The firehose known as college football's spring transfer portal window is about to shut off. It opened April 16 and will close on Tuesday -- that's the last day players can enter, though they can commit after the deadline -- and it was a lot to keep up with. Hundreds of players entered the portal, and plenty of NIL cash was distributed ... but what actually happened? Anything noteworthy?
Barring any last-minute developments, here are my main takeaways:
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Bama, Michigan stand pat
Depth at Colorado | QB moves
Auburn, Miami overhauls
Multiple transfers | CFP picture
Alabama and Michigan have mostly stood pat
One of the most intriguing storylines heading into the spring portal window was what might happen with two annual contenders dealing with January coaching changes. Both Nick Saban's retirement and Jim Harbaugh's departure for the NFL came late in the winter transfer window, and while that meant both Alabama and Michigan players had extra time to enter the portal, the teams' new coaches -- Kalen DeBoer and Sherrone Moore, respectively -- didn't have much of an opportunity to make any additions themselves.
That opportunity came this spring ... and not much happened. Bama did get commitments from Michigan safety Keon Sabb and Washington tight end Josh Cuevas in February, and we found out in March that offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor, who transferred from Bama to Iowa in January, was planning on moving back to Tuscaloosa after spring semester. Beyond that, however, the teams have combined for just one move: Miami (Ohio) kicker Graham Nicholson, winner of the 2023 Lou Groza Award, entered the portal and committed to Bama.
Michigan has not yet made any moves. Moore and the Wolverines received winter commitments from Northwestern offensive guard Josh Priebe and Maryland linebacker Jaishawn Barham, and that's all they've added. It's a little surprising because Michigan is terribly unproven both at quarterback, where J.J. McCarthy is gone and presumed starter Alex Orji has attempted one career pass, and on the offensive line, where Priebe and returning tackle Myles Hinton are the only players who played more than 165 snaps last season.
Michigan's O-line pipeline still appears awfully strong. If they choose, the Wolverines could start a full lineup of juniors and seniors because of it. But it was still a bit surprising that both Moore and DeBoer are riding with what they've got. Then again, DeBoer is going to be working with more blue-chip talent than he has ever had, and Michigan didn't win the national title last season thanks to transfers. The recent list of national champions suggests that high school recruiting, development and culture-building are still the most proven avenues to a title. If Moore can continue what Harbaugh built in that regard, the Wolverines will be just fine.
Colorado has more potential stars ... and even less depth
"I wish you guys would do a little more homework when you start talking about the portal and understand what we're losing. What are we losing?" Deion Sanders asked at a news conference in mid-April, following a rash of Colorado players entering the transfer portal. Sanders insinuated that most of the players leaving -- including running back Dylan Edwards, a star in last year's celebrated upset of TCU, and cornerback Cormani McClain, a five-star prospect and last year's top-ranked CU signee -- weren't going to be starters and that CU would be bringing in potential transfer starters for visits soon.
Sanders was right and wrong. He has definitely added some starter-caliber players in this transfer window, including big-time Pitt defensive end Dayon Hayes, the No. 3 transfer of the spring, and a pair of running backs -- Ohio State's Dallan Hayden and Rashad Amos, a 1,000-yard rusher from Miami (Ohio) -- to replace the three who recently left via the portal. With the players added during the winter transfer window and freshman signings, it's much easier to be intrigued by the offensive line talent and the proven havoc-producing defenders Colorado will boast this fall.
Read more: Optimism remains in Boulder
Guard Tyler Johnson (Houston) and incoming five-star freshman Jordan Seaton give the O-line a pair of blue-chippers, while Texas transfer Payton Kirkland has both mass (370 pounds) and athleticism, and former UTEP guard Justin Mayers was All-CUSA. And in addition to Hayes, CU has added both players who had been blue-chip recruits (LSU defensive end Quency Wiggins, Kentucky edge rusher Keaten Wade) and proven playmakers to the defense: Arizona State end BJ Green II (13 TFLs, six sacks), Ohio defensive tackle Rayyan Buell (11.5 TFLs, 12 run stops), Pitt end Samuel Okunlola (five sacks in 245 snaps), Charlotte linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green (7.5 TFLs, 11 run stops) and Florida Atlantic linebacker Jaylen Wester (9.5 TFLs, 12 run stops).
