Best College Football Transfer Portal Players of All Time
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College football underwent a seismic change in 2021. For the first time in FBS (formerly Division I-A) history, players were allowed a one-time exception to transfer schools without having to sit out a year.
In the past, players were allowed to move from one FBS school to another without sitting for a year in only the rarest cases. The exception was graduate transfers, who have been allowed to transfer without sitting out for over a decade, with the most famous examples being quarterbacks Russell Wilson (North Carolina State to Wisconsin) and Joe Burrow (Ohio State to LSU).
These are the best players to come out of the NCAA transfer portal since the NCAA changed its rules in 2021 and allowed them to switch schools without sitting out — the modern version of the transfer portal.
Note: We've excluded graduate transfers and pre-2021 transfers in most cases because the rules were grandfathered in.
Honorable Mention: Jordan Addison
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Position: Wide receiver
Original school: Pittsburgh
Transfer school: USC
Bottom line: College football transfers don't get much messier than when 2021 Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison decided to leave Pittsburgh for USC, where new coach Lincoln Riley and quarterback Caleb Williams were waiting. The move led to a nasty back-and-forth between Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi and Riley, and Addison got dragged into the mess.
Addison was great at USC — when he played. He had 39 receptions for 585 yards and seven touchdowns in just seven games in 2022 because of injuries but was still named All-Pac-12 and declared for the 2023 NFL draft following the season.
Honorable Mention: Tanner Mordecai
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Position: Quarterback
Original school: Oklahoma
First transfer school: SMU
Second transfer school: Wisconsin
Bottom line: Tanner Mordecai ran into a glut of high-profile quarterbacks at Oklahoma and found himself behind both Spencer Rattler and future Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams. All three later transferred and found big-time success at other schools.
Mordecai headed back to his home state of Texas and landed at SMU. The Waco native threw for over 30 touchdowns in each of his two seasons at SMU, including a school-record nine touchdown passes in a 77-63 win over Houston in 2022 and was a two time All-AAC selection.
And guess what? Mordecai is transferring again. He announced following the end of the 2022 season that he's headed back to the Power Five, and he'll play for Wisconsin in 2023.
15. Spencer Rattler
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Position: Quarterback
Original school: Oklahoma
Transfer school: South Carolina
Bottom line: Spencer Rattler has been in the pressure cooker of big-time athletics since high school thanks to his less-than-favorable appearance on the Netflix series "QB1." He was suspended from his high school football team for an undisclosed violation of school district policy and was generally not a great teammate.
One of the most high-profile quarterback recruits of the last decade, Rattler became the starter at Oklahoma almost instantly but was benched in Oklahoma's comeback win over Texas in 2021 in favor of Caleb Williams and announced his intention to transfer shortly after.
Rattler went through something of an image rehab at South Carolina in 2022. He and the Gamecocks became a huge story late in the season as he led them to back-to-back top 10 wins over No. 5 Tennessee and No. 8 Clemson and finished No. 23 in the final AP Top 25.
It was the first top 25 finish for South Carolina since 2013, and Rattler quickly announced he would return for another season in 2023 instead of entering the NFL draft.
14. Jermaine Johnson
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Position: Defensive line
Original school: Georgia
Transfer school: Florida State
Bottom line: Football fans first got to know Minnesota native Jermaine Johnson II from the popular Netflix docuseries "Last Chance U" and his time at Independence (Kansas) Community College — the first stop on a college football odyssey that spanned three different states.
Johnson transferred from Independence to Georgia, where he spent one season before landing at Florida State for a breakout season in 2021. In his one season with the Seminoles, Johnson had 70 tackles, 18 tackles for loss and 12 sacks on the way to being named ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
Clocking in at 6-foot-5 and 254 pounds with a 4.58-second 40-yard dash, Johnson was selected in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft with the No. 26 overall pick by the New York Jets and had a respectable 29 tackles and 2.5 sacks as a rookie.
13. Michael Penix Jr.
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Position: Quarterback
Original school: Indiana
Transfer school: Washington
Bottom line: Michael Penix Jr. was good enough to be an All-Big Ten selection at Indiana in his time there, going 10-2 as the starter over the 2019 season and the pandemic-restricted 2020 season. But that time also included a pair of ACL tears in 2018 and 2020, and he eventually entered the transfer portal and landed at Washington following the 2021 season.
