2023 Transfer portal QB winners and losers
Recapping the QB Carousel of the recently closed transfer window
The postseason window of the transfer portal has closed, and many teams now look drastically different than a year ago. With over 3,000 players changing their colleges and hundreds more declaring for the NFL draft, college football teams have been overhauled like never before.
NIL and the new transfer rules have made the portal like a pseudo-free agency. Players can enter and leave at will. This season brought a slew of big names moving between schools, which can drastically alter the shape of a program. Just take 2021 Michigan State and 2022 USC. Both outperformed their previous season on the backs of transfer additions.
Today, we’ll take a look at three winners and three losers in terms of the quarterback carousel. Keep in mind, this is a program-focused article, so players are left out. Keep an eye out for the overall biggest program winner and losers coming out Monday All rankings are courtesy of 247Sports’s Transfer Portal rankings.
Winners
Notre Dame
Lost: Drew Pyne (to Arizona State)
Added: Sam Hartman (Wake Forest)
While first year head coach Marcus Freeman’s debut season didn’t go as planned, the Fighting Irish certainly got better this postseason. They did lose 10-game starter Drew Pyne to Arizona State, but Notre Dame managed to get better. Pyne had a decent season after taking over for a struggling Tyler Buchner, throwing for just over 2,000 yards and a 22-6 TD-to-INT ratio.
As the Irish attempt to return to the top of the college football landscape, they turned to the fifth overall and top-ranked quarterback in the transfer portal: Sam Hartman. The former Wake Forest standound (more on them later) is one of the top, if not the top pro-style quarterback in the nation. In the past two seasons, the grad transfer posted at least 3,700 yards and 45 touchdowns.
Now, there is a feeling of uncertainty here after Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees left for the same position at Alabama. Will Hartman follow the offensive coordinator that recruited him to South Bend? If so, Notre Dame could end up a portal QB loser by default. If not, who is going to head up the offense primed for a huge season?
Colorado
Lost: Brendon Lewis (to Nevada), Owen McCown (to UTSA), Maddox Kopp (to Miami OH), James Mott (no destination)
Added: Shedeur Sanders (Jackson State)
Coach Prime is working the portal, to nobody’s surprise. Also to nobody’s surprise, the younger Sanders, Shedeur, is also heading to Boulder. Shedeur has been one of, if not the, best FCS quarterbacks the past two seasons. In 2021, he took home the Jerry Rice Freshman of the Year award as the FCS’s best freshman player. His 2022 season led the Jaguars to a SWAC title and second-straight Celebration Bowl birth. The younger Sanders threw for 3,752 yards and 40 touchdowns with only six interceptions, toting a 70 percent completion percentage. He also added 174 rushing yards, but showed tremendous pocket awareness and elusiveness.
Now, the Buffaloes lost four quarterbacks to the portal. Does that matter? Sure it does. It depletes some depth, and Prime didn’t add any more quarterbacks in the portal. McCown, Knopp and Lewis totaled 152 attempts on the year. Nine game starter J.T. Shrout returns after a difficult 2022 where he completed 44 percent of his passes for 1,220 yards, seven touchdowns and eight interceptions. It’s safe to say that even with those transfers out, the Buffs didn’t lose too much for a Power Five program.
Sanders is electric, and he’ll certainly help Colorado improve on a 1-11 record. Is he a program savior, though? That’s what we’ll find out.
Kentucky
Lost: None
Added: Devin Leary (NC State)
The Wildcats lost incumbent QB Will Levis to the NFL Draft, potentially as a top-10 pick. However, coach Mark Stoops reloaded with one of the premier returning QBs this season: NC State’s Devin Leary. Leary, 247Sport’s second-ranked transfer quarterback, has been the Wolfpack’s face of the program for the past two seasons. In 2021, he posted 3,433 yards, 35 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Over his four year career, Leary has posted an astonishing 0.23 interception avoidance mark, which divides his interceptions by passes thrown. Last season, he only played in the Wolfpack’s first six games before suffering a season-ending torn pectoral muscle. He was on pace for another great season, with 1,265 yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Last season, Mark Stoops’s squad were in the thick of the SEC race with a 5-2 record before heading into Knoxville on Oct. 29, where Levis and co. couldn’t quite make the plays they needed. Levis has always been dinged with his gunslinger mentality and tendency to turn the ball over. Leary, on the other hand, doesn’t have that problem.
Will Kentucky eclipse their 7-6 mark and actually compete for the SEC next year? Probably not, but a strong season like Leary’s 2021 could help propel the Wildcats into the SEC East race. Georgia and whatever Tennessee is this year still loom at the top of the division, but, as we saw with Tennessee and Hendon Hooker, a hot, high-caliber signal caller can change things on a dime.
