Oklahoma Sooners land three in ESPN’s top 50 college football transfers from the Portal era
The transfer portal giveth and the transfer portal taketh away.
The Oklahoma Sooners have been one of the college football teams that have had a great deal of success in the transfer portal era. That era is defined as anyone who transferred between 2018 and 2023, even though technically, the portal didn’t become a thing until October 2018.
So, that eliminates Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray from the discussion. But still, Oklahoma has had a history of doing well with transfer players. ESPN (subscription required) came up with a list of the top 50 players in the transfer portal era. The Sooners landed three of them.
The first one came in at No. 50: Michael Turk. Turk transferred to Oklahoma from Arizona State and had an average of 48.4 yards per punt with a 44.1 net average over two years.
Turk was a godsend to the Sooners. He helped shore up any special teams issues. The team and its fans found out quickly how big a loss he was this season.
The next one on the list for Oklahoma was Dillon Gabriel at No. 9. Gabriel transferred from UCF and played the 2022 and 2023 seasons at Oklahoma. He threw for 6,828 passing yards, 688 rushing yards, and 73 total touchdowns in 24 games.
After losing Caleb Williams to the portal, the Sooners were very lucky to get someone as talented as Gabriel to take over at quarterback. He was always underappreciated, but he was a very good quarterback for Oklahoma.
The last one for the Sooners is Jalen Hurts, coming in at No. 8. Hurts transferred in from the Alabama Crimson Tide and played one season in Norman in 2019. He had 3,851 passing yards, 1,298 rushing yards and 52 total touchdowns in that one season.
Hurts was close to becoming Oklahoma’s third straight Heisman winner; he finished as the runner-up to Joe Burrow. He led Oklahoma on a magical season and now has Oklahoma and Alabama fans arguing over who takes credit for his NFL success.
That’s what the transfer portal provided for the Sooners. The portal also took away two former Sooners who made the list in Williams and Trey Sermon.
Fans have mixed feelings about the portal, but it’s clear it is here to stay. It’s time for teams to start embracing it. The Oklahoma Sooners have and to great success.
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