1 week Ago By Brad Shepard
Welcome to college football's version of free agency, except this is more like a no-holds-barred free-for-all in the Wild West. Anything goes, and—in the world of the transfer portal—these days, everybody goes. Everybody seems to be doing it, so much so that it's impossible to narrow down a "who's-who" of non-quarterback offensive players who've entered even at this early juncture of the winter window.
But we'll try. Most of them are receivers, too. The movement is so frequent that it's almost impossible to include everybody who has elite potential.
Guys like former Kentucky wide receiver Barion Brown, LSU receiver CJ Daniels, Arkansas tight end Luke Hasz, Mississippi State receivers Mario Craver and Kevin Coleman Jr., and Northwestern offensive guard Josh Thompson easily could have made the list but just missed. If they're on your list, guess what? They're on some of the best programs in the nation's, too.
There's just no way we can discuss everyone. Here are the ones we think are the top, based on on-field resume and/or elite potential, and we have tried to put a few players from every level of offense on this list, too. Maybe you've forgotten about Nic Anderson.
After all, he basically missed the entire 2024 season with a quad injury and didn't register a catch. But teams around the country know what he's about, and the Oklahoma product will be playing somewhere else in 2025. A season ago, Anderson pulled down 31 catches for 798 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Now, the 6'4", 219-pound redshirt sophomore isn't going to wait around and see if coach Brent Venables can figure out his quarterback problems. He's seeking greener pastures with potential big numbers. According to 247Sports' Mike Roach , LSU, Ole Miss and Florida were listed as early favorites to land him.
At this point of the portal season, it's tough to pin down "favorites," but Anderson could head to his home state of Texas, too. AggiesWire's Cameron Ohnysty noted Anderson is supposed to visit Texas A&M, where KC Concepcion and Micah Hudson have interest, too. With the development of Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed, that's huge news.
LSU has veteran Garrett Nussmeier returning, and Florida (DJ Lagway) and Ole Miss (Austin Simmons) have exciting young quarterbacks at the helm like Reed at A&M. Anderson would be a perfect fit for any of them. There may not be a running back in the portal with as much interest already as former South Alabama runner Fluff Bothwell.
The 5'10" 219-pounder is a cannonball-built back who can pummel over defenders in the hole and has shown the burst to take it up a notch once he makes it through the line of scrimmage. Best of all, he's a freshman with three years of eligibility remaining. There's a ton of meat left on this bone, and colleges are lining up to have Bothwell anchor their offensive backfield for the next few years.
The Oneonta, Alabama native ran for 832 yards in his first year with the Jaguars, scoring 13 times on the ground and averaging 7.5 yards per carry. Bothwell, whose given name is Da'Marion, teamed with fellow freshman quarterback Gio Lopez for an exciting 1-2 punch, but he will see a big payday moving on to a Power Four program.
Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, Mississippi State, Auburn and others already have inquired, as have many other teams. You can't pass up a talent like Bothwell's, and he won't have any trouble finding a new home. He will have his choice.
Somebody is getting a ready-made starter. Extremely good, experienced offensive tackles don't grow on trees, and when you can get somebody to protect the blind side of your quarterbacks, they are invaluable. The transfer portal makes finding a good one more accessible than in the past, but you'll have to pay to land one.
Former Virginia Tech starting left tackle Xavier Chaplin will likely command a high price after he entered the portal this week. A year ago, he was a College Football News third-team All-American and a cornerstone for the Hokies. It was a major blow when he decided to depart.
The 6'7", 323-pounder has the potential to be an elite pro, and as a redshirt sophomore, he still has a couple of seasons of eligibility. According to SI.com's RJ Schafer, Chaplin spent two years at starting tackle, allowing just five sacks in the 2023 season.
He was strong again this year for coach Brent Pry, earning All-ACC Honorable Mention honors despite injuries. Chaplin made 25 consecutive starts as a youngster, and as evidenced by the honors he received, he was well-regarded by pretty much everybody. The South Carolina native is just now starting the process, but whoever lands him will be getting a ready-made anchor and a sure-fire NFL prospect if he stays healthy.
Sometimes, whether it's a player from a smaller school or just somebody who isn't on a lot of radars, you've got to search and research to find a lot of information about them. That's far from the case with Kevin "KC" Concepcion. Though he was only a 3-star prospect when he signed with North Carolina State, he made a major impact from the time he stepped on the spring practice field in Raleigh a couple of years ago, and he's had an incredible couple of years with the Wolfpack.
