Transfer Quarterbacks Changing the Look of Pac-12 Football in 2022

They’re doing the transfer quarterback shuffle in the Pac-12.

Six of the 12 teams in the conference are likely to have starting quarterbacks in 2022 that were playing for another team in 2021.

The transfer portal is overloaded with players changing teams this year, but no position changes the prospects of a team as dramatically as a quarterback who comes to a different team. The Pac-12 brought in two of the highest rated transfer quarterbacks in the country: Caleb Williams, who came to USC from Oklahoma as the top-rated transfer the country, and Cameron Ward, who moved from Incarnate Word to Washington State and is the most intriguing new member of the Pac-12.

Only one Pac-12 team, Stanford, did not have a quarterback transfer in or out, although the Cardinal lost a number of other players by way of transfers.

Let’s take a look at which quarterbacks transferred in and out of each Pac-12 school and what it means, listing in alphabetical order.

Arizona:

Transferred in: Jayden de Laura, from Washington State

Transferred out: Nick Moore, to undetermined team

Quarterback Assessment: Jayden De Laura, who was the starting quarterback as a freshman and sophomore in Washington State’s run-and-hoot offense, is likely to win the starting job at the start of 2022.

However, he will have to beat out Jordan McCloud, a transfer from South Florida, who had become the Wildcats starter in 2021 before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

Also in the conversation is Will Plummer, who started the final six games of the 2021 season as a freshman and got better as the season went on.

But de Laura would not have come to Arizona unless he thought he would be the starter.

Arizona State:

Transferred in: Paul Tyson, from Alabama

Transferred out: None

Quarterback Assessment: Jayden Daniels has been Arizona State’s starting quarterback ever since he arrived as a freshman. He announced in December that he is returning for his fourth season at ASU in 2022 rather than enter the NFL draft. Presumably he will be the ASU starter next season even though he has not improved as much as expected from his promising freshman season and regressed in 2021 when he threw as many interceptions (10) and touchdown passes (10).

With the Sun Devils coaching staff unraveling amid an NCAA investigation for alleged wrongdoing, it is unclear whether that will affect Daniels’ future.

Tyson has a good chance to be ASU’s starting quarterback at some point, although he is long shot to unseat Daniels in 2022. Tyson was the backup to Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young this past year at Alabama, and with Young returning for at least one more college season, Tyson opted to go elsewhere. Tyson played in 12 games in 2021 and was 10-for-16 for 150 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions in mop-up duty. But he was a prized recruit. Besides Alabama Tyson had scholarship offers out of high school from LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, Wisconsin, USC, Mississippi and many others.

Cal

Transferred in: Jack Plummer, from Purdue

Transferred out: None

Quarterback Assessment: Plummer is expected to be Cal’s starting quarterback for the 2022 opener after Chase Garbers, the Bears starter the past four years, declared for the 2022 NFL draft. Plummer was Purdue’s starting quarterback when the 2021 began, but was replaced as the starter by Aiden O’Connell in the fifth game.

Plummer and sixth-year quarterback Ryan Glover are the only current Cal quarterbacks with game experience, and Glover was unimpressive in his only game when he filled in for Garbers (COVID) in a 10-3 loss to Arizona.

Sophomore Zach Johnson and freshman Kai Millner are likely to be Plummer’s only real competition in the spring for the starting job and neither of them has any game experience.

Colorado

Transferred in: Maddox Kopp, from Houston

Transferred out: None

Quarterback Assessment: Brendon Lewis is the presumed starter in 2022 in his third season at Colorado after being the Buffaloes’ starting quarterback in 2021. But Lewis had some rough patches and Colorado finished 4-8, so his status as the starter is shaky.

J.T. Shrout, who transferred to Colorado from Tennessee last year, was competing with Lewis for the starting job last August before suffering a season-ending knee injury. He’ll try again in 2022.

Incoming freshman Owen McCown (son of ex-NFL QB Josh McCown) has an outside chance to be a threat in the quarterback competition as does Drew Carter, who was the backup in 2021 as a true freshman. Maddox Kopp redshirted last year at Houston and has never taken a snap in a college game, so it would be a surprise if he wins the starting job.

Oregon

Transferred in: Bo Nix, from Auburn

Transferred out: Robby Ashford, to Auburn

Quarterback Assessment: Bo Nix is expected to be Oregon’s starting quarterback in 2022, and he is familiar with the Ducks since he led Auburn’s victory over Oregon in the 2019 season opener as a true freshman. He was the SEC freshman of the year in 2019, but things did not go as smoothly after that. Nix has been Auburn’s starting quarterback the past three seasons, but he missed the final three games of the 2021 season with a broken ankle that required surgery. The Tigers went 6-7 in 2021 and lost their final five games.

Oregon sophomore Ty Thompson, a five-star recruit in 2021 according to Rivals (four-star by 247 Sports), will give Nix some competition for the starting job, and many Ducks fans wanted Oregon to give Thompson a shot in 2021 when quarterbacking was one of the Ducks’ biggest shortcomings with Anthony Brown running the show. Thompson played in only three games and attempted just 15 passes as a freshman in 2021.

Robby Ashford completed the trading-places swap by heading to Auburn after failing to attempt a pass for the Ducks.

