The college football transfer portal‘s goal is often two-fold: for programs to improve their rosters and for players to improve their situations. But sometimes, the best-laid plans don’t come to fruition.
The 2024 cycle is ongoing, but much of the movement has finalized. Spring practices are around the corner, and the picture is becoming clearer as the dust settles from this winter.
Get the latest football and basketball transfer portal news from 247Sports.
30% off annual VIP membership! Get the latest football and recruiting scoop on your favorite college team today.
We took a look at a few notable situations and gave our opinion on if things got better or worse.
The Oregon quarterback room in 2023 with Bo Nix surged to record heights. Nix passed for more than 4,500 yards with 45 touchdowns and only three interceptions. He completed an extremely impressive 77.4% of his throws under offensive coordinator Will Stein. But Nix and his backup, Ty Thompson, are both gone, with Nix to the 2024 NFL Draft and Thompson transferring to Tulane.
The Ducks brought in Oklahoma sixth-year signal-caller Dillon Gabriel as the starter and also snagged Dante Moore from UCLA, who was a former five-star in the 2023 class. Moore had an inconsistent freshman season, finishing with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Gabriel is arguably the most battle-tested signal-caller in college football, and it shows on film with his poise and ability to read coverage. He’s thrown for more than 13,000 yards and 125 touchdowns in his career.
It’s safe to say that he’s going to put up fireworks at Oregon with the weapons at his disposal, which include transfer wide receiver Evan Stewart, who enters from Texas A&M. If you look at the entire quarterback room holistically, we think that the Ducks got better because of how they’re set up both for the present and the future.
The Longhorns had a remarkable skill group last season with wide receivers Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell and Jordan Whittington — plus tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders — as their top four pass catchers in 2023. Each member of the quartet is headed to the NFL, and Texas chose to reload mainly through the portal.
Texas added Alabama receiver Isaiah Bond and Oregon State receiver/return man Silas Bolden. The Longhorns also brought in Houston playmaker Matthew Golden. All three are outstanding players that are highly rated in the transfer portal rankings. There’s also tight end Amari Niblack from Alabama, who has undeniable skills in the vertical passing game.
It’s an extremely close call because both groups have dynamic players, but we prefer the 2023 cast, as it includes potential first-rounders in Worthy and Mitchell. Worthy was easily one of the most explosive wide receivers in college football, and Mitchell had uncanny skills on 50/50 balls. That said, we think this updated 2024 Texas skill group will still be one of the best in the country.
Last season’s transfer class for Colorado took the No. 1 overall spot in the 2023 cycle, which featured Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter — two likely first-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. Sanders ended up passing for 27 touchdowns and three interceptions behind a porous offensive line and running game. Hunter was a dynamic two-way threat and one of the best players in college football.
Also part of the class were productive receivers Jimmy Horn Jr., Xavier Weaver and defensive back Shilo Sanders. That’s quite a bit of star power and production from all over the roster.
The only thing that Colorado lacked in the 2023 portal class was productive trench players on the offensive and defensive lines. That was clearly a focus in 2024, and the Buffs addressed it by adding four-star defensive lineman Quency Wiggins (LSU), BJ Green (Arizona State) and Samuel Okunlola (Pittsburgh). The offensive line features four-star stud Tyler Johnson (Houston), plug-and-play center Yakiri Walker (UConn), and guard Justin Mayers (UTEP).
It’s safe to say that Colorado filled some holes this cycle up front, but we have to give the edge to the 2023 class. It’s tough to beat a group that includes the high-end talents of Hunter and Shedeur Sanders.
The Notre Dame quarterback position is always a high-profile one, and the Irish have brought in transfer quarterbacks the past two offseasons. Sam Hartman was rated as one of the top portal quarterbacks in 2023 because of his vast experience and production, which included 110 touchdown passes and 36 starts at Wake Forest.
This offseason, head coach Marcus Freeman brought in Riley Leonard from Duke. It’s a tremendous fit for Leonard, who is a plus athlete, but the big question is whether he will continue to improve as a passer. Leonard needs polish in terms of touch, accuracy and processing speed within the passing game.
He will have a great offensive coordinator to work with in Mike Denbrock, who returns from LSU and helped guide Jayden Daniels to a Heisman Trophy in 2023. For Notre Dame to beat elite teams in 2024, Leonard will have to take a significant leap as a passer, which is why we believe that the Irish got slightly worse at the position by losing Hartman.
It’s a tough call, and a part of the calculus is whether or not Leonard will have enough weapons at his disposal to succeed.
One intriguing situation in this portal window involved former Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers. The school’s all-time leading passer entered 2023 with high expectations but struggled adjusting to a new offensive system and dealt with a shoulder injury. Rogers finished the season with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions in eight games.
After head coach Zach Arnett was let go, Rogers transferred to Washington for Kalen DeBoer, who had just led his team to the College Football Playoff and experienced success with Michael Penix Jr. at quarterback. After DeBoer left for Alabama, Rogers briefly entered the portal again but ultimately decided to stay in Seattle and play for new head coach Jedd Fisch.
Meanwhile, in Starkville, Mississippi State ended up hiring Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, who runs an explosive passing offense and has had significant offensive coordinator success at UCF, Ole Miss and Oklahoma. Lebby has coached under some outstanding offensive minds in Josh Heupel, Lane Kiffin and Art Briles.
At Washington, Jedd Fisch also brings a tremendous reputation as a quarterback developer who was an understudy to such coaches as Sean McVay, Jim Harbaugh, Mike Shanahan and Bill Belichick. However, the Huskies have been hit with significant attrition, as they lost their entire offensive line and their top three receivers from the 2023 squad.
It’s clear that Washington is undergoing a major rebuild, in a year where the Huskies are also transitioning to the Big Ten. Even though it was impossible for Rogers to predict DeBoer would leave Washington and certainly doesn’t have the benefit of hindsight, his situation would have been better if he stuck around and played his final season in Starkville under Lebby.
© 2005-2024 CBS INTERACTIVE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc.
Better or worse? 5 college football transfer portal results to monitor in 2024 – 247Sports
Posted by