20 transfer portal additios who will decide the 2025 season

The College Football Playoff has changed college football. NIL money has changed college football. But arguably the most impactful change in terms of winning games on a yearly basis is the transfer portal: When the NCAA removed the rule requiring players who transferred to new schools to sit out a year, it caused a mass exodus every offseason, similar to that of free agency in professional sports. 

This season will be no different. There are hundreds of players looking for a fresh start, an opportunity to showcase themselves for the NFL, the right team to win a championship, and, as we’re not naive, a team with the most NIL money available. All this movement will impact who wins the College Football Playoff in 2025: The Ohio State Buckeyes, this year's national champions, had Will Howard, Quinshon Judkins, and Caleb Downs all play important roles after transferring last winter.

Now, let's look ahead to who will be the most impactful to title chances in 2025-26. A quick note, before we get to the list:Tthere is still a question about Ohio State superstar wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. If Smith does enter the transfer portal, he’s number one; if he chose Tulane, we’d expect the Green Wave to compete for a natty. But since, as of this writing, he’s not on the list, we will assume he stays in Columbus. 

20. QB Alex Orji
New team: UNLV Rebels

Last season, UNLV unexpectedly became the center of the debate surrounding NIL, as QB Matthew Sluka had the Rebels off to a hot start before some “discrepancies” in his NIL package led him to quit the program. Sluka wound up transferring to James Madison.

Meanwhile, the Rebels still have a very good roster, and it looks like the CFP's automatic Group of Five spot will be up for grabs given the turnover at Boise State. And that means Alex Orji has a chance to make an immediate impact. 

After J.J. McCarthy moved on from Michigan, Orji was the favortie to take over as starting quarterback. Instead, former walk-on Davis Warren came out of nowhere and beat him out for the job. It was expected that Orji, a former four-star ESPN recruit, would hit the portal, but it was surprising that he chose the Rebels with so many jobs open this offseason. He comes into the job with an opportunity to shine.

19. DL Tre Williams
New team: Michigan Wolverines

It’s not often a player leaves a team that was in the College Football Playoff to play for a team that missed it last season, but Williams is undoubtedly going to a program that will showcase him better as an NFL talent in 2025. Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant left the Wolverines to go to the league, opening up a chance for Williams to break out after transferring from Clemson.

Williams didn’t have the best career with the Tigers, but he was able to showcase his impact as a run-stuffing presence on the defensive line. He did miss two seasons as a redshirt (one because of injury), so he’s on his last year of eligibility. He’s going to start as a rotational player for the Wolverines. 

However, if Michigan is going to get back to winning championships, it will be on the back of its defense. Williams does a lot of what coaches love, including avoiding penalties and making just about every tackle in front of him. He also understands his role, which is that of a complementary piece on the line. He allows pass rushers to thrive, and that helps teams win games.

18. RB C.J. Donaldson
New team: Ohio State Buckeyes

Donaldson was inconsistent at WVU, but when he was on, he was unstoppable. He brought thunder to the Big 12, and he could just as easily run someone over as he could break their ankles. Donaldson is a converted tight end that found his niche in the backfield, racking up 11 touchdowns in each of the last two seasons on the ground.

Donaldson would be the perfect compliment to James Peoples, who appears to be the guy in the Ohio State backfield after TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins both left for the NFL. We saw what Ryan Day could do with two amazing complements in the backfield this year, and this is going to be another deadly duo for everyone in the Big Ten to deal with.

He may end up being second on the depth chart, but Donaldson will have as big an impact on the Buckeyes as most other running backs will have in the transfer portal. 

17. WR Mario Craver
New team: Texas A&M Aggies

It was a strange year for Craver, who left Mississippi State and joined a team with a better shot at a championship in Texas A&M. Craver was a one-man show for an awful team: He only caught 17 balls all season, but four of them went for more than 40 yards, and one went for 72. He was clearly in the wrong place to succeed.

