Quinn Ewers, Max Johnson, Dillon Gabriel, and Spencer Rattler Start the QB Carousel Spinning

Several top-notch quarterbacks are off the Transfer Portal board.

Author:
Brian Smith
Publish date:
Dec 19, 2021 4:00 AM EST

It’s hard to pull the trigger on quarterback offers with one or maybe two players being added to the position, per school, in each recruiting class. The reason is simple for why college coaches hesitate to offer another recruit.

They want the highest ranked prospect. Quarterback dictates victories more than any other position and it’s not even close. That’s also the case with the Transfer Portal, but now that list of top guns has started to widdle itself down, at least for now. Look for more quarterbacks to come off the board rather quickly with the following players no longer available.

Former Ohio State signee Quinn Ewers decided to transfer back home to the Lone Star State and the University of Texas after starting quarterback CJ Stroud tore up the Big 10 this year with 3,862 yards, 38 touchdowns and only five interceptions. He was a Heisman Trophy finalist as a redshirt freshman for the Buckeyes.

Ewers never threw a pass for the Buckeyes despite all the attention he received. He will get his shot to be the main man in Austin, Texas next fall, especially with quarterback Casey Thompson transferring to TCU.

Ewers actually left high school a year early because he had a NIL deal worth 1 million dollars but at the time Texas state law prohibited high school players from earning such deals. Thus, he graduated early and headed to Columbus, Ohio. He was considered to be one of the nation’s top players regardless of position prior to enrolling at Ohio State.

Ewers will now compete with Hudson Curd for the starting job. Curd passed for 590 yards, five touchdowns and one interception during his redshirt freshman season. Another player has transferred to the Longhorns’ old rival in College Station, Texas.

Former LSU quarterback Max Johnson just played against Texas A&M, and now he’s going to be playing against his old school next November. After throwing for 306 yards and three touchdowns against the Aggies, Johnson entered the Transfer Portal and settled on Jimbo Fisher to be his next quarterback mentor.

The quarterback who operated the 2021 Texas A&M offense is also transferring out, and that would be Zach Calzada. He’s the only quarterback to lead a team to a win over Alabama this season. Calzada did not yet declare a destination for where he’s headed. Another quarterback is going from one side of the country to the other.

Former UCF signal caller Dillon Gabriel is headed for Westwood, Calif. to play for UCLA. Gabriel was the starter for two-plus years for the Knights, but was injured in game No. 3 this season. He threw for over 3,500 yards in both 2019 and 2020. There’s also a former Heisman Candidate that transferred.

When Spencer Rattler was beaten out by freshman phenom Caleb Williams, it was all but inevitable that the Oklahoma quarterback would look for a new home. He threw for 3,031 yards, 28 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in 2020. The 2021 season was more up and down, especially against rival Texas.

Rattler was only eight of 15 for 111 yards and an interception. That’s the game that Williams relieved him and brought the Sooners back from a 21-point deficit to the Longhorns.

Rattler will now supply his talents to the South Carolina roster. He reconnects with former Oklahoma assistant coach Shane Beamer, the now Head Coach for the Gamecocks.

There are also other notable quarterbacks in the Transfer Portal that could decide soon:

Bo Nix, Auburn: There’s been speculation that Nix could end up at Troy or UCF, but he will certainly have plenty of opportunities to play after graduating from Auburn. He’s one of the few quarterbacks that can say he helped defeat Alabama in the last three years.

Kedon Slovis, USC: The former USC signal caller was a three-year starter. It’s somewhat surprising that he did not stick around to play for now USC Head Coach Lincoln Riley. Slovis is more of a pocket passer than Coach Riley is used to, but he can absolutely spin it.

Taisun Phommachanh, Clemson: While he only passed for 204 yards in three years, he was behind two separate five star quarterbacks in Trevor Lawrence and DJ Uiagalelei. It’s hard to say where this young man will end up next because he does not have much college film. He was a talented player coming out of high school though.

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