In their third year with Mario Cristobal at the helm, the Miami Hurricanes are aiming for a significant breakthrough. They’ve made a strong argument as the victors of the spring transfer window, beginning with the acquisition of quarterback Cam Ward from Washington State, who had contemplated entering the NFL draft. Joining Ward are All-Pac-12 running back Damien Martinez from Oregon State, wide receiver Sam Brown from Houston, defensive tackle Simeon Barrow from Michigan State, linebacker Jaylin Alderman from Louisville, and cornerback Dyoni Hill from Marshall.
Here are five other schools who scored big in the transfer portal:
Mississippi
In terms of quantity and quality, Ole Miss killed it. In a Nick Saban-less Southeastern Conference, the Rebels might be the best non-Georgia team in 2024.
The Rebels had good returning pieces at quarterback (Jaxson Dart) and receiver, and then Lane Kiffin went all in behind the Grove Collective to build a contender in the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff.
The jewels of the class are mostly on the defensive side with DT Walter Nolen (Texas A&M), DE Princely Umanmielen (Florida) and LB Chris Paul (Arkansas), plus WR Juice Wells (South Carolina). The Rebels sprinkled in offensive line help via Washington and topped it off with running back (Henry Parrish, Miami) and secondary (Isaiah Hamilton, Houston) depth in the spring.
Oregon
The Ducks replaced the most experienced quarterback college football has ever had (Bo Nix) with another sixth-year player. Dillon Gabriel (UCF, Oklahoma) might not develop into a first-round draft pick, but he is more than capable of being a quality triggerman for a prolific college offense.
WR Evan Stewart (Texas A&M) is very likely to develop into a first-round draft pick. The Ducks added two good cornerbacks (Jabbar Muhammad, Washington; Kam Alexander, UTSA) and bulked up an already promising defensive line (Jamaree Caldwell, Houston; Derrick Harmon, Michigan State).
Beating Southern California for Harmon and grabbing S Peyton Woodyard (Alabama) in the spring punctuated the transfer class and has the Ducks ready roll into the Big Ten.
Ohio State
The Buckeyes’ transfer class had just six players, but they shopped at the top of the market.
S Caleb Downs was one of the best defensive players in the country last season as a freshman at Alabama. RB Quinshon Judkins ran for 2,725 yards in two seasons at Mississippi. Will Howard had 48 touchdown passes and 19 TD runs in four seasons at Kansas State. Plus, they added former Alabama starting center Seth McLaughlin and Crimson Tide five-star quarterback signee Julian Sayin.
All that on top of Ohio State’s mountain of returning talent and coach Ryan Day is well positioned to snap a three-game losing streak against Michigan or face the consequences.
Alabama
New coach Kalen DeBoer’s most notable portal acquisition was a bounce-back from Iowa.
Offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor, a freshman starter last year, left in January for his home-state Hawkeyes. He then changed his mind and returned to Alabama in the spring window.
DeBoer lured four of his former Washington players to the SEC, including talented C Parker Brailsford and WR Germie Bernard.
DT LT Overton (Texas A&M), CB Domani Jackson (USC) and S Keon Sabb (Michigan) are high-ceiling additions to the defense. And to replace star K Will Reichard, the Tide signed Groza Award winner Graham Nicholson from Miami, Ohio.
Colorado
Deion Sanders is at it again. After bringing in more than 50 transfers last year, Coach Prime has a transfer class of 39 (and possibly counting).
The Buffaloes badly needed to reinforce their lines after tanking a 3-0 start to Sanders’ tenure in Boulder. With that in mind, CU added nine offensive linemen — including Tyler Johnson from Houston and Payton Kirkland from Texas — and 11 defensive linemen — led by B.J. Green from Arizona State and Dayon Hayes from Pittsburgh.
Colorado notably lost RB Dylan Edwards (Kansas State), but brought in a pair of promising ball carriers in Dallan Hayden (Ohio State) and Rashad Amos (Miami, Ohio).
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