Craver was among the most obvious transfer candidates of portal season, and A&M fans are excited for his arrival. (Our friends at Gig ‘Em Gazette gave his signing an A.) He can jump right into the slot for an Aggies team with championship aspirations, but he can also line up outside and make a huge play to change the game. It’s not like he will be scared off by the competition: He played in the SEC last season, and has already faced Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, and Florida. He even had five catches and a touchdown against the Aggies. 

Craver might be ready for his breakout next season, and he made the right decision to take his future in his own hands and find a better situation.

16. QB Jackson Arnold
New team: Auburn Tigers

There are perfect fits, and then there’s the fit of Arnold and the Auburn Tigers. Hugh Freeze was looking for someone to jump-start the offense after a dreadful situation under center with Payton Thorne. Freeze is a hard coach to play for sometimes, but Arnold has so much talent, and he needs someone to unlock him in a way that Oklahoma clearly couldn't.

Auburn is supremely talented at the skill positions, with Cam Coleman, Horatio Fields, and Malcolm Simmons at receiver (plus another player we’ll mention in a bit). This is a spot where Arnold can go from a bust to a legit NFL prospect — and he can also carry Auburn to a surprise College Football Playoff appearance.

There are a few things working in his favor. We mentioned the talented offense, but we also have a coach in Freeze who might be fighting for his job. He seems like the type of coach to thrive under that type of pressure. Their schedule is also set up to get them in the national title picture: While they do have Georgia and Alabama on their schedule, those games are almost two months apart. The Bulldogs come after a bye week, and Alabama ends the season in the Iron Bowl.

15. QB Fernando Mendoza
New team: Indiana Hoosiers

Indiana was the surprise team of the 2024 season. They rode an amazing season from transfer quarterback Kurtis Rourke all the way to the College Football Playoff. Now that Indiana is on the map, though, they aren’t surprising anyone in 2025. They needed someone great to replace Rourke, who is out of eligibility and off to the NFL.

Curt Cignetti brought in Fernando Mendoza from Cal to be just that. Mendoza caught the eye of some the biggest programs looking for quarterbacks this offseason, including Georgia and Miami (his native city), but he chose Indiana because of their offensive system and development opportunity. 

Mendoza is already getting much better at the specifics of quarterback play, making more bi plays yet throwing fewer interceptions in his sophomore season. Now he’s pairing with a coaching staff that has thrived with transfer QBs in the past. Cignetti and OC Mike Shanahan have been able to make new names under center work by building an offense to fit their style. That will be easy with Mendoza, who could quickly become a top QB in the nation.

14. TE Max Klare
New team: Ohio State Buckeyes

Yet another Buckeye on the list, and spoiler alert, there will be more. Ohio State did phenomenally well in the transfer portal, and Klare might be the most unique weapon they found after leading all Purdue pass-catchers with 51 catches for 685 yards and four touchdowns last season. And he did that against Big Ten competition despite inferior talent around him. 

Klare has the size and skill combination that’s rare to find outside the tight end position. He can meet at the catch point, but at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, he has no problem boxing out linebackers and running through cornerbacks. 

Klare mentioned going up against Caleb Downs every day in practice as a factor that drew him to the Buckeyes. That constant competition will bring out the best in Klare. If Jeremiah Smith returns, that also takes pressure off the tight end and will likely leave him wide open on many plays. He will go from facing constant double- and triple-coverage to seeing the middle of the field wide open. 

13. WR Malik Benson
New team: Oregon Ducks

There was no bigger disappointment in college football last year than Florida State. After coming into the season with true title aspirations, they went 2-10 and finished last in the now 17-team ACC. There’s no surprise that players would leave the program after that disaster, and one of the most important departures wide receiver Malik Benson. 

This is an interesting situation, as Benson thought he would be out of eligibility only to be granted an extra year by the Diego Pavia court ruling. Instead of trying to convince NFL teams to give him a shot, now he gets to play for an Oregon Ducks team with ample opportunity on offense. 

Benson has played for Alabama and Florida State, but he hasn’t yet had that breakout season many expected. The 22-year-old is clearly talented and was the top-rated junior college player just two years ago. He showed bursts of success early last season, but issues at quarterback with the Seminoles made it impossible to thrive.

