly at running back, where Trey Smith and Colin Wilson both depart despite solid production in limited work last fall. Reserve quarterbacks Jordan Travis and Sean McCormack also entered the portal, landing at Florida State and Western Kentucky, respectively.

Winner: UCF

After 25 wins the past two seasons, UCF has become a destination for players seeking fresh starts. Quarterback McKenzie Milton's catastrophic leg injury changed the program's short-term outlook, but the Knights added Notre Dame transfer Brandon Wimbush to supplement the depth. Even if Wimbush, who started 15 games at Notre Dame, doesn't beat out Darriel Mack Jr., he should find a role in UCF's dynamic offense.

The Knights also bolstered their defensive-line depth with Virginia Tech transfer Cameron Goode and Brandon Wilson, who appeared in all 12 games for Indiana (starting one) last season. Goode, an ESPN 300 selection in the 2018 class, left Virginia Tech shortly before preseason camp last summer.

 

[iowajerms]

Part 3 of 3

Loser: Florida

The Gators' portal population isn't insignificant but also shouldn't hurt the positive trajectory of coach Dan Mullen's program. Florida gained a big piece in Greenard, who will bolster an already talented defense. But the departure of Steele could hurt in the long term, and Florida also lost onetime elite defensive recruit Antonneous Clayton (Georgia Tech), as well as linebackers Rayshad Jackson (UNLV) and Kylan Johnson (Pitt), and lineman Malik Langham (Vanderbilt).

Florida's offense also saw the exits of offensive lineman T.J. McCoy, who started nine games in 2017, and quarterback Jalon Jones, an ESPN 300 selection in the 2019 class who transferred this spring to Jackson State amid accusations of sexual battery.

Winner: USC

No team's portal fortunes changed more dramatically than USC's, which looked like a sure loser until recent weeks. Wide receiver Bru McCoy's unprecedented path led him back to USC, the program he signed with in December but left weeks later for Texas. The Trojans also added Chris Steele, a Los Angeles-area product who signed with Florida, appeared headed to Oregon but instead will suit up in cardinal and gold. In McCoy and Steele, USC gains two ESPN top-100 recruits who can help on each side of the ball. Two offensive players who explored transferring, wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. and quarterback Matt Fink, both decided to remain at USC for the 2019 season.

USC loses quite a few players to the portal, including Bolden, wide receiver Trevon Sidney and linebacker Oluwole Betiku Jr., ESPN's No. 59 overall player in the 2016 recruiting class. But the additions of McCoy and Steele offset the departures.

Loser: Texas

The McCoy news certainly helped USC's case as a portal winner and nudged Texas into the losers bracket. Although Texas remains very strong at wide receiver for 2019, the Longhorns could have used a player of McCoy's caliber for 2020 and 2021. Not surprisingly, the portal affected Texas' quarterback depth, as former starter Shane Buechele (SMU) and Cameron Rising (Utah) both moved on. Texas also loses multiple running backs in Kyle Porter (Houston) and Toneil Carter (Sam Houston State), both of whom started games in 2017.

The good news here is Texas' defense, which will be rebuilding a bit in 2019, lost only one player to the portal in reserve lineman Michael Williams (LSU).

Winner: Arkansas

I debated including the Hogs, who, like other teams -- Illinois, Utah, Texas Tech, Florida State -- had quite a lot of portal activity on both sides. But after a season where almost nothing went right, Arkansas added two quarterbacks with starting experience in Ben Hicks (SMU) and Nick Starkel (Texas A&M). Hicks left SMU as the program's all-time passing leader, while Starkel showed some promise in 2017 before losing the top job to Kellen Mond.

Arkansas also added to its offensive line with Luke Jones, a Little Rock native who redshirted at Notre Dame last season. And Trelon Smith, a running-back transfer from Arizona State, also landed with the Razorbacks. Although Arkansas loses top receiver La'Michael Pettway (Iowa State), defensive back Chevin Calloway (SMU) and others, its portal performance should be deemed a success.