Oregon State

Transferred in: None

Transferred out: Sam Vidlak, to Boise State

Quarterback Assessment: Chance Nolan is expected to be the starter again in 2022 after starting 12 games in 2021 and finishing second in the conference in passer rating at 148.29. He was a first-team all-Pac-12 selection by Pro Football Focus, if that means anything to you.

Tristan Gebbia is back after being the starter in 2020 and missing the 2021 season with an injury, but it will be difficult to take the starting job away from Nolan.

Stanford

Transferred in: None

Transferred out: None

Quarterback Assessment: Tanner McKee is back after an impressive 2021 season that made him attractive to NFL scouts, and he is the unquestioned starter in 2022. But the Cardinal went 3-9 last season and lost both its running backs and several other players to the transfer portal.

UCLA

Transferred in: None

Transferred out: Kajiya Hollawayne, to Georgia; Parker McQuarrie, to undecided

Transferred in and out: Dillon Gabriel, committed to UCLA from Central Florida, but when Caleb Williams entered the transfer portal, Gabriel changed his mind and committed to Oklahoma.

Quarterback Assessment: Dorian Thompson-Robinson is back for a fifth season as the Bruins’ starter after being named a second-team all-conference selection and leading the Pac-12 in passer rating last year.

Ethan Garbers is back after playing in 12 games, including one start as a redshirt freshman in 2021, but 2022 belongs to DTR.

Hard to say how Dillon would have fit in, but it’s a moot point now.

USC

Transferred in: Caleb Williams, from Oklahoma

Transferred out: Kedon Slovis, to Pittsburgh; Jaxson Dart, to Mississippi

Quarterback Assessment: Caleb Williams will be the starter for the Trojans, and his addition makes USC a title contender. He is rated the nation's No. 1 transfer at any position by 247 Sports, and he is reunited with new USC head coach Lincoln Riley, who was Oklahoma's head coach last season.

As a freshman Williams replaced Heisman Trophy hopeful Spencer Rattler as Oklahoma’s starting quarterback early in 2021 season and was named the second-team all-Big 12 quarterback by the media. If USC contends for a conference title, Williams will likely finish high in the Heisman Trophy voting.

The two quarterbacks who started USC games last season – Jaxson Dart and Kedon Slovis – are both likely to be starters at their new schools.

Utah

Transferred in: None

Transferred out: Charlie Brewer, to Liberty

Quarterback Assessment: Cameron Rising was the first-team all-Pac-12 quarterback in 2021 while leading the Utes to the conference title, and he will be the starter in 2022. His presence along with the return of other key players probably make Utah the favorite to repeat as conference champion. Utah went 9-2 with Rising as its starter last season, and that includes a 48-45 loss to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

Rising replaced Charlie Brewer as the Utes starter in the fourth game of the 2021 season, at which point Brewer said he would transfer. He did not pick Liberty as his destination until after the season, though.

Washington

Transferred in: Michael Penix Jr., from Indiana

Transferred out: None

Quarterback Assessment: Michael Penix Jr. probably will be the Huskies’ starter in 2021, but injury issues and a mediocre 2021 season prevent it from being a sure thing. He was Indiana’s starting quarterback the past three seasons and led the Hoosiers to a 5-1 start and a No. 10 national ranking in 2020 before suffering a torn ACL. He had 14 touchdown passes and four interceptions in 2020. In 2021, Penix started the first five games before a shoulder injury ended his season. The Hoosiers were just 2-3 in those five games (all three losses coming against ranked teams), and Penix had more interceptions (seven) than touchdown passes (four).

Huskies new head coach Kalen Deboer knows what he is getting because he was Indiana’s offensive coordinator in 2019, which was Penix’s first season as a starter. All four of Penix’s seasons at Indiana were cut short by injury.

If Penix does not work out, the Huskies have Dylan Morris, a 15-game starter, and redshirt freshman Sam Huard, who started Washington’s final game of 2021 but threw four interceptions in that loss to Washington State.

Washington State

Transferring in: Cameron Ward, from Incarnate Word

Transferring out: Jayden de Laura, to Arizona; Cameron Cooper, to Hawaii

Quarterback Assessment: Cameron Ward may be the most intriguing transfer in the country, and he is expected to be the Cougars’ starting quarterback in 2022 with Jayden de Laura gone. The 247 Sports site ranked Ward as the fourth-best quarterback transfer this year, ahead of Spencer Rattler, Bo Nix, de Laura and many other proven FBS quarterbacks.

That’s quite an honor for a guy who did not receive any offers from FBS schools coming out of high school and played his past two seasons at Incarnate Word, one of the two FCS schools (along with Texas Southern) that offered him a scholarship.

But he threw 47 touchdown passes with 10 interceptions in 2021 while leading Incarnate Word to a 10-3 season and a berth in the FCS playoffs. In his two postseason games, Ward threw nine touchdown passes with no interceptions.

He became a hot property when he entered the transfer portal, and he turned down offers from Mississippi, Virginia Tech, Houston and Indiana, among others to come to Pullman.

One reason he chose WSU is the presence of new Cougars offensive coordinator Eric Morris, who was Incarnate Word's head coach from 2018 to 2021 and recruited Ward from West Columbia, Texas.

Here's look at Cameron Ward highlights, since not many people have seen him play:

Cover photo of Caleb Williams is by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman, USA Today Network

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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