These are all good things. But at the moment, the Buffaloes actually rank lower in both returning production (19th) and projected SP+ (70th) than they did in February because of raw volume. Sanders has added seven players (and counting) this spring ... and has lost 23, including 14 who started at least one game in 2023. Adding six offensive line transfers (and a freshman blue-chipper) helps, but it can only help so much when eight of last year's top 10 are gone and you still have no depth. Adding two intriguing running backs is good, but if one of them gets hurt, the fact that you lost last year's top four backs will be noticeable.
By my count, Colorado has around 20 former blue-chip recruits, more than the 14 or so that the Buffs had last year. The ceiling should be higher, especially on defense. But depth could be just as dreadful as it was in 2023, and success in 2024 will hinge largely on how kind the injury bug is to Coach Prime and his depth chart.
Not exactly an earth-shattering set of QB moves
Two years ago, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. transferred to new schools. They would combine to win two Heismans and all four were picked in the top 12 of the 2024 NFL draft. Add in transfers from Quinn Ewers, Jaxson Dart, Dillon Gabriel and Cameron Ward, and it seemed like a new world was upon us, not only in the extreme volume of transfers but in the program-changing impact of some of them at the QB position.
The volume is certainly still a thing; the impact, maybe not so much. To be sure, some high-level programs and potential contenders -- Ohio State (Will Howard), Oregon (Gabriel, moving again), Notre Dame (Riley Leonard) and Miami (Ward again) -- used the portal to add new starting QBs in the winter. Maybe one of them will enjoy a Daniels-esque late-career leap and extend the streak of Heisman-winning transfer QBs to three in a row and six in the last eight years. But the spring did very little to add to the gravitas of this quarterback transfer class.
Former blue-chipper Jaden Rashada moved from Arizona State to Georgia to back up Carson Beck, and potential Northwestern starter Brendan Sullivan recently entered the portal as well. Players such as Collin Schlee (leaving UCLA), Timmy McClain (UCF), Christian Veilleux (Pitt), Jeff Sims (Nebraska) and Mike Wright (Mississippi State) are well-traveled and reasonably experienced, and Ball State transfer Kiael Kelly brings serious athleticism to the table (6.1 yards per non-sack carry) if someone can help him develop as a passer (53% completion rate, 4.2 yards per dropback). Calling this spring's batch of quarterbacks "underwhelming" might be being kind.
Miami and Auburn roster construction projects are coming along
Plenty of teams have made interesting moves this spring. The SEC's aspirational duo of Ole Miss (RBs Henry Parrish Jr. and Jacory Croskey-Merritt, DT Joshua Harris) and Missouri (OT Marcus Bryant), for instance, are still figuring out how to spend big and build depth for playoff pushes. And it's safe to say that teams like Colorado are not done trying to add players. But I'm particularly intrigued by the recent work of two members of the 13-team "21st century national champions" fraternity.
Second-year Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze had a couple of particularly problematic units to shore up this offseason, and it appears he might have successfully done so. The Tigers ranked a dismal 102nd in passing success rate on offense and 70th in rushing success rate allowed on defense in 2023. But Auburn has transformed both its wide receiver and defensive line depth charts.
To the receiving corps, Freeze recently added Penn State top target KeAndre Lambert-Smith. He will join Georgia State transfer Robert Lewis (877 yards in 2023) and five-star freshman Cam Coleman, part of maybe the most exciting set of freshman receivers in the 2024 recruiting cycle. And after adding Texas' Trill Carter and Kansas' Gage Keys in the winter, Freeze scored commitments from Indiana tackle Philip Blidi, Texas A&M (via USC) tackle Isaiah Raikes and Arkansas State end Keyron Crawford over a period of two days in April. Crawford, Blidi, Raikes, Keys and Carter combined for 29 run stops in 2023. Throw in blue-chip end Darron Reed Jr. and high-potential sophomore Keldric Faulk, and you've got an intriguing defensive front.
This isn't a declaration, of course, that Auburn is ready to contend in the SEC. Among other things, Freeze has been unable to significantly upgrade the quarterbacks room. Cal transfer Sam Jackson V and blue-chip freshman Walker White have come aboard, but one figures senior Payton Thorne, 69th in Total QBR in 2023, will remain the best option and placeholder this fall. Still, after four straight seasons of either five or six wins, the Tigers might be able to set the bar a little higher.