12. WR De'Zhaun Stribling
New team: Ole Miss Rebels

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are another team that just fell off the face of the Earth last season. Entering as a team most thought would be at the top of the Big 12 standings, they were closer to the bottom of them all season. But that wasn’t because of a lack of talent, especially on offense.

And that’s why we’re so high on Stribling going into 2025. He’s a really good fit for the Lane Kiffin offense, boasting amazing hands and the ability to thrive in traffic. He caught 52 passes for 882 yards last year, and he did it coming off a major wrist injury that ended his 2023 season. Now even further from that injury, he could turn into a top wide receiver this season.

Ole Miss just missed a chance to play for the tational championship, as they suffered one loss too many to qualify for the CFP. Adding a weapon like Stribling to this offense could go a long way in pushing them over the top in the ultra-competitive SEC, especially with Tre Harris off to the NFL.

11. S Dillon Thieneman
New team: Oregon Ducks

Nobody expected a safety from Purdue to end up being so important to the 2025 college football season, but here we are with Thieneman. The defensive back chose Oregon over a few other schools, including some SEC schools that flashed some serious cash to entice him to play down south. Instead, he’s heading west to play with the Ducks. 

As a freshman safety for the Boilermakers, Thieneman notched more than 100 tackles and added six interceptions and two forced fumbles. He broke 100 tackles again last season, and put his name on the map as a player to watch in the portal. He knew he was going to a bigger program and his aspirations would grow in the 2025 season and beyond. 

Thieneman has a chance to have a special season at Oregon. He’s grown by such strides already, showing an instinct that’s rare from a guy his age. He has a nose for the ball, and he rarely misses a tackle. He was also going sideline to sideline on most plays, as opposing offensive coordinators did everything they could to avoid him, yet he stopped them as much as he could anyway. With Oregon, we have a feeling the opportunities will fall in his lap.

10. QB Kaidon Salter
New team: Colorado Buffaloes

There is so much going on with the transfer of quarterback Kaidon Salter to the Colorado Buffaloes. Is this a kid who can thrive moving up to a Power 4 conference? Can Deion Sanders successfully coach a player who isn’t his son? What will the Colorado offense look like without Travis Hunter? Storylines abound with Colorado, and now Salter will go from barely any eyes on him at Liberty to so many eyes on his play in Boulder. 

With Liberty, Salter was able to go crazy, especially on the ground. He led the Flames to an undefeated regular season in 2023 before losing to Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl, leading many to think that Liberty might factor into the College Football Playoff race with UNLV and Boise State this past year. But it didn’t work out that way, and now Salter is off to battle with five-star freshman Juju Lewis at Colorado.

Salter’s combination of skills and experience should make him the front-runner for the starting job, and he's a player that Sanders should love. He can ran incredibly well; if all goes right, he should put more than 1,000 yards on the ground. He can also sling it, making him a supreme offensive threat. Just as long as he can win the job first.

9. OL Ethan Onianwa
New team: Ohio State Buckeyes

From Rice to the top 10 on this list, Onianwa is expected to make an immediate impact for the Ohio State Buckeyes. He's made 34 starts already in his career, including 12 at left tackle this past season for the Owls.

This is a kid with massive size, standing at 6-foot-6 and listed at 345 pounds. He made such big strides in pass blocking, allowing just one sack in 2024 despite moving to a new position. Because of his experience there, he’s projected to protect the blindside of whoever wins the Buckeyes starting quarterback job, whether that’s Julian Sayin or someone else. 

Maybe it’s not the pick most people talk about, but the left tackle for the defending champs is as important a position as any outside quarterback. With so much change on the Ohio State offense, they will need calming influence, and there is no bigger influence to an offense’s patience than a strong left tackle.

8. QB Beau Pribula
New team: Missouri Tigers

Pribula was expected to be the heir apparent for Penn State with Drew Allar seemingly headed for the NFL. But Allar surprisingly chose to return to college for one more year, putting Pribula’s future in doubt. In the end, Pribula transferred to Missouri, and it could be a perfect opportunity for him to come into a quarterback room that’s trying to replace starter Brady Cook. 