Loser: West Virginia

West Virginia made some portal additions, most notably Kendall from Oklahoma but also defensive end Reuben Jones (Michigan), wide receiver George Campbell (Florida State) and safety Alonzo Addae (New Hampshire). It's also possible, albeit unlikely, that standout safety Kenny Robinson Jr. returns to Morgantown after entering the portal earlier this month.

The concern is that Robinson, a first-team All-Big 12 selection in 2018, is one of three Mountaineers safeties in the portal. Derrek Pitts Jr., a projected starter who appeared in 12 contests last season (starting two), already has transferred to Marshall. E.J. Brown, a projected reserve, also entered the portal. While WVU had some expected departures -- offensive linemen Matt Jones and Dontae Angus, wide receivers Marcus Simms (entered the portal but instead will go to the NFL supplemental draft) and Dillon Spalding -- the hit at safety is significant for a defense lacking depth and going through a coaching transition.

 

[outofyourmind]

Loser: Texas

The McCoy news certainly helped USC's case as a portal winner and nudged Texas into the losers bracket. Although Texas remains very strong at wide receiver for 2019, the Longhorns could have used a player of McCoy's caliber for 2020 and 2021. Not surprisingly, the portal affected Texas' quarterback depth, as former starter Shane Buechele (SMU) and Cameron Rising (Utah) both moved on. Texas also loses multiple running backs in Kyle Porter (Houston) and Toneil Carter (Sam Houston State), both of whom started games in 2017.

The good news here is Texas' defense, which will be rebuilding a bit in 2019, lost only one player to the portal in reserve lineman Michael Williams (LSU).

None of that sounds good.









and I like it

 

[GoldRusher]

Part 2 of 3



Loser: Virginia Tech

After a 19-8 start to the Justin Fuente era, Virginia Tech has entered a spin cycle of mostly bad news. The Hokies are all over the portal, almost exclusively with players leaving Blacksburg for other programs. They're also losing quite a few experienced players, such as Jackson, Savoy, Hill and wide receiver Eric Kumah, a former starter who transferred to Old Dominion. Even tight end Chris Cunningham, who will join Kumah at Old Dominion, made five starts during his Virginia Tech career.

The Hokies did add Oregon quarterback transfer Braxton Burmeister, who started five games for the Ducks in 2017. Virginia Tech's overall returning production is good, but the number of players in the portal doesn't exactly boost optimism for a turnaround in Year 4 for Fuente.

.

 

[Olyduck]

Winners TBD
Losers TBD

 

[Gohogs14]

Thought for sure we’d be in the losers category given how much attrition we’ve had (31 players have left since Morris took over) but I guess when you’re as bad as we were that’s not a bad thing. I think we upgraded at QB any way you slice it.

 

[steelerssb]

Hard not to like what Mizzou got out of it. There's still some nice pieces on offense but they wouldn't have had a QB to throw them the ball without Bryant.

 

[78Cyclones]

Thought for sure we’d be in the losers category given how much attrition we’ve had (31 players have left since Morris took over) but I guess when you’re as bad as we were that’s not a bad thing. I think we upgraded at QB any way you slice it.

Iowa State appreciates the Wide Receiver!

Arkansas grad transfer WR La'Michael Pettway commits to Iowa State

 

[jwolt92]

Hard to argue that Illinois didn't make out as winners in the transfer portal.

Got 2 wide receivers from USC as well as a linebacker who will be a week 1 starter
Brandon Peters from Michigan, likely week 1 starter
Guard from Alabama, likely week 1 starter

No idea how the WRs will be but they can't be worse than what's been on the depth chart

then got Luke Ford who was denied immediate eligibility but is still a solid TE from Georgia.

Not sure what they lost, but it couldn't have been anybody that talented with how bad they've been..

