Transfer portal breakdown: About 45% of FBS starting QBs in 2022 expected to be transfers
Today marks the unofficial start of the 2022 college football season, as the first day of Big 12 Media Days begins in Arlington, Texas. Five league coaches speak today, with the other five talking Thursday. One of the main topics for the coaches, at all conference media days, will be the transfer portal, which obviously has changed the parameters of roster management.
In that vein, we’re going to dive back into the transfer portal with a look at the projected starting quarterbacks for all 131 FBS teams, focusing on those who are transfers.
As it stands now – obviously, things can change in preseason camp – 58 of the 131 projected starting quarterbacks are transfers (we’re not counting junior college transfers; this is strictly transfers from four-year schools). That’s 44.3 percent. Last season, 37.7 percent of the starting quarterbacks in Week 1 were transfers.
Here’s a breakdown of transfer quarterbacks by league, with the Power 5 conferences first. Players denoted with an asterisk transferred this offseason.
ACC
Overview: Five teams could have transfers who start, including two who transferred this offseason. Four of the transfers are from Power 5 schools; one is from a Group of 5 school.
The transfers
Boston College: Phil Jurkovec (from Notre Dame)
Florida State: Jordan Travis (from Louisville)
Pitt: *Kedon Slovis (from USC)
Syracuse: Garrett Shrader (from Mississippi State)
Virginia Tech: *Grant Wells (from Marshall)
Notes: Slovis will vie with holdover Nick Patti for the job during camp. … South Carolina transfer Jason Brown, who began his career at FCS St. Francis (Pa.), also is in the mix for the Virginia Tech job. Like Wells, he entered the transfer portal and chose the Hokies this offseason.
Big Ten
Overview: Four teams could have transfers who start, including three who transferred this offseason. All four transfers are from Power 5 schools.
The transfers:
Indiana: *Connor Bazelak (from Missouri)
Illinois: *Tommy DeVito (from Syracuse)
Nebraska: *Casey Thompson (from Texas)
Northwestern: Ryan Hilinski (from South Carolina)
Note: While Gavin Wimsatt is expected to win the job at Rutgers, Noah Vedral also will be competing. He began his career at UCF, transferred to Nebraska and then to Rutgers.
Big 12
Overview: Five teams could have transfers who start, including four who transferred this offseason. Four are from Power 5 schools, and the other is from a Group of 5 program.
The transfers
Kansas State: *Adrian Martinez (from Nebraska)
Oklahoma: *Dillon Gabriel (from UCF)
Texas: *Quinn Ewers (from Ohio State)
Texas Tech: Tyler Shough (from Oregon)
West Virginia: *J.T. Daniels (from Georgia)
Note: Max Duggan returns as TCU’s starter, but Chandler Morris – who began his career at Oklahoma before entering the transfer portal and picking TCU last season – could win the starting job in summer camp. … Daniels is on his third school – USC first, then Georgia and now WVU.
Pac-12
Overview: Eight teams could have transfers who start, including seven who transferred this offseason. Seven are from Power 5 schools; the other is from an FCS program.
The transfers
Arizona: *Jayden de Laura (from Washington State)
Arizona State: *Emory Jones (from Florida)
Cal: *Jack Plummer (from Purdue)
Oregon: *Bo Nix (from Auburn)
USC: *Caleb Williams (from Oklahoma)
Utah: Cameron Rising (from Texas)
Washington: *Michael Penix Jr. (from Indiana)
Washington State: *Cam Ward (from Incarnate Word)
Notes: Plummer needs to hold off holdover Kai Millner for the Cal starting job. … Penix, meanwhile, will be competing with holdovers Dylan Morris and Sam Huard, though Penix’s familiarity with the offense (new coach Kalen DeBoer was at Indiana with Penix for a time) is a plus.
SEC
Overview: Seven teams could have transfers who start, including five who transferred this offseason. All seven are from Power 5 programs.
The transfers
Auburn: *Zach Calzada (from Texas A&M)
Kentucky: Will Levis (from Penn State)
LSU: *Jayden Daniels (from Arizona State)
Ole Miss: *Jaxson Dart (from USC)
South Carolina: *Spencer Rattler (from Oklahoma)
Tennessee: Hendon Hooker (from Virginia Tech)
Texas A&M: *Max Johnson (from LSU)
Notes: The Auburn quarterback room is a sort of “Transfer Portal Central.” Calzada is competing with holdover T.J. Finley (a one-time LSU transfer) and fellow newcomer Robby Ashford (transfer from Oregon) for Auburn’s starting job. … LSU’s starting job also will be determined in camp. Daniels is competing with holdovers Myles Brennan and Garrett Nussmeier. … Johnson is not the four-sure starter at A&M. Haynes King, who won the starting job last season before being lost for the year because of an injury suffered in Game 3, and true freshman Conner Weigman also are in the mix.
AAC
Overview: Four teams could have transfers who start, including two who transferred this offseason. Three are from P5 schools, and the other is from a G5 program.