Now, he's moving on. His brother recently signed with Kansas State, but the elder Concepcion presumably won't be joining him in Manhattan. The 6'0", 170-pound pass-catcher has a final six of Alabama, Colorado, Florida State, Miami, South Carolina and Texas A&M, per On3's Pete Nakos .
Whoever lands him will get perhaps the most polished pass-catcher out there. He may not be the flashiest or the best athlete, but he's simply gotten open and produced since the moment he entered college football. As a freshman, Concepcion had 71 catches for 839 yards and 10 touchdowns, but those numbers dipped significantly as the Pack broke in freshman quarterback CJ Bailey, catching just 53 passes for 460 yards and six scores.
Now, he'll end his career in another spot. Other than Ohio State, nobody has recruited the wide receiver position better in recent years than the Texas Longhorns. Apparently, it's gotten too crowded for talented youngster Johntay Cook II.
With so many elite 2025 prospects coming in, he's heading somewhere where he can be showcased a little more. This past season, the former 5-star wound up with 16 catches for 273 yards and a pair of scores, but the DeSoto, Texas native wasn't firmly in the rotation, getting bypassed by true freshman Ryan Wingo. The speedster has a ton of potential, and since he only played in four games this past year, he has a ton of eligibility, too.
Cook can play up to three more college seasons, which makes him an extremely attractive commodity. There's a reason why he could have gone anywhere out of high school, even if he wasn't a fixture in coach Steve Sarkisian's rotation. Unless others somehow step into the race, the Longhorns' top rival and another powerhouse will be the main suitors.
Cook is a player whose best football is ahead of him. He's going to get an opportunity on a huge stage. The Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks are hardly considered a powerhouse football program, but they had some moments this year, despite a 5-7 record.
Most of those were created by sensational running back Ahmad Hardy. When you put up numbers like the freshman from Monticello, Mississippi, others take notice. And you have suitors lining up for you in the transfer portal.
There's simply no way programs like Louisiana-Monroe and South Alabama can keep Harvey and Fluff Bothwell in the fold. This past year, Hardy ran 237 times for 1,351 yards and scored 13 touchdowns, averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
He quickly became the offensive centerpiece, and he'll now get to do it on a top-tier platform. Ole Miss, Auburn, Oregon and plenty of others are after Hardy, and he arrived in Oxford to see his home-state Rebels this week, per Inside the Rebels' David Johnson . Everybody knows how much all three of those teams have spent and succeeded in the portal in recent years, so he has some exciting options.
Hardy probably made himself a bunch of money with his first-year performance, and he has put himself in a position to be a household name with a big opportunity. Perhaps the most electrifying playmaker in the portal with the least amount on his resume is former Texas Tech speed-burner Micah Hudson. It was a shocker to many when the 5-star pass-catcher from the 2024 recruiting class spurned big-time offers to head to Lubbock and play for coach Joey McGuire and the Red Raiders.
He signified a major recruiting win for a program built on Lone Star State talent. However, his first season didn't go as expected. Battling injuries, Hudson had issues getting on and staying on the field.
Playing sparingly in eight games, he finished with just eight catches for 123 yards. On one hand, you wonder why McGuire didn't get him involved more, as was the case when Missouri didn't showcase Luther Burden III during his freshman year and he nearly left the program. On the other, if Hudson was truly exceptional, he'd have been able to play for a middle-of-the-row program, right? There are plenty of teams who still believe in Hudson's immense potential.
Right now, On3's Steve Wiltfong believes he won't go far as the Temple, Texas native is projected to land at Texas A&M to fill a major position of need. Wherever Hudson goes will have the opportunity to mine some special talent. It's fair to ask whether things are crumbling around Kentucky coach Mark Stoops after a losing season and now witnessing a mass exodus of talent, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
Dane Key is exiting Kentucky, along with fellow starting receiver Barion Brown, and that's going to leave a largely unfillable void. Key, especially, has the potential to be a special player with a decent quarterback. The 6'3", 210-pounder leaving his hometown is a major red flag for the Stoops era, but he never could live up to his ability with the revolving door of subpar signal-callers in Big Blue Nation.
