College football’s 3 biggest winners in the transfer portal so far
By Ethan Lee
No. 2: UCLA Bruins
Chip Kelly is just having one solid year all around as he continues to build the UCLA Bruins into a winner. And of course, there’s a very good chance that Kelly’s new group of transfers can help him continue to elevate the Bruins as they move forward.
While their recruiting class as a whole is just flat-out impressive, let’s focus on what they’re bringing in via the transfer portal alone right now. The Bruins nabbed some truly notable players through the portal, such as former Kent State quarterback Collin Schlee, who is rated as a 4-star prospect and managed to complete 59 percent of his passes as he threw for 2,109 yards and 13 touchdowns against five interceptions in 11 games this season. Schlee also ran for 489 yards and five more touchdowns on five yards per carry.
That’s not bad! And it’s reasonable to expect that Schlee’s production could be boosted considerably if he were to play an active role in Kelly’s innovative and thrilling offense with more talent around him.
Oh, and Kelly also brought in plenty of talent up on the offensive line and at key skill positions. The addition of running back Anthony Adkins from Army is going to be fascinating to watch as well knowing just how much Kelly enjoys running the ball.
On the defensive side of things, keep an eye on guys like linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo (who is moving to Los Angeles from Cal) and Jake Heimlicher (a solid pass rusher for Penn).
Now, it is worth noting that several UCLA players are in the transfer portal and could end up elsewhere. Heck, Tyler Manoa, a 4-star offensive lineman, is headed to Tucson, Arizona to play for Jedd Fisch and the Arizona Wildcats. But still, UCLA is bringing in a ton of talent. That could pay off big as the Bruins go into next year hoping to maintain momentum from this really solid season.