This might feel high for Pribula, who we've only seen in spot duty to this point. He still has to beat long-time Tigers backup Drew Pyne to even get the job, but if he does, the ceiling is close to unlimited. The former four-star recruit chose Penn State way back in 2020 and has flashed dangerous dual-threat ability over the last couple of years.

If Pribula hits his ceiling, he could carry the Tigers to a College Football Playoff berth. He could also fall on his face in his first year outside Pennsylvania, but that’s the risk here. There is so much potential with this player. We just haven’t had the opportunity to see it, and now he’s finally getting that chance. 

7. WR Zachariah Branch
New team: Georgia Bulldogs

We haven’t heard much from Georgia on this list, but they did add one of the top wide receiver talents in the country in Branch. The former USC recruit had just 503 years last season, but he has the ability to eventually become an elite slot receiver in the right system,. His quickness and agility make him near impossible to cover underneath; not only can he get away and make big plays, but he can be a magnet for defensive penalties due to his shiftiness.

Branch can create separation, which is the number-one factor in making an impact in the SEC. The secondaries are elite in this conference, but Branch has what it takes to deliver with Georgia. 

There is a lot of uncertainty on offense with the Bulldogs as they move past the Carson Beck era and go all in with Gunner Stockton (barring a surprise during camp). Whoever takes over at QB will need weapons, and Branch feels like the most likely candidate — a good slot receiver is a game changer in this conference. 

Branch will also help Stockton see the whole field. Georgia wants its young gunslinger to work on progressing through reads, and a slot receiver who is always open will train Stockton to find the perfect pass instead of the first one he sees. This will be crucial in his development, and it will also help the offense as a whole.

6. CB Tacario Davis
New team: Washington Huskies

It was really hard to rank Davis here: This isn’t a straight ranking of players who transferred this offseason, but a ranking of those players’ impact on the eventual College Football Playoff. The Washington Huskies did not have a great 2024 after losing head coach Kalen DeBoer to Alabama and having too much talent to replace at multiple positions. But Jedd Fisch has a history of quick turnarounds, and he just secured an amazing commitment in Davis.

The top-ranked transfer cornerback is coming off a sensational season with the Arizona Wildcats in which he had 44 tackles and six deflections. Quarterbacks avoided him all year, as it was clear he was arguably the best defender on the field. His ball skills made him a nightmare for opposing No. 1 wide receivers. 

Many thought that Davis was going to the NFL and would be a player coaches convinced themselves to draft in the first day or two. He has incredible length and size, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility he could have been a first-round pick already. Instead, he’s heading to a Washington team that’s trying to become a contender again.

This is a great start. Getting a top-flight cornerback is something to build a defense around. If Davis can shut down an entire side of the field, then that makes life so much easier for the other 10 guys playing. Davis can go one-on-one with any wide receiver in the Big Ten and beyond.

5. WR Tyler Morris
New Team: Indiana Hoosiers

Michigan’s struggles on offense this season weren’t due to a lack of talent. There was an issue at quarterback that upended things, and you can't blame Morris for getting caught up in it. The Wolverines’ top wide receiver last year didn’t have much to show for his efforts, putting up a stat line of 23 catches for 248 yards and two touchdowns.

Yes, that did lead all Michigan wide receivers. His 248 yards were almost double that of Semaj Morgan, who was second on the team (third if you count tight end Colston Loveland, who beat everyone with 582 yards). It was a dreadful year for a Michigan offense that thought it would do better as the defending champ.

Morris now joins an Indiana team that will look much different in 2025, but it has the same goals under Curt Cignetti: They want to get back to the College Football Playoff, and they need players like Morris to step up. Despite his numbers, Morris can take off in the Hoosiers' offense. He’s a former four-star recruit, and he should easily slip into this offense which is now led by Fernando Mendoza. This clean slate for Morris can allow him to thrive, and he'll have an ideal running mate on the outside in Elijah Sarratt.

