“I wanna leave”: Oklahoma Sooners just confirmed the departure of a key player

NCAA football transfer portal roundtable: QBs on the move, OU, Ohio State exodus, more

It was an incredibly busy first day of the college football transfer period. More than 1,000 players have entered the transfer portal.

Some high-profile teams saw significant departures. The Oklahoma Sooners and Ohio State Buckeyes saw their starting quarterbacks elect to leave. Four Power 5 teams (Purdue, Vanderbilt, NC State, and Cincinnati) saw double-digit players choose to transfer.

And that’s only since the portal opened at midnight on Monday.

What was the most surprising move? Where could the quarterbacks best fit? Our college football experts weigh in:

What move on Monday surprised you the most?

Tom VanHaaren: Quarterback Dillon Gabriel entering the portal was an interesting move. He followed offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby from UCF to Oklahoma, and Lebby just got the head coaching job at Mississippi State, but I thought there would be a chance that Gabriel would finish things out at Oklahoma. He is a highly productive quarterback who will likely have quite a few options that might include following Lebby again to Mississippi State, or possibly Florida State. It wasn’t entirely surprising, but with limited eligibility remaining, it would have made sense to stay put.

David Hale: No, there are no surprises in the portal era, and it’s hard to fault anyone for testing their market value. But if the 2022 transfer class set the bar for success in a new home with Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr., Caleb Williams and others, the 2023 cycle didn’t actually have too many winners. DJ Uiagalelei had the highest Total QBR of any player who transferred after last season, and he’s now in the portal again.

Many of the biggest names the last time around — Devin Leary, Jeff Sims, Phil Jurkovec, Sam Hartman, Brennan Armstrong, Payton Thorne, Tanner Mordecai — finished the year as something between mediocre and outright bust. So, while I’m not shocked by anyone jumping into the portal, I’m a bit surprised there weren’t more big names who saw the results of 2023 and decided the grass isn’t always greener.

What is a QB fit that could make sense?

VanHaaren: Cameron Ward could be a great fit at Florida State. With Jordan Travis moving on, the Seminoles are going to need a new quarterback. Ward was fifth in passing yards this season among all FBS quarterbacks with 3,735 yards, No. 18 in passing touchdowns with 25, and he also had eight rushing touchdowns for Washington State. He’s already had a ton of success and would help keep Florida State on the track it’s on right now at the championship level. FSU backups Tate Rodemaker and Brock Glenn played in the final two games of the season due to Travis’ leg injury. Ideally, coach Mike Norvell would like to continue developing quarterbacks within the system, but if Ward is interested, this could be a great match.

Paolo Uggetti: As USC searches for a potential replacement for Caleb Williams, it’s notable that a former Lincoln Riley commit just entered the portal. Georgia’s Brock Vandagriff was once committed to play for Riley at Oklahoma. Plenty has changed since then, but maybe a reunion of sorts could be in the cards for Riley and Vandagriff. In three years at Georgia, Vandagriff threw only 21 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns, but as a former four-star recruit with plenty of potential, Riley and USC could be the perfect match to revitalize his college career.

Who’s an under-the-radar transfer that could make a big impact?

VanHaaren: We have seen quite a few Ivy League transfers this offseason, and one name that has stood out is Harvard defensive tackle Thor Griffith. He’s a 6-foot-2, 320-pound lineman who had 55 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks this season. He’s a senior, has a ton of production and experience and has already started to pick up offers from Michigan State, Oregon State, Cal, Minnesota, UCLA and a handful of others. Disruptive interior defensive lineman are valuable, and Griffith has a lot in his favor going into his transfer process.

Chris Low: Tight end Justin Joly led UConn with 56 catches and 578 receiving yards and was one of the bright spots for the Huskies in a 3-9 season. The 6-3, 232-pound junior still has two years of eligibility remaining and posted on social media Monday morning that he’d been offered by Tennessee soon after officially entering the portal. The Vols had a close-up view of Joly this season. He caught eight passes for 89 yards in UConn’s 59-3 loss to Tennessee in November.

Dave Wilson: If we’re just going off evaluation track records, Indiana’s Brendan Sorsby could be worth watching. Why? Because two years ago at this time, two of Tom Allen’s quarterback prospects, Michael Penix Jr. and Josh Hoover, both ventured elsewhere — Penix to become a superstar at Washington, where he’s led the Huskies to a No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff and Hoover, who flipped from his Indiana commitment to TCU and was thrust into starting duty this year as a redshirt freshman and had five 300-yard games after Chandler Morris was injured.

A couple of years ago, another former Allen starter, Peyton Ramsey, who lost his starting job to Penix, went to Northwestern where he was the 2021 Citrus Bowl MVP and a third-team all-Big Ten selection.

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