KSR's 2022 QB Transfer Tracker
The college football season has finally arrived. Over the next five days, most of you reading will get some quality time in with the couch as you consume one of the best football weekends on the calendar.
With college football comes time for cold beverages and good, hearty bowl of chili while watching the best sport in the world during time spent with friends and loved ones. However, some of you like to have a little extra skin in the game.
KSR is here to help as our “Pick 3” show on YouTube is issuing out against the spread (ATS) locks every week throughout the college football season. For those of you that dabble, you’re just now starting to dig into roster and familiarize yourself with the personnel on other teams outside of the Bluegrass State.
Over the offseason, college football saw a ridiculous amount of player movement through the transfer portal. Most notably, a large chunk of this free agency occurred at the quarterback position. For those that follow the sport, there will be some familiar faces in odd places as you settle in to take on the season.
To help get you familiar with the movement, KSR is here to provide a cheat sheet on where some of the more notable quarterbacks transfers landed in the offseason.
The QB Rundown
By my count, there could/will be 19 transfers starting for Power Five programs during Week 1. KSR’s transfer portal tracker is here to get you up to speed.
— Jayden de Laura (Washington State to Arizona): After starting for two seasons in Pullman, Hawaii native Jayden de Laura was on the move in the offseason. The redshirt sophomore stayed in the Pac-12 and has been named Jedd Fisch’s leader of the program as the new staff is attempting to flip the roster in Tucson. Jayden de Laura averaged 7.8 yards per attempt in the Pac-12 last season while throwing 23 touchdowns on 30 attempts per game.
— Emory Jones (Florida to Arizona State): After a tough season where most Florida supporters wanted Anthony Richardson at quarterback, former top-100 recruit Emory Jones made the move to the Pac-12. The dual-threat quarterback averaged 7.9 yards per attempt last year while rushing for 759 yards and accounted for 23 total touchdowns. However, the redshirt senior had one of the highest PBU/INT rates (15.6%) in college football. As Herm Edwards enters a huge hot season season, Arizona State is banking on the Georgia native behind center.
— Jack Plummer (Purdue to California): A former high-three star recruit out of Greater Phoenix, Jack Plummer spent four seasons at Purdue and started 13 games before being beat out by former walk-on Aidan O’Connell. Plummer landed back on the west coast this offseason and will open the season as the starter for head coach Justin Wilcox in Berkeley. Named to the Senior Bowl Watchlist, this is a player to keep an eye on who possesses some real traits as a prospect despite averaging less than seven yards per attempt on 492 career passes.
— Tommy DeVito (Syracuse to Illinois): After losing his job to Garrett Shrader at Syracuse last season, Tommy DeVito entered the portal at landed at Illinois. The New Jersey native beat out Art Sitkowski in fall camp and opened as the starter at Illinois last Saturday in a Week 0 win against Wyoming. DeVito has a ton of experience (16 career starts), but some anemic career numbers (58.8% completion rate, 6.7 yards per attempt) must improve as a super senior. We should learn something on Friday when Illinois travels to Indiana.
— Connor Bazelak (Missouri to Indiana): In that Friday matchup in Bloomington, we’re expecting Missouri transfer Connor Bazelak to open as the starter for new offensive coordinator Walt Bell at Indiana. The Ohio native was named SEC Freshman of the Year in 2020 but dealt with injuries all of last season. After flashing a high career completion percentage (66%) without much big-play pop (7.0 yards per attempt), Bazelak is looking for a fresh start as a redshirt junior in the Big Ten.
— Adrian Martinez (Nebraska to Kansas State): After a career filled with ups and downs with Scott Frost at Nebraska, Adrian Martinez has found a new home. The dual-threat quarterback will spend his super senior season at K-State. Martinez, a former blue-chip recruit, has started 38 games in his career and has recorded over 8,000 passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards. Martinez should make a great team with All-American tailback Deuce Vaughn as the Wildcats are a true sleeper in the Big 12 title race.
— Jayden Daniels (Arizona State to LSU): Brian Kelly is keeping things silent before LSU opens the season on Sunday with Florida State, but all signs point to Arizona State transfer Jayden Daniels starting for the Bayou Bengals. A former top-50 recruit, Daniels started three years for the Sun Devils throwing for over 6,000 yards on 8.3 yards per attempt. The senior also rushed for over 700 yards last season giving new LSU offensive Mike Denbrock a lot to work with.
— Jaxson Dart (USC to Ole Miss): Lane Kiffin’s program won a heated transfer recruiting battle over BYU and Oklahoma as the Rebels landed former top-50 recruit Jaxson Dart. After starting three games for USC last fall, Dart arrived in Oxford for spring ball. The sophomore struggled early adjusting to the high-tempo offense at Ole Miss, but appeared to have a strong fall camp. Kiffin could use a QB platoon early, but Dart is the favorite to seize the QB1 role at the University of Mississippi. With high-level playmaking skills and a big enough arm to make most throws, the ceiling is very high for this transfer.