4. CB Thaddeus Dixon
New team: North Carolina Tar Heels

In normal times, it would be impossible for a first-year head coach who is new to college football to harbor legitimate championship aspirations, but this 12-team College Football Playoff has changed how we look at title odds. Ohio State was the eight seed in the CFP, and they are now our reigning champions. Plus, there is no head coach like Bill Belichick: While things went south toward the end with the Patriots, he might be the best head coach in the history of the sport, and he’s definitely one of the best defensive minds we’ve ever seen. He can bring North Carolina to the top of the ACC, and as a result, to the Playoff.

Getting his hands on a defensive talent like Dixon is vital to that cause. He isn’t the only former Husky to join Belichick, with linebacker Khmori House, wide receiver Jason Robinson and defensive back Peyton Waters all wearing Tar Heel blue next season. Dixon is the cream of the crop, though, and should be one of the best corners in the country in 2025.

He has elite instincts and fantastic reach, allowing him to break up passes with ease. Some of the players in the transfer portal might be better on paper or have bigger impact because of their position, but Dixon immediately becomes a supreme weapon with Belichick teaching him, and he could push North Carolina to another level.

3. WR Eric Singleton Jr.
New team: Auburn Tigers

Eric Singleton Jr. could have gone anywhere. By many analysts' rankings, he was the No. 1 wide receiver in the transfer portal. His playmaking ability would make any quarterback salivate: He’s able to find the ball in the air and make a play on it, no matter where he is on the field.

He surprisingly chose Auburn over schools like Texas, LSU and Miami, and now he teams up with fellow transfer Jackson Arnold in what could be one of the best one-two connections in the league. This has Joe Burrow-Ja’Marr Chase vibes if it works out like everyone in Auburn is hoping. 

That sounds insane, but this has that type of upside. Singleton is that good at the position, and on top of being a great receiver, he also took on some rushing and kick-return duties for Georgia Tech. Auburn is a mishmash of talent coming from many different programs, but Singleton is by far the best of the bunch.

2. RB Makhi Hughes
New team: Oregon Ducks

From Tulane to the second most important transfer in the country? What a glow-up for Hughes, but he has a true opportunity here to become the star that carries a team through the College Football Playoff. He’s a Swiss army knife at the position, impacting the offense in so many ways. And yes, we are thinking about that Rose Bowl performance when the Ducks put up -23 rushing yards against Ohio State to end their season.

In two seasons with the Green Wave, Hughes ran for 2,779 yards and 22 TDs. We understand he played lesser competition, but stats are facts. His grades were off the chart no matter the analyst; he was nearly impossible to tackle with 129 misses forced in his career, and he's had 75 explosive runs over two seasons. 

This is a stud. He’s going to be an absolute superstar with the Ducks, and as long as he avoids an injury with his physical play, nobody should be worried about his upgrade in competition. The way he runs the football translates across conferences. Oregon has themselves a scary weapon, and their offense should be even better this year — and probably better equipped for the Playoff.

1. QB Carson Beck
New team: Miami Hurricanes

It’s not often a team loses a potential No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft and can argue that it got better at the position. Beck had Georgia looking like title favorites in 2024, but an unfortunate injury forced him to miss the end of the season, and the Bulldogs couldn't mount a deep CFP run without him. Beck’s elbow injury is a worry, but if he fully recovers, Miami is an immediate contender to win it all.

Beck was fantastic at Georgia, going 24-3 over the last two seasons and rarely making any mistakes despite being somewhat of a gunslinger. He will throw the ball downfield, which will seamlessly replace Cam Ward, who had a similar skillset. Beck should come in and put up crazy numbers for a Miami team that’s expected to have CJ Daniels leading the wide receiver room along with JoJo Trader, Josh Moore and Malachi Toney in the slot. (Elijah Lofton could also become a superstar at tight end.)

Beck brings it all together, and this is legitimately a roster Mario Cristobal can take to a championship. They have the talent. They are in the ACC, which actually has teams that will prepare Miami for championship football against the leaders of the Big Ten and SEC. This is the transfer of the year, unless Jeremiah Smith says he’s leaving Ohio State.