 

[NolePride]

We did okay and then we didn't do ok.

Blackman pulled his name after Francois was booted so we won there.
We didn't do ok because all the other players that went into the portal nobody took.

 

[Chewbaccer]

Losing Justin Fields probably makes us a loser in the portal, but we did pick up either starters or major contributors at WR and TE

 

[Red_Alert]

I'm quite fine with the NCAA opening up it's transfer rules.
However, I'm not so sure there are all these 'winners/losers' to it. Especially for teams who have newer (1st or 2nd year) coaches cleaning dead weight off their rosters. Face it, most of these guys are transferring because the new coach has expectations for them to work harder than the previous failed head coach had, or they don't want to sit the bench behind other players who are better or work harder for that starting spot.
A guy can be a Top 300 or Top 100 player coming out of high school, but once he gets to college it's a different game. His talent may have been so much better than his competition in high school where he didn't have to work hard to be a starter. He didn't have to study his playbook so much because he was dominant at that level. Once he gets to college his level of competition increases dramatically. Even walk-ons are going to work there asses off to get that starting spot. I'll take a walk-on who knows where he's supposed to be on the football field over some 4 or 5* glory boy out of high school who has no work ethic and expects everything to be handed to him like things were in high school.

It could easily be said that the majority of the time the team who has a player transferring out is the winner and the team picking up the new player is picking up a player with a bad attitude or lacks the work ethic to be a starter.

Harrison Beck, 4* QB out of Florida is a perfect example of the type of player I refer. He transferred to NC State where he continued his selfish failure.

Harrison Beck, Nebraska, Pro-Style Quarterback

Former Husker QB Harrison Beck is ‘the internet’s first starting quarterback’

 

[ericd7633]

I'm quite fine with the NCAA opening up it's transfer rules.
However, I'm not so sure there are all these 'winners/losers' to it. Especially for teams who have newer (1st or 2nd year) coaches cleaning dead weight off their rosters. Face it, most of these guys are transferring because the new coach has expectations for them to work harder than the previous failed head coach had, or they don't want to sit the bench behind other players who are better or work harder for that starting spot.
A guy can be a Top 300 or Top 100 player coming out of high school, but once he gets to college it's a different game. His talent may have been so much better than his competition in high school where he didn't have to work hard to be a starter. He didn't have to study his playbook so much because he was dominant at that level. Once he gets to college his level of competition increases dramatically. Even walk-ons are going to work there asses off to get that starting spot. I'll take a walk-on who knows where he's supposed to be on the football field over some 4 or 5* glory boy out of high school who has no work ethic and expects everything to be handed to him like things were in high school.

It could easily be said that the majority of the time the team who has a player transferring out is the winner and the team picking up the new player is picking up a player with a bad attitude or lacks the work ethic to be a starter.

Harrison Beck, 4* QB out of Florida is a perfect example of the type of player I refer. He transferred to NC State where he continued his selfish failure.

Harrison Beck, Nebraska, Pro-Style Quarterback

Former Husker QB Harrison Beck is ‘the internet’s first starting quarterback’

Holy shit I thought I was reading The Onion there for a second with those quotes. There isn't a worse guy than dude who thinks he's important but isn't, and tells everyone he is.

 

[Red_Alert]

Holy shit I thought I was reading The Onion there for a second with those quotes. There isn't a worse guy than dude who thinks he's important but isn't, and tells everyone he is.

Dude's a fucking mess now. Just a fat fuck who thinks he's better than current NFL starting QB's. Delusional as hell.

He always wanted to call his own plays in the huddle. Head coach and offensive coordinator be damned.

 

[Red_Alert]

As I said labeling winners/losers could go both ways.

When getting some transfer in who was highly rated out of high school, you may be getting someone else's problem child.

 

[jwolt92]

Former Husker QB Harrison Beck is ‘the internet’s first starting quarterback’

That was absolutely amazing.. holy shit what a tool