Penix Jr. seemed to tap into his full potential with the Huskies, who went 11-2 with him as the starter in 2022, and he set the school's single-season passing record with 4,354 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Penix Jr. has already announced he will return for the 2023 season.
12. Tyree Wilson
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Position: Defensive line
Original school: Texas A&M
Transfer school: Texas Tech
Bottom line: Tyree Wilson is the exception to our rule that makes the list. Although he transferred following the 2019 season from Texas A&M to Texas Tech, he was given one of the rare exemptions that allowed him to play right away without having to sit out.
Wilson finally fulfilled his promise as a player in 2022 under first-year head coach Joey McGuire, earning All-Big 12 and AP All-American honors. Wilson, 6-foot-6 and 275 pounds, announced he was leaving school with one year of eligibility remaining to enter the 2023 NFL draft.
11. Jahmyr Gibbs
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Position: Running back
Original school: Georgia Tech
Transfer school: Alabama
Bottom line: Jahmyr Gibbs established himself as one of the nation's best do-it-all running backs in two seasons at Georgia Tech in 2020 and 2021, earning All-American honors in 2021 after he racked up 1,800 all-purpose yards split almost evenly between rushing, receiving and returns.
One problem? Georgia Tech was terrible. The Yellow Jackets went 6-16 over his two seasons there, and Gibbs transferred to Alabama for the 2022 season and quickly became one of the Crimson Tide's best players, earning All-SEC honors.
Gibbs announced he'll leave school early for the 2023 NFL draft and is projected as a potential first-round selection.
10. Ivan Pace Jr.
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Position: Linebacker
Original school: Miami (Ohio)
Transfer school: Cincinnati
Bottom line: It's tough to fault players who take advantage of the transfer rule by going from mid-majors to bigger schools in order to presumably show scouts they have what it takes to play in the NFL. Such is the case of linebacker Ivan Pace Jr., who left Miami (Ohio) after he put up 125 tackles and four sacks in 2021 to play for Cincinnati.
Pace, 6-foot and 235 pounds, balled out in his one year with the Bearcats with 136 tackles on the way to being named American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and leaving school early to make himself eligible for the 2023 NFL draft.
9. Zach Charbonnet
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Position: Running back
Original school: Michigan
Transfer school: UCLA
Bottom line: Zach Charbonnet was one of the top running back recruits in the country coming out of Oaks Christian School in California and was an All-Big Ten selection as a true freshman at Michigan in 2019. He left school following the 2020 season after he had just 19 carries for 124 yards.
Charbonnet returned home to California and became a star at UCLA, earning All-Pac-12 honors in 2021 as he rushed for 1,137 yards and 13 touchdowns. He followed that up by being named an All-American in 2022 with 1,359 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns to go with 33 receptions for 321 receiving yards.
Following the season, Charbonnet announced he would leave school with eligibility remaining to enter the 2023 NFL draft.
8. Drew Sanders
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Position: Linebacker
Original school: Alabama
Transfer school: Arkansas
Bottom line: Drew Sanders played for three different high schools and was a five-star recruit before he flipped his commitment from Oklahoma to Alabama, where the 6-foot-5, 235-pound linebacker became a starter as a sophomore. Then he transferred to Arkansas.
In his one season at Arkansas, Sanders started all 12 games at middle linebacker and led the team with 103 tackles and 9.5 sacks on the way to being the school's first AP All-American since 2017. Sanders announced he was leaving school early to enter the 2023 NFL draft, where he's projected as a first-round selection.
7. O'Cyrus Torrence
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Position: Offensive line
Original school: Louisiana
Transfer school: Florida
Bottom line: O'Cyrus Torrence was a dominant player for Louisiana-Lafayette for three seasons and was named All-Sun Belt Conference twice before he followed head coach Billy Napier to Florida following the 2021 season.
Torrence, at 6-foot-5 and 347 pounds, showed he was more than up to the challenge of playing in the SEC in 2022 on his way to being named All-SEC and a consensus AP All-American. Torrence is projected as a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft.
