Top college football quarterbacks still available in the NCAA transfer portal

How crazy is the transfer market for college football quarterbacks?

Former Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt, ranked by On3 as the top QB in the transfer portal, sat courtside Tuesday night at an LSU basketball game with Tigers coach Lane Kiffin.

Meanwhile, Washington QB Demond Williams Jr. stunned everyone that same night by entering the transfer portal just days after signing a deal "near the top of the market" to return to the Huskies in 2026, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported.

And the buzz is that LSU is expected to be a favorite to land Williams now.

The Huskies are alleging tampering by an unnamed school and are prepared to pursue legal avenues to hold Williams to the NIL contract he signed, Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger reported.

Got all that?

Word from Washington is players, staff all just found out about Demond William’s departure through Twitter/Instagram

A collective state of shock there rn

Belief is LSU is paying Demond around $6 mil

Imo Fisch will fight back hard about this tampering and look to create “chaos”
— Liam Blutman (@Blutman27) January 7, 2026

Yes, the pursuit of transfer quarterbacks has already reached new levels of chaos, less than a week into the transfer portal officially opening last Friday.

Already, Texas Tech has landed former Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby for a reported $5 million deal, with the school publicizing the move on a big sign in Times Square in New York City.

Drew Mestemaker, who a little more than a year ago, was an unknown walk-on at North Texas, has followed his head coach Eric Morris to Oklahoma State for a lucrative NIL deal.

Former South Florida quarterback Byrum Brown followed his coach Alex Golesh to Auburn. Ditto for former Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht, who followed coach Matt Campbell to Penn State.

Former TCU quarterback Josh Hoover is headed to Indiana to succeed Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, assuming Mendoza moves on to the NFL.

And many more QB dominoes have tumbled, with schools moving quickly to address the most important position on their rosters for 2026.

But plenty of productive high-profile quarterbacks remain in the portal. Here are the top 5 who have yet to announce their landing spots as of Wednesday morning.

Quarterback Demond Williams Jr. stunned Washington by entering the transfer portal Tuesday night. — Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. stunned his coach and program by entering the transfer portal Tuesday night. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

1. Demond Williams Jr.

As noted, Washington thought it had locked up its star quarterback for another year, and it remains to be seen how the Huskies' reported planned legal action to uphold their NIL deal with Williams plays out.

But he is in the portal with a "do not contact" tag, which means he already knows the school or schools he's interested in next. "I have to do what is best for me and my future," he posted on social media.

CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz quickly reported that LSU was expected to be "a team to watch" for Williams.

Williams could potentially reset the top of the quarterback transfer market after a breakout sophomore season at Washington in which he passed for 3,065 yards, 25 touchdowns and 8 interceptions and rushed for 611 yards and 6 scores.

Former Arizona State star Sam Leavitt is a top quarterback in the transfer portal. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

2. Sam Leavitt

Before Williams hit the portal, Leavitt was considred the top quarterback still available after a successful last two seasons at Arizona State.

Leavitt, who was a four-star prospect out of West Linn, Oregon, in the 2023 recruiting class, started his college career at Michigan State before transferring to Arizona State and enjoying a breakout 2024 season in which he passed for 2,885 yards, 24 TDs and 6 INTs while rushing for 443 yards and 5 TDs to lead the Sun Devils to a Big 12 championship and College Football Playoff berth.

Leavitt was limited to seven games in 2025 due to a Lisfranc foot injury. Before that, he passed for 1,628 yards, 10 TDs and 3 INTs and rushed for 306 yards and 5 TDs. That included a season-high 319 passing yards and a TD in a 26-22 win over Texas Tech -- the Red Raiders' only loss before the CFP quarterfinals last week.

After initially being linked to Texas Tech and Kentucky, which have since landed transfer QBs, Leavitt had his visit to LSU on Tuesday and is drawing interest now from Tennessee, Volquest's Austin Price reported.

Former five-star prospect Dylan Raiola is in the transfer portal after two years at Nebraska. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

3. Dylan Raiola

Raiola was a five-star prospect ranked No. 3 overall QB in the 2024 recruiting class by the 247Sports Composite rankings and was one of Nebraska's biggest recruiting wins in a long time.

But after two seasons as the Cornhuskers' starter, Raiola hopped in the transfer portal looking for a fresh start and new opportunity.

Raiola was limited to nine games as a sophomore before breaking his right leg, but he showed improvement from his freshman season while completing 72.4 percent of his passes for 2,000 yards, 18 TDs and 6 INTs. His best game came against Michigan when he passed for 308 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT in a narrow 30-27 loss. He also threw for 364 yards, 4 TDs and 0 INTs vs. Akron.

Raiola's transfer recruitment has progressed more slowly than others, but there could be a reason for that.

There is buzz that two College Football Playoff contenders are involved in pursuing Raiola -- Miami and Oregon.

The Hurricanes are losing QB Carson Beck and have gone to the portal for a high-profile QB the last two years, with Cam Ward and then Beck.

Oregon, meanwhile, needs to first see whether its QB Dante Moore is leaving for the NFL or returning for another season.

Former five-star prospect DJ Lagway is one of the top remaining QBs in the transfer portal. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

4. DJ Lagway

Another former five-star prospect, Lagway is a talented quarterback in need of a change of scenery after two up-and-down years at Florida.

Lagway was ranked the No. 2 QB in the 2024 recruiting class in the 247Sports Composite and started 19 games over two seasons for the Gators, totaling a combined 4,179 passing yards, 28 TDs and 23 INTs.

The turnovers were his undoing at Florida; he had 16 TDs and 14 INTs as a sophomore this past season, and a major reason why a fresh start elsewhere made sense for both sides.

Lagway has already taken visits to Florida State (which later landed Auburn QB transfer Ashton Daniels) and Virginia and is reportedly set to visit Baylor next. Lagway is from Willis, Texas, so that is a logical landing spot, as the Bears look to replace productive two-year starter Sawyer Robertson.

Former Auburn quarterback Deuce Knight is an intriguing option still available in the transfer portal. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

5. Deuce Knight

Knight is another former five-star QB still available. He was ranked the No. 5 QB prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, per the 247Sports Composite, and still has four years of eligibility remaining after playing in just two games as a true freshman.

Knight did get to flash his upside late in the season for Auburn, completing 15 of 20 passes for 239 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs along with a whopping 162 rushing yards and 4 TDs on just 9 carries vs. Mercer.

On3's Pete Nakos reported that Ole Miss was the favorite to land Knight, who is from Lucedale, Mississippi, and was prominently involved in his initial recruitment out of high school.

But if star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss receives an extra year of eligibility and returns to Ole Miss, that would complicate things there. As QB-needy teams miss out on others on the list here, Knight will only look more and more enticing.