Honorable Mention: Wisconsin (lost Graham Mertz and Deacon Hill, added Tanner Mordecai, Nick Evers and Braedyn Locke)
New Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell wasted no time in improving his squad, allowing incumbent quarterback Graham Mertz to transfer out to Florida, while bringing in SMU’s Tanner Mordecai, Oklahoma’s Nick Evers, and Mississippi State’s Braedyn Locke. Mordecai is perhaps the Group of Five’s best quarterback, finishing as a Davey O’Brien finalist. In his two seasons in Dallas, he totaled 7,152 yards, 75 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. He can certainly kickstart a sluggish Badger offense in his first season. Additionally, Evers brings some much-needed depth. The former No. 4 dual-threat prospect and top-100 player certainly brings some firepower to the Wisconsin offense. He’s the heir apparent, and another season under Mordecai should help him develop into the quarterback that Wisconsin fans always dreamed of.
Losers
Wake Forest
Lost: Sam Hartman (to Notre Dame), Brett Griffis (to James Madison)
Added: None
Wake Forest had one of their best seasons, then was kneecapped by Freeman and the Irish. Hartman jumped ship to the Fighting Irish after being one of Wake Forest’s most successful quarterbacks. To make matters worse, freshman Brett Griffis departed for James Madison. What did head coach Dave Clawson bring in to replace them? Nothing.
The Demon Deacons have four quarterbacks on the roster. The most experienced is redshirt junior Michael Kern, who carries a career stat line of 24-of-42 passing, 376 yards and one touchdown. That’s it. Yes, Hartman was incredibly reliable for Wake Forest, but Clawson needs to figure out who’s going to take the reigns in 2023. Kern seems to be the front-runner, but it’s too early to tell. Either way, one of these guys needs to be a diamond in the rough for Wake to try to compete in the ACC.
Florida
Lost: None
Added: Graham Mertz (from Wisconsin)
It might be strange for a team to only add someone and end up in the losers, but that’s what Jaden Rashada does to a team. After a botched $13 million NIL-fueled recruitment, Billy Napier’s staff was left without an heir apparent to first-round NFL prospect Anthony Richardson. Enter Mertz.
For those who didn’t spend their days watching a toiling Wisconsin offense, Mertz is the prototypical Big 10 quarterback. He hands the ball off well, and doesn’t throw for too much. He posted a 52.9 QBR in the 2022 season alongside 2,136 yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. If those numbers look lacking, that’s because they are. His QBR ranked 80th in the FBS, while his yardage total was 81st. Not great.
Is it possible Mertz gets better with a new system and new coaching staff? Of course it is. But, he hasn’t shown much in three years at Wisconsin. Florida doesn’t have a high-caliber recruit for Mertz to keep the seat warm for, so what’s the plan here? If this is how Napier believes he can compete in the SEC, then he’s sorely mistaken.
Virginia
Lost: Brennan Armstrong (to NC State)
Added: Tony Muskett (from Monmouth)
Brennan Armstrong has been the face of the Cavaliers’ program for years, and just like that, he’s gone. The lefty Ohio-native basically rewrote Virginia’s record book, holding Cavalier records in 15(!) different categories. While his first season under first-year head coach Tony Elliot saw a dip in production, he’s still the greatest quarterback Virginia had ever seen.
Now, Elliot’s resume included leading a powerful Clemson offense with star quarterbacks like Trevor Lawrence (for one season) and D.J. Uiagalelei. Huh? Okay, so he’s not a quarterback whisperer. That’s what makes the add of Tony Muskett more confusing. He was successful at FCS Monmouth, but not eye-poppingly successful. His career totals are 5,678 yards, 51 touchdowns and 16 interceptions over three seasons, the first of which was the Covid-shortened 2020 spring FCS season. Solid, but not great. Reminder, this is in the Big South FCS conference.
Can Muskett help Elliot move the Cavaliers ahead in the ACC? He might, but an FCS transfer to replace your program’s greatest quarterback of all time? Not the best look.
Honorable Mention: SMU (Lost Tanner Mordecai, added Alex Padilla)
And now we’re back with the Mustangs. We’ve already discussed what they lost in Mordecai, so let’s turn to his replacement: Alex Padilla. Ever heard of him? I didn’t think so. He’s been riding the bench behind Spencer Petras at Iowa. Really, an Iowa quarterback? He’s a four-year letterwinner, which his biggest achievement at Iowa being off-the-field awards. A great locker room guy? Sure. But replacing Tanner Mordecai? Not a chance.
So, there you have it. Three winners and three losers of the 2023 transfer portal season. Did your team make the list? Did I get the list right? Let me know in the comments and share and subscribe if you liked the article.