Washington football has a new quarterback this weekend after landing former Mississippi State leader and highly-touted transfer portal player Will Rogers. The news was first reported by ESPN's Pete Thamel in a social media post Friday evening.

Rogers will replace much-heralded Washington football quarterback and Heisman trophy finalist Michael Penix Jr., who is expected to be a top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Rogers has one year of eligibility remaining.

In four seasons at Mississippi State, Rogers accumulated 12,315 yards — second most in SEC history behind Georgia's Aaron Murry (13, 166). He also had 94 touchdowns and 28 interceptions for the Bulldogs. He is the only SEC quarterback in history with over 1,000 career completions and 1,301.

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Rogers joins Washington football after departing Mississippi State following a 2023 season where his completion percentage dropped just below 60% under newly hired OC Kevin Barbay.

“Obviously, how Coach [Ryan] Grubb runs his offense, it's one of the tops in the country with how they score points and how quarterback-friendly the system is,” Rogers told ESPN Friday. “People started to catch on to them in 2022, that's when the whole nation took notice. Things didn't go as planned this year [for me], and I entered the portal. I had hoped that they would reach out.”

The move represents a 2,400-mile departure from home for Rogers, who grew up just 90 minutes from the Mississippi State campus.

“It was nice to have family and friends to watch all the games,” he said Friday. “But at some point, you have to think about what's best for your career.”