How many top 50 NFL Draft prospects are transfers?

Typically, a player’s last collegiate destination is the one he carries with him throughout his NFL career. Joe Burrow isn’t remembered as a quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Nor is Cam Ward thought of as an Incarnate Word signal-caller.

Some make sure to represent each of their stops, such as Russell Wilson describing his school as a “whole pack of badgers” on Sunday Night Football. A lot of players could do the same these days, as 21 of the top 50 players on FanSided’s 2026 NFL Draft Big Board spent time with more than one college program.

In fact, a couple stopped at three and one at four.

Seeing that a player decided to uproot his career and head somewhere else used to have more of a stigma, not that it was a dealbreaker or transfers were immediately written off. Scouts and executives wondered why a player relocated, questioning a player’s competitiveness.

Really, the numbers just highlight the changing times. Movement isn’t an exception anymore. While it used to raise some red flags, switching uniforms now reflects a calculated decision to find schemes that fit better, stronger guidance and a brighter stage. Transferring has become an increasingly modern path for players to the draft stage after hearing their names called.

Every top 50 NFL Draft prospect who transferred

What kind of players transferred?

Sometimes, when a player transfers, as mentioned above, it’s construed as if they're running from competition. Some are actually running to it. Keionte Scott was a junior college All-American. D’Angelo Ponds and Chris Brazzell II were freshman All-Americans and all-conference honorees.

While Ponds and Brazzell could’ve remained at James Madison and Tulane, respectively, neither is a destination that scouts pour into. By moving up the ladder to bigger schools — one won last year’s College Football Playoff while the other is in the upper echelon of SEC programs — they decided to take on stiffer competition while also surrounding themselves with more talented teammates.

Who benefitted from transferring?

To answer this question, it’s easiest to look at the schools at which some of these players first attended. Scott initially played at Snow College, which, according to Pro Football Reference, has a dozen alumni who have played or are playing in the NFL, including current Pittsburgh Steelers tailback Jaylen Warren. No one’s been directly drafted from the Utah junior college, though.

The same goes for East Los Angeles College, which certainly doesn’t measure up to Oregon in terms of visibility.

Bowling Green, meanwhile, which is on the FBS stage, had a draftee last year: Cleveland Browns tight end Harold Fannin. However, the program hasn't seen a player taken in the first round since halfback Bernie Casey in 1961. It’s safe to say Cashius Howell wouldn’t be in the position he’s in — as the No. 29 overall prospect in this draft — without climbing to a higher perch.

Emmanuel Pregnon made a similar choice. His first stop, Wyoming, has seen just two offensive linemen selected in the past 43 years. James Madison has never had a first-round NFL draft pick, which wouldn’t have boded well for the already undersized Ponds.

How many transfers were drafted in the first round last year?

Seven transfers were selected during the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Those players were:

What the NFL Draft can tell us about the transfer portal

NFL teams prefer to add players who are as refined as possible, unless they have raw skills that coaches believe they can develop. If it takes an extra stop or two for a prospect to progress, it doesn’t seem to be a negative. Team decision-makers aren’t going to dock a player — especially one that’s high on their draft board — for how he got to that point.

The draft is starting to show that it’s more about how a player grows throughout his journey to the league, rather than the stops on the journey itself.

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