Recapping Day 1 of the spring transfer portal window
Within the first 24 hours of the spring transfer portal window being open, there are already close to 100 new free agents at just the FBS level of college football.
It was the beginning of what will surely be an influx of players going into the portal these next two weeks with the portal window being open from Saturday through April 30.
Here’s a recap of Day 1 of the spring portal window:
The numbers
As of 9:30 p.m. CT, 89 FBS scholarship players had entered the transfer portal Saturday, beginning with Marshall wide receiver EJ Horton popping up courtesy of the Thundering Herd’s compliance office just two minutes after the midnight opening of the portal window.
While there weren’t any monumental entries, 35 of the 89 FBS scholarship entries were Power 5 players. There were also several non-Power 5 players that now appear in line to get P5 opportunities in the near future.
Colorado, which is close to wrapping up its first spring with Deion Sanders as its head coach, had the most entries among individual schools Saturday with five. TCU (four), Texas (four), Auburn (three), Kansas (three), Missouri (three), Kentucky (two), Maryland (two) and Texas Tech (two) were the only other Power 5 schools with more than one entry.
In all, 42 different FBS schools had at least one player go into the portal Saturday, including 14 Power 5 programs.
Names to know
Aside from Georgia defensive lineman and former Class of 2022 top-45 recruit Bear Alexander, who hasn’t officially entered the transfer portal yet, the portal player that may have generated the most excitement among Power 5 teams Saturday was Wyoming right guard Emmanuel Pregnon.
Never heard of him? You’re far from alone.
Nevertheless, he’ll likely be on the roster at a respectable Power 5 program in the not too distant future.
After not playing in any games during his first two years at Wyoming, the 6-foot-6, 320-pound Pregnon earned a starting job last year and ended up being selected as a Pro Football Focus All-Mountain West selection.
Pregnon already has scholarship offers from several Power 5 schools, including Oregon.
Some of the other intriguing players to enter the portal Saturday: Appalachian State interior offensive lineman Troy Everett, North Texas first-team All-Conference USA tight end Var’Keyes Gumms, Auburn defensive lineman Jeffrey M’Ba, Texas wide receiver and Class of 2022 top-100 recruit Brenen Thompson and San Diego State two-time first-team All-Mountain West safety Patrick McMorris, who committed to California Saturday night.
Everett, who started six games at center for App State last year, has already received Power 5 offers from Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Maryland and Louisville.
Gumms already has Power 5 offers from schools such as Arkansas and Utah.
Of the five Colorado players that went into the portal, the biggest name was cornerback Nikko Reed, a starter for the Buffaloes last year who led the team with two interceptions.
What to expect moving forward
With 36 FBS teams wrapping up spring ball with spring games on Saturday, it’s fair to assume there will be plenty more names going into the portal in the coming days.
There are then an additional 38 FBS teams with spring games next weekend and an additional seven with games the weekend of April 29.
It should lead to a steady flow of entries coming out of each weekend.