QB transfers tend to earn higher passing grades
Former Clemson quarterback Hunter Johnson is the latest high-profile recruit at his position to transfer. Using the composite rankings from 247Sports. com, five of the eight five-star quarterbacks from the 2015 through 2017 recruiting cycles switched teams at least once during their college careers.
One of those prospects, Blake Barnett, is on his third program — from Alabama to Arizona State to South Florida.
How often do transfers pan out? Well, a former transfer went first overall in the recent NFL draft: Baker Mayfield began at Texas Tech before shuttling over to Oklahoma.
This week’s Top 10 list takes a look at the past decade to ask: Who are the most successful quarterbacks to start their career at one Football Bowl Subdivision program and end it at another?
1. Baker Mayfield
Mayfield is the most successful transfer in the history of college football — not just at quarterback but at any position. The former Texas Tech walk-on spent one season with the Red Raiders before heading to Oklahoma, and the rest was history. As a senior, Mayfield threw for 4,627 yards and 43 touchdowns in winning the Heisman Trophy and leading the Sooners to the second College Football Playoff appearance of his tenure.
2. Cam Newton
In another universe, Newton replaces Tim Tebow as Florida’s starter in 2010, Urban Meyer is still with the Gators and Michigan has won a Big Ten Conference title. How it actually played out: Newton left Florida in 2008 amid accusations of academic cheating, spent a year tearing up the junior college ranks and then led Auburn to a national title and won the Heisman in 2010. His one and only season with the Tigers was dominant.
3. Russell Wilson
Wilson’s the lone graduate transfer on this list, maybe for good reason. While annually touted as the one missing piece of a given team’s equation, graduate transfer quarterbacks bomb more often than not. But Wilson is one clear exception.
4. Max Hall
Hall began his college career at Arizona State, only to transfer to Brigham Young after the conclusion of a LatterDay Saints mission in 2006. The threetime all-Mountain West Conference pick ended his Brigham Young University career with 11,365 yards and 94 touchdowns passing while the Cougars went 32-7 overall with just three loses in conference play.
5. Ryan Mallett
Mallett was a big-name recruit who originally inked with Michigan under the belief his powerful arm fit into the Wolverines’ tried-and-true, pro-style offense. Hiring Rich Rodriguez changed that equation. After starting three games as a freshman in 2007, Mallett transferred to Arkansas, sat out the 2008 season and then threw for 62 touchdowns in his two years in Bobby Petrino’s offense.
6. Jake Coker
Jameis Winston ensured that Coker would never see the field in a starting role at Florida State, leading Coker to transfer to Alabama before the 2014 season. After one year as the Tide’s backup, Coker ascended to the starting role in 2015. The numbers were pretty good, though not jaw-dropping: Coker completed about two-thirds of his attempts for more than 3,000 yards and 21 touchdowns. But he led Alabama to the national title as a senior, joining Newton as the only transfer quarterbacks to do so in the past 10 years.
7. Nick Marshall
Marshall came close: He led Auburn to the 2013 Southeastern Conference title — quarterbacking the Tigers in the famous “Kick Six” game against rival Alabama — and nearly led the Tigers past Florida State in the final year of the Bowl Championship Series. The former Georgia transfer wasn’t a great thrower, though his athleticism lent another dimension to Gus Malzahn’s offense. Another Georgia transfer, Zach Mettenberger, would start for LSU from 2012 to 2013.
8. Nick Foles
The hero of the Eagles’ Super Bowl run began his college career at Michigan State, in a quarterback room that included two other future NFL starters — Kirk Cousins and Brian Hoyer. Lost in the shuffle, Foles transferred to Arizona, where he accounted for more than 10,000 passing yards and 71 total touchdowns from 2009 to 2011. As a senior, Foles led the Pac-12 and ranked fifth nationally with 4,329 yards.
9. Riley Ferguson
Here’s a recent graduate from the Group of Five ranks: Ferguson started off at Tennessee and vied for the starting job in 2013 and 2014 before heading to junior college. After one year at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas, he surfaced at Memphis. He blossomed under Mike Norvell, setting a program record (32) for TD passes as a junior and then breaking his own mark (38) as a senior.
10. Jacoby Brissett
Florida opted for Jeff Driskel instead of Brissett in 2011 and 2012 — in hindsight, not a great decision. After two frustrating years with the Gators, Brissett transferred to North Carolina State and hit on his potential. He threw for 5,268 yards, ran for 899 yards and accounted for 52 total touchdowns before being taken in the third round of the 2016 NFL draft.