3 QBs Brian Kelly needs to target in the transfer portal after Bryce Underwood flips from LSU

Things were already bad enough for Brian Kelly at LSU. Last Saturday's debacle at Florida handed the Tigers their third straight loss and officially put a fork in any SEC or College Football Playoff hopes the team may still have been harboring. The defense remains a mess, QB Garrett Nussmeier appears to be regressing more with each passing week and at this point certain members of the roster appear to be in open revolt against their head coach.

But if the SEC has taught us anything, it's that things can always get worse. And sure enough, just days after the Florida loss, Kelly learned that the crown jewel of his 2025 recruiting class — No. 1-ranked QB Bryce Underwood — had decided to flip his commitment to the home state Michigan Wolverines. Throughout this losing streak, Underwood had been Kelly's one saving grace, the light at the end of the tunnel keeping Baton Rouge from calling for his head. Now that he's gone elsewhere, it's getting tougher and tougher to find a reason to believe in what Kelly is building.

Unfortunately, Kelly's buyout ensures that he'll be around for at least another year or two. But with Nussmeier likely bolting for the NFL after this season and nothing but low four-star Rickie Collins behind him, Kelly is going to have to get creative in the portal to address his QB situation and pull his program out of this tail spin. Here are three names he should pursue.

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3. Darian Mensah is showing out in LSU's backyard

This one might not have the Q rating that Tigers fans are hoping for, but it could pay off big-time. Mensah has been a revelation as a freshman at Tulane, completing 66 percent of his passes at nearly 10 yards per attempt with 18 touchdowns and just four interceptions as the Green Wave remain within striking distance of an AAC championship and a College Football Playoff spot. And while the schedule isn't as rigorous as the SEC, he did light up a legit Power 4 defense back in September, throwing for 342 yards in a near-upset of Kansas State.

It's always a risky proposition to project how a Group of 5 star will adjust to tougher competition, especially ones who flew way under the recruiting radar. But Mensah has checked every box so far, and would seem to have even more room to grow with just 11 collegiate games under his belt. If Kelly wants someone with upside that he can help mold into the next big thing, he could do a lot worse, and it'll be tough for Mensah to say no to the hefty NIL package LSU can offer.

2. Thomas Castellanos could be the next Jayden Daniels

The comparison isn't perfect; Castellanos is much shorter than Daniels was, and brings more quickness than long speed. But don't let his flameout this season at Boston College fool you: Castellanos is a legit athlete, one who simply wasn't a good fit for the offense that new head coach Bill O'Brien wanted to run this season. Just pop on the 2023 tape and you'll see a player who looks a whole lot like a poor man's version of Kyler Murray, and Kelly and this coaching staff know just what to do with a player like that.

LSU will have some competition for Castellanos' services; Florida State, in particular, already seems to be sniffing around after the QB entered the transfer portal last week. But while the Tigers might be in a tough spot right now, they can still offer a lot more than the Seminoles can, including a recent track record of developing quarterbacks for the NFL. Castellanos would return a dual-threat element to this offense that it's really missed with Nussmeier under center.

1. Quinn Ewers might be run out of Texas by Arch Manning

This is the big one. It sure seems like Ewers' struggles have started to tank his draft stock, which at this point ranges anywhere from Day 2 to Day 3. Unless he can really, really turn things around, that slide figures to continue — and if it does, Ewers might decide that he's better served taking an NIL package to play one more season in college and rebuild his standing with NFL scouts.

That almost certainly wouldn't be at Texas, where Arch Manning is already breathing down Ewers' neck. But the Horns' logjam could be the Tigers' gain, allowing Kelly to poach a quarterback who, despite being mired in a seemingly permanent QB controversy, is better than his reputation right now would suggest. Ewers was cooking early this season, and it seems like the oblique injury he suffered back in September has sent things sideways. It wasn't so long ago that he was in Underwood's shoes as the can't-miss recruit, and we've seen plenty of flashes of that talent in his two years in Austin.