Top 5 SEC transfer portal additions after Week 1

The college football transfer portal window has been open for a week as of Friday, Jan. 9, and many high-profile players have already visited schools, met with coaches and chosen their new programs.

In the SEC, Texas A&M is off to the strongest start with 14 transfer pickups while ranking 3rd in On3's transfer portal rankings.

In terms of sheer numbers, the programs with new head coaches have been the busiest, as Arkansas and new coach Ryan Silverfield have added 22 transfers, Florida and Jon Sumrall have landed 17, Auburn and Alex Golesh are up to 16, LSU and Lane Kiffin have also reeled in 16, and Kentucky and Will Stein have picked up 14 transfers.

These are the top 5 transfer additions within the SEC so far.

Former South Florida QB Byrum Brown has transferred to Auburn. — Quarterback Byrum Brown tallied just over 10,000 yards of total offense in his time at South Florida and he'll now look to make an impact as a transfer at Auburn. | Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

QB Byrum Brown to Auburn

Brown and coach Alex Golesh formed a good pairing at South Florida, leading the Bulls to 9 wins this past season and a prolific offense that ranked third in the FBS at 488.7 yards per game and fifth in scoring at 40.5 points per game.

With Golesh taking the Auburn job, he's hoping the continuity of bringing Brown with him can jumpstart his rebuild of the Tigers' program.

It's no surprise that Brown chose to follow his head coach to The Plains, but he would have been highly coveted by many other programs without that connection.

More than anything, meager quarterback play has held Auburn back in recent years. Brown should be the best quarterback the Tigers have had since Bo Nix in 2021.

The dual-threat QB piled up just over 10,000 yards of total offense in four years at South Florida (including two full seasons as the starter and an injury-shortened 2024 campaign) with 7,690 passing yards, 61 TDs and 19 INTs, 2,265 rushing yards and 31 TDs and even 48 receiving yards with a score.

Brown's best season was this past one as he completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 3,158 yards, 28 TDs and 7 INTs while rushing for 1,008 yards and 14 TDs on 175 attempts (5.8 yards per carry).

Former NC State offensive tackle Jacarrius Peak transferred to South Carolina. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

OT Jacarrius Peak to South Carolina

South Carolina won a major transfer portal recruiting battle in beating out Alabama to land Peak, who was ranked the top offensive tackle and No. 6 overall player in the transfer portal by On3.

The Gamecocks are coming off a majorly disappointing 4-8 season, but they are bringing quarterback LaNorris Sellers back for one more season and have now greatly bolstered his protection up front with Peak.

Peak started for 2.5 seasons at NC State, moving from right tackle to left tackle this past year and emerging as one of the most reliable pass blockers in all of college football.

Former LSU Tigers offensive lineman Carius Curne (57) was one of the top-rated players in the transfer portal. He's headed to Ole Miss. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

OT Carius Curne to Ole Miss

The analysts at On3 and 247Sports were split on who was the best offensive tackle in the transfer portal, with On3 going with Peak and 247Sports choosing Curne.

The 6-foot-5, 320-pound tackle played more than 300 snaps as a true freshman at LSU this past season while drawing starts at both left and right tackle, and his best football should still be ahead of him as he was a top-100 national prospect out of high school (and rated a five-star by On3).

Poaching a highly-regarded player from Lane Kiffin's LSU program is an added bonus for Ole Miss and its fans after Kiffin spurned the Rebels before the start of the playoffs to take the Tigers' job.

Hollywood Smothers rushed for 939 yards and 6 touchdowns at NC State this season and is now transferring to Alabama. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

RB Hollywood Smothers to Alabama

Alabama's Achilles heel all season was its putrid rushing attack, an uncharacteristic weakness for the Crimson Tide, and while a lot of that had to do with the offensive line, the program is also hoping Smothers can make a major impact in changing that as well.

The former NC State star rushed for 939 yards and 6 TDs this season for the Wolfpack and added 189 yards and a TD receiving despite being limited late in the fall by injury. What was most impressive, though, was that he averaged 5.9 yards per carry after averaging 6.4 YPC the previous year with a smaller workload.

When he was at his best, Smothers was a game-changing force, rushing for 140 yards and 2 TDs vs. Virginia, 164 yards vs. Wake Forest and 123 yards and a TD vs. Duke in consecutive weeks early in the season.

Smothers, who started out at Oklahoma before spending the last two years at NC State, was a highly-efficient offensive weapon for the Wolfpack and one of the most coveted running backs in the transfer portal.

Raleek Brown had a breakout season in 2025 at Arizona State with 1,380 combined rushing/receiving yards and 6 touchdowns. He's transferring to Texas. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

RB Raleek Brown to Texas

Brown was a five-star prospect when he flipped from Oklahoma to USC to stay close to home and play for Lincoln Riley out of high school, but an ankle injury undermined a promising start to his freshman season there as he finished with 227 rushing yards, 175 receiving yards and 6 TDs.

USC tried to move the electrifyingly fast 5-foot-9 Brown to a slot receiver role, but he played in just two games the next season before sitting out to protect his redshirt and ultimately transferring to Arizona State.

Injuries again held him back in 2024, but he finally broke out with the Sun Devils this past season, looking like the playmaker he was projected to be coming out of high school. Brown rushed for 1,141 yards and 4 TDs on 6.1 YPC and caught 34 passes for 239 yards and 2 TDs.

Now he lands in Texas, which saw most of its running back room depart in a mass exodus to the portal. Brown should have a chance to even top his 2025 numbers in what projects to be a prolific Longhorns offense in 2026.