The transfers
Cincinnati: *Ben Bryant (from Eastern Michigan)
SMU: Tanner Mordecai (from Oklahoma)
Temple: D’Wan Mathis (from Georgia)
USF: *Gerry Bohanon (from Baylor)
Note: Bryant transferred back to Cincinnati this offseason. He began his career as a Bearcat, transferred to EMU last season and now has returned. … Ole Miss transfer John Rhys Plumlee could win the job at UCF.
Conference USA
Overview: Five teams could have transfers who start, including three who transferred this offseason. Four are from Power 5 programs, with the other a Group of 5 transfer.
The transfers
FAU: N’Kosi Perry (from Miami)
FIU: *Gunnar Holmberg (from Duke)
Louisiana Tech: *Matthew Downing (from TCU)
North Texas: Austin Aune (from Arkansas)
Western Kentucky: *Jarret Doege (from Western Kentucky)
Notes: Downing is on his third school. He walked-on at Georgia, transferred to TCU and now is at Louisiana Tech. He will vie with fellow transfer Parker McNeil (Texas Tech) for the starting job in camp. McNeil is on his third school as well. He signed with Troy out of junior college, transferred to Texas Tech and then moved on to LaTech. … Aune will turn 29 during the season. He signed with TCU out of high school but decided to play pro baseball instead. After six years in the minors, he retired from baseball and signed with Arkansas. He later transferred to UNT. … Doege is on his third school, too. He began his career at Bowling Green, then moved on to West Virginia before deciding to finish at Western Kentucky. … Holmberg’s uncle, Rob, played eight seasons in the NFL. And his great uncle was NFL Hall of Famer George Blanda, who played 26 seasons of pro football.
Independents
Overview: Two teams could have transfers who start; both transferred from Power 5 schools this offseason.
The transfers
Liberty: *Charlie Brewer (from Utah)
UConn: *Ta’Quan Roberson (from Penn State)
Note: Brewer is on his third school; he began at Baylor before moving on to Utah and now Liberty. … Roberson is competing with Northern Arizona transfer Cale Millen for the starting job; Millen began his career at Oregon. Millen’s brother, Clay, is the projected starting quarterback at Colorado State, and his dad, Hugh, starred at quarterback at Washington before playing in the NFL.
Mid-American
Overview: Three teams could have transfers who start, including one who transferred this offseason. Two are from P5 programs; the other is from a Group of 5 school.
The transfers
Bowling Green: Matt McDonald (from Boston College)
Eastern Michigan: *Taylor Powell (from Troy)
Northern Illinois: Rocky Lombardi (from Michigan State)
Notes: Powell is on his third school. He began his college career at Missouri, then transferred to Troy and now is at EMU. … Rutgers transfer Cole Snyder has a shot at the starting job with Buffalo.
Mountain West
Overview: Eight teams could have transfers who start, including five who transferred this offseason. It’s evenly split between Power 5 and Group of 5 transfers.
The transfers
Colorado State: *Clay Millen (from Nevada)
Fresno State: Jake Haener (from Washington)
Hawaii: Cammon Cooper (from Washington State)
New Mexico: *Miles Kendrick (from Kansas)
San Diego State: *Braxton Burmeister (from Virginia Tech)
San Jose State: *Chevan Cordeiro (from Hawaii)
Utah State: Logan Bonner (from Arkansas State)
Wyoming: *Andrew Peasley (from Utah State)
Note: Ahh, the Mountain West, the land of the transfer portal quarterback. Burmeister, a San Diego-area native, is on his third school. He signed with Oregon out of high school, transferred to Virginia Tech and now is at San Diego State. … Peasley had been the backup at Wyoming. Coincidentally, Utah State’s backup this season will be Levi Williams, Wyoming’s starter last season who transferred. Thus, Peasley and Williams switched roles. … Tennessee transfer Harrison Bailey has a shot at winning the job at UNLV. Pitt transfer Joey Yellen could win the job at Hawaii (Yellen began his career at Arizona State). And Oklahoma State transfer Shane Illingworth is in the hunt at Nevada. Sort of cool about the Nevada quarterback battle: Presumptive starter Nate Cox is 6 feet 9, while Illingworth is 6-6.
Sun Belt
Overview: Eight teams could have transfers who start, including five who transferred this offseason. Three are from Power 5 programs, four from G5 schools and one from an FCS school.
The transfers
Appalachian State: Chase Brice (from Duke)
Arkansas State: James Blackman (from Florida State)
Georgia Southern: *Kyle Vantrease (from Buffalo)
Georgia State: Darren Grainger (from Furman)
James Madison: *Todd Centeio (from Colorado State)
Marshall: *Henry Colombi (from Texas Tech)
South Alabama: *Carter Bradley (from Toledo)
Texas State: *Layne Hatcher (from Arkansas State)
Note: Some of the transfers in this league have a lot of transfer portal knowledge. Brice is on his third school. He began his career at Clemson, transferred to Duke, then moved on to App State. Centeio also is on his third school: He has gone from Temple to Colorado State to James Madison (the Dukes are in their first season in the FBS ranks). Hatcher is on his third school, too. He walked-on at Alabama out of high school, transferred to Arkansas State and now is at Texas State. … Fresno State transfer Ben Wooldridge has a shot at winning the starting quarterback job at Louisiana.