Though it's not set to officially reopen until Monday, Dec. 4, the college football transfer portal has already had many players announce their intentions of entering and leaving for other schools. One of those names is former Duke football quarterback Riley Leonard, who after three seasons with the Blue Devils will be off to a new destination in the fall of 2024.
Leonard is just one of a number of talented players to enter the portal, who will likely be highly sought after, per On3's updated list. Other names include Coastal Carolina's Grayson McCall, Kansas State's Will Howard, and Miami's Tyler Van Dyke, among many others.
This is just the beginning of what is set to be yet another unprecedented season heading into 2024 where conference realignment will greatly factor into a lot of decisions for these players entering the portal.
Here, we look to rank some of the best players to enter the transfer portal.
1. QB Riley Leonard, Duke
It wasn't just the stellar Mike Elko defense that made Duke one of the surprise teams in 2023, which started by beating Clemson in the opener by three touchdowns. Riley Leonard was a big reason for that as well. If not plagued by multiple injuries throughout the season that only allowed him to play in seven games, the Blue Devils may have been vying for the ACC Championship this weekend.
Leonard has a career touchdown/interception ratio of 24/10, also rushing for 19 career touchdowns. He's accurate but also extremely fast, giving him the top ranking in this transfer portal list. Most are already predicting that he will end up at Notre Dame, similar to Sam Hartman from Wake Forest last season.
2. QB Will Rogers, Mississippi State
Will Rogers thrived under late head coach Mike Leach and his Air Raid offense. However, when Zach Arnett took over this season and assigned Kevin Barbay the offense, Rogers did not adapt well to the new system. His numbers greatly dwindled, although some of that was because of injuries.
Miami's Mario Cristobal has already given him a follow on X, formerly known as Twitter. The Hurricanes offensive coordinator, Shannon Dawson, runs a more Air Raid-type of offense.
3. QB Cameron Ward, Washington State
With a cloud of uncertainty over the Cougars program with a lack of conference currently, one of the better quarterbacks to come out of the Pac-12 this season is Cameron Ward, who is now putting his name in the transfer portal.
Ward has to be considered one of the best in the portal now. This season, he threw for 3,736 yards and 25 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. The downside to Ward is that he could still declare for the NFL Draft.
4. QB Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina
When he entered his name into the transfer portal last season, McCall was set to be one of the more highly sought after portal acquisitions, with Auburn high on his list. But due to academic issues, he had to remove his name, thus staying with Coastal Carolina for another season. McCall took a major dip in his production, however, and like many of the quarterbacks on this list, was due to injuries suffered.
He threw only 10 touchdowns to six interceptions this season, a major drop off from his usual average of 25/2 ratio in his previous three seasons. Could Hugh Freeze finally land McCall this season as a graduate transfer, where academic issues won't be a problem?
5. OL Zeke Correll, Notre Dame
The rarity of finding an offensive lineman in the transfer portal who can come right in as a plug-and-play isn't often found. That's why Zeke Correll is so high atop these rankings because outside of all the many talented quarterbacks, his services will definitely be needed to possibly even protect one of these signal callers.
Correll started 23 games for the Fighting Irish and is versatile enough to play both guard and center, although he primarily lined up at center in South Bend.
6. QB DJ Uiagalelei, Oregon State
Once the prized possession of Dabo Swinney and Clemson, Uiagalelei left for Corvallis last season after struggling with inconsistencies. Under then Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith, the former Tigers' quarterback had a bit of resurgence, throwing for 2,638 yards, 21 touchdowns and only seven interceptions.
His 40 career starts where he's gone 30-10 should definitely gauge a lot of looks, as experience definitely isn't overlooked by coaches seeking in the portal. Could he find his way back to Smith, who just took over as head coach of Michigan State?
7. QB Will Howard, Kansas State
After four years in Manhattan of splitting time with other quarterbacks, Will Howard hopes to find a new home where he's the full-time starter, therefore entering the transfer portal. Even though he did end up splitting time with others, he still amassed 5,786 yards, 48 touchdowns and 25 interceptions, with an additional nine touchdowns on the ground.
His big frame and dual-threat abilities will get him some major looks.
8. QB Tyler Van Dyke, Miami
Once a Heisman hopeful just two seasons ago, that quickly faded as Tyler Van Dyke struggled with injuries and inconsistency. The Connecticut native had much the same this season, as he threw 19 touchdowns to 12 interceptions. He has a 17 interceptions total over the last two seasons.
Van Dyke has suffered through lack of consistency with the Miami program, having a new offensive coordinator every season of his career. Entering the portal, he'll obviously have yet a new one, but maybe it will be the different scenery he needs.
9. QB Dante Moore, UCLA
After originally committing to Oregon out of high school, Dante Moore quickly became one of Chip Kelly's greatest flips when he signed with the Bruins in the 2023 recruiting cycle. He appeared in nine games this season as a true freshman but still found himself splitting time with other quarterbacks on the roster after the offense continued to sputter. He threw for just 1,610 yards, 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. His entering the portal doesn't come as a huge surprise, which now continues to leave Kelly with all kinds of uncertainty in Pasadena.
10. WR Beaux Collins, Clemson
The wide receiver position, which once was so promising at Clemson, has been lacking over the last couple of seasons. That's why it must be a bummer to Dabo Swinney as losing Beaux Collins, who has been one of the more productive. This season, he caught 38 passes for 510 yards and three touchdowns.
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