6. Charlie Jones
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Position: Wide receiver
Original school: Buffalo
First transfer school: Iowa
Second transfer school: Purdue
Bottom line: Charlie Jones bet on himself early in his college career, giving up a scholarship at Buffalo to walk on at Iowa. He had to sit out one season per the old transfer rules but eventually worked his way into a scholarship and was named Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year in 2021.
Wanting to find a program that would showcase him more as a wide receiver, Jones took advantage of the new transfer rules and left Iowa for Purdue following the 2021 season and became a star. In his one season with the Boilermakers, Jones had 110 receptions for a school-record 1,361 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns on the way to being named an All-American.
Following the Big Ten championship game, Jones declared he was leaving Purdue for the NFL draft with one season of eligibility remaining. It should be noted that Jones began his college football odyssey in 2017 as a redshirt at Buffalo, and with the year he had to sit out following his first transfer and the extra year of eligibility given to him because of the pandemic, 2023 would have been his seventh year of college football had he returned.
5. Henry To'oTo'o
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Position: Linebacker
Original school: Tennessee
Transfer school: Alabama
Bottom line: Henry To'oTo'o came out of powerhouse De La Salle High in Concord, California, to become a true freshman starter and All-SEC Freshman pick at Tennessee in 2019. He led the Volunteers with 76 tackles in 2020 and was named All-SEC.
To'oTo'o took advantage of the new NCAA transfer rules and moved within his own conference, transferring to Alabama in 2021, where he instantly became one of the Crimson Tide's best defensive players and was named All-SEC in 2021 and 2022.
4. Kenneth Walker III
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Position: Running back
Original school: Wake Forest
Transfer school: Michigan State
Bottom line: Kenneth Walker made a bold move in leaving Wake Forest following the 2020 season after he rushed for 579 yards in just six games and transferred to Michigan State.
That gamble paid off in a big way for Walker, who rushed for 1,636 yards and 18 touchdowns on the way to being named an All-American, winning Big Ten Running Back of the Year and the Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back.
Walker parlayed his success into leaving school early for the 2022 NFL draft, where he was selected in the second round by the Seattle Seahawks and rushed for 1,055 yards and nine touchdowns in 11 starts as a rookie.
3. Jared Verse
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Position: Defensive end
Original school: Albany
Transfer school: Florida State
Bottom line: Jared Verse was a two-time All-CAA pick at Albany, an FCS school, and took his game to another level in 2021 with 75 tackles, 21.5 tackles for loss, 14.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles. Verse parlayed that success into the transfer portal and a shot at the big time with Florida State.
Verse showed he was one of the nation's best defensive players in 2022 with 47 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks on the way to being named an AP All-American and ACC Defensive Player of the Year. The Seminoles won 10 games for the first since 2016, and Verse announced he would return to school for the 2023 season instead of entering the NFL draft.
2. Jameson Williams
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Position: Wide receiver
Original school: Ohio State
Transfer school: Alabama
Bottom line: You've probably seen a recurring theme on this list — lots of players coming and going from the University of Alabama. Jameson Williams was one of those, leaving Ohio State to play for Alabama before the 2021 season and becoming a star for the Crimson Tide.
In his one season at Alabama, Williams was an All-American and named SEC Special Teams Player of the Year with 79 receptions for 1,572 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns to go with 352 kick return yards and two touchdowns.
Fans will remember it was an injury to Williams in the 2022 College Football Playoff championship game that seemed to turn the tide for Georgia in a win over Alabama after he tore his ACL in the first half. Despite the injury, Williams was selected with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions.
1. Caleb Williams
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Position: Quarterback
Original school: Oklahoma
Transfer school: USC
Bottom line: The most significant player of the transfer portal era has been quarterback Caleb Williams, who shook up college football after he followed Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley to USC after Williams was named an All-Big 12 pick as a true freshman for the Sooners in 2021.
In his first season at USC, Williams won the Heisman Trophy and resurrected the moribund program, coming within one win of a berth in the College Football Playoff while throwing for 4,075 yards and racking up a school-record 47 touchdowns — 37 passing and 10 rushing.
Williams will have a chance to become the second player to win back-to-back Heisman Trophies in 2023. The Trojans will no doubt be one of the favorites to win the national championship, and Williams could potentially be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.