In 2024, Key was by far Kentucky's biggest weapon, catching 47 passes for 715 yards but only scoring twice for an inconsistent offense. Last year, he had 42 grabs for 636 yards and six scores; and as a freshman in 2022, he finished with 37 catches for 519 yards and six touchdowns. South Carolina and Ole Miss are a couple of programs mentioned who would love to take him, and he could choose to stay in the Bluegrass State and go to Louisville, too.
There will be plenty of pursuers. Even if Key is just a one-year piece, he has the chance to be the centerpiece of any recruiting room and show the NFL what he can do in a high-octane offense. Most of the time, you don't think of tight ends as a glamorous position that is focused on in the transfer portal era.
But if you've got a great one, he's straight-up a weapon. When you find a tight end who is a terrific blocker and a great pass-catcher, he will be highly coveted. Purdue tight end Max Klare may be one of those guys.
The sophomore from Guilford, Indiana has two seasons of eligibility remaining, and even in a mediocre Boilermakers offense on a bad team, he excelled. He finished 2024 with 51 catches for 685 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 13.4 yards per catch.
The 6'4", 240-pounder was a big play waiting to happen, and that's a tough ask as a tight end. Now, plenty of teams will take notice, even though there isn't a list of suitors for him just yet. Any time a team's leading receiver in a rugged, tight-end friendly league like the Big Ten enters the portal, he won't have any trouble finding a home.
Considering he's already spent three years in West Lafayette, it will be interesting to see if Barry Odom can convince him to hang around. Klare is the type of cornerstone who can help a new coach resurrect a program. Every season since the advent of the transfer portal, mid-major stars emerge with big seasons, blossom into names that big-time teams around the country hear, research and eventually are able to lure with more money once they leave.
It's just the nature of the beast these days. If you have a big year for a little team, getting paid becomes the name of the game. But it's also about showcasing talents on bigger stages for the pros to see.
Tanner Koziol may have that opportunity. The former Ball State tight end is a physical force at 6'7", 237 pounds, and he is almost certain to become an NFL prospect at that size. After a year when he caught an eye-opening 94 passes for 839 yards and eight scores, it's hard not to pay attention.
Koziol is a first-down machine, a red-zone weapon and the type of tight end who is going to go to a major school and make a big-time impact. It's hard to stand in the shadows, but few talked about him because of Bowling Green's Harold Fannin Jr. The junior is worthy of recognition as well, though.
Wisconsin is one of the schools that has Koziol's attention, according to Athlon's Dillon Graff. Last year, he transferred to Louisville before returning to Ball State, so that could be another option, too. For an offensive-line guru like Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman, it's a tough thing to see when guys at his premiere position leave Fayetteville, but that's exactly what's happening during this portal cycle.
Perhaps none is more damaging than offensive guard Patrick Kutas, who is one of the top interior linemen in the portal. He is a long-time starter who could play on the inside or outside, and somebody is going to get an anchor who is destined for the NFL. Right now, it looks like "Portal King" Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels are the leaders, though Tennessee and others are going to try to swing.
The 6'5", 313-pound Memphis native certainly would be heading to the closest SEC program if he wound up with the Rebels, as Inside the Rebels' David Johnson and Matt Zenitz think he will. Tennessee would love to get a guard who can fortify the front line for quarterback Nico Iamaleava, but the Vols are playing catch-up right now. Kutas visited Oxford this week, and he appears lined up to head there.
That would be a major win for Kiffin. When you're looking at top non-quarterback offensive transfers, you're trying to get a diversification of position and skill set, a nice little mixture of teams' needs around the nation. At the running back position, Fluff Bothwell and Ahmad Hardy were no-brainers.
But others were a smattering of small-school players with OK stats but major potential. Bowling Green's Terion Stewart and Washington State's Wayshawn Parker received consideration. But the nod for the other running back spot on our list went to Ismail Mahdi, the Texas State Bobcats junior who showed explosive ability in a high-powered offense.
The 5'9", 180-pound Murphy, Texas native finished the season with 183 rushes for 991 yards and four touchdowns. While that wasn't a lot of times to hit paydirt, he was a workhorse. Two years ago, he led the nation in all-purpose yards in 2023 with 2,169, and he is a two-time All-Sun Belt first-team selection.
Miami, Texas Tech, Texas, TCU, Oklahoma State and others are trying to lure him to their programs. A veteran with more versatility than anybody in the nation who has excelled as a runner, receiver and specialist will be a major weapon wherever he goes. When NFL teams eventually come calling, he's a special college player who is going to get his chance to show what he can do at the highest level.