Miami is another program stuck in a rut. The Hurricanes have won between five and seven games in five of the past six seasons. In the past two years, Mario Cristobal has been unable to change that course. Despite a couple of solid seasons at Oregon, Cristobal has built a reputation as a mega-recruiter who can't deploy star recruits in a satisfying way. Over the past six seasons, his teams have ranked higher than 35th in offensive SP+ just twice and in defensive SP+ once. None of those instances have come at The U.
There's nothing saying this has to change in 2024; this could be another waste-of-talent season. But damn, this would be a hell of a waste. This past weekend, Cristobal added Oregon State running back Damien Martinez, a powerful 232-pound back who runs with Eric Dickerson's high knees and produced more than 1,300 yards from scrimmage last season, and Houston's leading receiver, Samuel Brown. They come to a transfer class that already included quarterback Cam Ward (Washington State), defensive end Elijah Alston (Marshall) and nickel corner Mishael Powell (Washington) and recently added Marshall cornerback Dyoni Hill and Louisville linebacker Jaylin Alderman. He's bringing in the sixth-best batch of freshmen too.
Cristobal now has a 3,500-yard passer (two, in fact, if you include Albany transfer Reese Poffenbarger), an 1,100-yard rusher, a 1,000-yard receiver (holdover Xavier Restrepo), four returning starters on the offensive line (plus a fifth in Indiana center Zach Carpenter) and nine defenders who recorded at least 300 snaps at Miami or elsewhere last season (plus tackle Akheem Mesidor, who did so at Miami in 2022). Nearly half his 2024 roster will be made up of former blue-chippers too, and when the updated SP+ projections come out in May, Miami should be on the border of the top 20. The Canes haven't finished a season in the SP+ top 20 since 2017, however, and a Cristobal team hasn't done so since 2019. Do those streaks end this fall?
January arrivals, April departures
We're only now beginning to understand the longer-term impacts of this transfer portal era, and now we have to deal with the effects of another variable: unlimited transfers. The NCAA's new rule that allows prospects to transfer multiple times without having to sit out a season will certainly increase the volume of "this is free agency" grumbling from both coaches and fans, and it makes an already unstable roster-building environment even wilder.
We'll have to wait a while to understand the long-term effects, but the short term has already provided a glimpse at a potential trend: players who transfer in the winter, then transfer again in the spring. There have been quite a few of them nationwide -- including Raikes, mentioned above -- but Louisville has provided a pretty specific set of examples. Second-year coach Jeff Brohm added 26 transfers in December and January and has added another four since. But he's also lost four members of that initial batch in running back Peny Boone, offensive tackle Reuben Unije, defensive end Tyler Baron and safety Wesley Walker.
It's hard not to see this happening more in an unlimited transfer era. If you leave a team in search of a starting job or major spotlight, and if spring football gives you the impression that your new school won't provide that, there's certainly logic to leaving again. But while players absolutely deserve the freedom to make these decisions, it's easy to see as many drawbacks as benefits for a player who will attend a third school in three semesters and ends up with a new team after spring practice. Hopefully there's more stability in the future college football universe, but the NCAA's absolute refusal to act on anything regarding player freedom until they were forced to, especially as it pertains to NIL rights, has created repercussions we will continue to see for quite a while.
The national title picture looks like it did in February
Spring portal season will absolutely have an impact on plenty of FBS teams, and for all the instability the new system has created, it's fascinating watching coaches attempt different roster-building tactics in real time based on strong NIL funding or plain old scouting and recruitment strategy. But when it comes to building an elite roster, one capable of not only reaching the expanded College Football Playoff but winning multiple games in it, this spring window isn't going to have much of an impact.
There's still time for some last-minute maneuvering, but if I were to release updated SP+ projections tomorrow, no team that was in the top 11 in February would have moved more than one spot. Alabama has at least temporarily jumped Michigan into the No. 5 spot after re-adding Proctor, Ole Miss has jumped Penn State into seventh after the Rebels' recent additions (and the PSU's loss of Lambert-Smith), and LSU has crept ahead of Notre Dame into ninth, but those are pretty minor things. The top four will likely remain in the same order -- Georgia with a healthy lead, followed by Ohio State, Oregon and Texas -- and even with some more commitments undoubtedly continuing into May, it's safe to say we know what the national title picture looks like heading into summer.