— Casey Thompson (Texas to Nebraska): The Texas transfer made his debut last week in Ireland playing for new offensive coordinator Mark Whipple. Nebraska lost to Northwestern, but Casey Thompson look comfortable (25/42, 355 yards, 2 total touchdowns) in the pass-heavy scheme. The redshirt senior started 10 games in 2021 for Steve Sarkisian in Austin.
— Dillon Gabriel (UCF to Oklahoma): After originally committing to UCLA, Dillon Gabriel flipped to Oklahoma to reunite with Jeff Lebby who was his UCF offensive coordinator. The excellent deep ball throwing lefty has tossed for 8,037 yards and 70 touchdowns in 26 career games on 9.6 yards per attempt. The redshirt junior should be a very good scheme fit in Norman in Lebby’s version of the Art Briles offense that uses tempo and spacing to hunt for chunk plays.
— Bo Nix (Auburn to Oregon): The famous legacy recruit at Auburn is now on the move after three seasons on the Plains. Bo Nix was a former five-star recruit out of Alabama who had is fair share of struggles at Auburn with a low completion percentage (59.4%) and struggled to complete vertical throws. Nix will now have his four play-caller in four seasons at Oregon, but he’ll have to hold off former blue-chip recruit Ty Thompson as the season progresses. Expect Nix to get his fourth start against Georgia on Saturday.
— Kedon Slovis (USC to Pittsburgh): Another QB that started games for USC last season also has a new home. Kedon Slovis will take over for Kenny Pickett at Pittsburgh but inherits a new offensive coordinator who will be utilizing a pro-style scheme that will be very different from Slovis’ Air Raid background. The senior has had issues staying healthy throughout his career but has 26 starts under his belt with 7,576 passing yards and 58 touchdowns on 7.9 yards per attempt with a high completion rate (68.4%) as Pitt looks to repeat in the ACC.
— Spencer Rattler (Oklahoma to South Carolina): At this time last year, many thought Spencer Rattler would be preparing for his NFL debut. Instead, the Arizona native has moved to South Carolina and will transition to a pro-style scheme in the SEC. The former five-star recruit was beaten out by Caleb Williams in Norman, but has posted strong numbers (70.1% completion rate, 4,595 passing yards, and 8.9 yards per attempt) in his career. The redshirt junior is looking to re-ignite his career in Shane Beamer’s program.
— Quinn Ewers (Ohio State to Texas): One of the highest ranked recruits of all-time will finally make his college debut on Saturday. After skipping his senior year to enroll early at Ohio State to take advantage of NIL opportunities, Quinn Ewers quickly entered the transfer portal and returned home to Texas. The former No. 1 overall recruit was Arch Manning before Arch Manning, and expectations are high for the redshirt freshman with some big league tools.
— Caleb Williams (Oklahoma to USC): In the least surprising move of the offseason, true freshman phenom Caleb Williams followed Lincoln Riley to USC. The sophomore showed major two-way playmaking as a rookie last season and could be a sneaky Heisman Trophy candidate this season as the numbers should again be video game caliber in this QB friendly system.
— Grant Wells (Marshall to Virginia Tech): Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry takes over at Virginia Tech and immediately had to jump into the transfer portal to address quarterback. The Hokies landed Grant Wells who started for two years at Marshall and threw for over 5,000 yards. Turnovers were an issue, and there will likely be some growing pains as the C-USA player makes the transition to the ACC.
— Michael Penix Jr. (Indiana to Washington): Injuries severely limited Michael Penix Jr. in his four seasons at Indiana so the lefty went looking for a fresh start after the 2021 season. The redshirt senior landed at Washington where he’ll reunite with former offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer who is now the head coach in Seattle. Penix has flashed the ability to make vertical throws, but must stay on the field to reach his potential. If Penix stays healthy he can put up numbers in the Pac-12 North.
— Cameron Ward (Incarnate Word to Washington State): One of the biggest hires new Washington State head coach Jake Dickert made was hiring FCS Incarnate Word head coach Eric Ward who will be bringing an Air Raid offense back to Pullman. A branch of the Mike Leach tree is bringing a star QB with him. Cameron Ward threw for over 4,600 yards last season and nearly 50 touchdowns leading his team to the FCS playoffs. The junior is receiving some draft buzz due to some intriguing physical traits. Ward could emerge as the surprise QB star this season.
— JT Daniels (Georgia to West Virginia): Yet another former USC quarterback, JT Daniels is now on this third school as a redshirt senior. In Morgantown, Daniels is reuniting with former offensive coordinator Graham Harrell who used to call plays at USC. Daniels has legitimate vertical accuracy but must improve decision making and intermediate consistency to succeed in this scheme.
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