Much like their ACC counterpart Virginia Tech, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are going to have to search to replace a key piece of their 2024 offensive line. Corey Robinson II spent plenty of time in the starting lineup after transferring from Kansas back home (he's from Atlanta suburb Roswell) before the 2022 season. Following that redshirt campaign, his first trip into the portal was certainly beneficial.
Once he moved to the Yellow Jackets, he started 12 games at left tackle that season; and while he wasn't a full-time starter last year, he did appear in 12 of the 13 games. This year, he started the final seven games and split time with Ethan Mackenny. Now, the 6'5", 305-pounder has one year of eligibility remaining, and somebody is going to get a seasoned veteran with a lot of starting experience.
While Robinson may not have the most eligibility, it's not easy to find players who've started so many high-level games, and especially not blocking quarterbacks' blind sides. Leaving offensive-line guru and Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key is an interesting decision, and it remains to be seen if it will pay off for Robinson if he does seek to go elsewhere. Testing the waters could be a big deal for a team in need at a major position of importance.
The guy who can give Micah Hudson a run as the most tantalizing player in the portal from a "what-will-we-see-from-him-in-the-future" perspective is former USC freshman receiver Duce Robinson. He was coveted by everybody in the nation as a tight end prospect in the 2023 class, and the two-sport star eventually chose the Trojans over the Georgia Bulldogs and others to play football and baseball. In Lincoln Riley's offense, he flashed in spurts, showing he was worth the smoke, catching 23 passes for 396 yards and five scores, averaging 17.
2 yards per catch. The 6'6", 220-pound player from Phoenix is a special athlete. While it's too early to suggest where he may end up, Robinson will have options.
Yes, he had an up-and-down, inconsistent couple of seasons in Los Angeles, but he has so much potential and three years of eligibility remaining. He's also now done the requisite strength work he desperately needed. Texas may be a program interested, as the Longhorns finished right there with Georgia for Robinson's signature the first time around.
His father played at Florida State, so that's a possibility. Oregon and others could enter the fray, too. Baseball is the wild card here, too.
If he chooses to remain a two-sport star, teams with quality football and baseball programs could emerge. Out of all the playmakers at every position on both sides of the ball, as of press time, the top player in the transfer portal rankings of the two major recruiting sites is former Georgia Tech pass-catcher Eric Singleton Jr. No matter how loaded the portal is, Singleton may be the best of the best.
The rising junior has a couple of seasons of eligibility remaining, and everybody loves his explosive ability. At 5'11", 165 pounds, the Douglasville, Georgia, native is a dynamo with the ball in his hands. This past season, he caught 56 passes for 754 yards and scored just three times in the midst of all Georgia Tech's quarterback injury issues.
As a freshman, he caught 46 passes for 714 yards and scored six times. Ever since he arrived on the field for the Yellow Jackets, he's proven too talented to take off it. Per ESPN's Max Olson , SEC stalwarts Georgia, Auburn and Ole Miss are targets for Singleton, and it would be a massive blow to the Bees if they not only lost Singleton but he went to play for the hated rival Bulldogs, who are also near his hometown.
Obviously, the Tigers and Rebels have shown they'll spend big in the portal, and with UGA competing for championships every year, that has to be intriguing for Singleton. Whoever gets him will be securing potentially the best the portal has to offer this year. When you're 6'8", 312 pounds, folks tend to pay attention.
When you're as good as former Nevada left tackle Isaiah World has been for the Wolfpack, it's even easier to get noticed. That's why he has entered the portal and why top-tier teams are showing interest in a player who is sure to provide an instant impact no matter where he lands. The San Diego native wasn't highly regarded coming out of high school, but he has played his way onto the radar.
The past two years, he has been an Honorable Mention All-Mountain West selection. According to Bucknuts' Bill Kurelic , while Kentucky was believed to be an early favorite to land the massive junior with one year of eligibility remaining, Ohio State now is in a good position. The Buckeyes need offensive linemen for 2025, and they are aggressively going after some portal targets.
World could come in and fortify the line in a major way. Left tackle Josh Simmons is off to the NFL, and right tackle Josh Fryar is out of eligibility. Plugging and playing a guy like World who has 36 career starts for Nevada will be a big deal for the Buckeyes and go a long way toward the player getting to showcase his talents for the next level.
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