5 Players From the Transfer Portal Who Could Impact the 2025 College Football Season

College football isn't what it used to be.

Players are hyper-mobile, meaning we have championship contenders that were built on the phones this offseason. That was the case for the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2024-25, who brought in quarterback Will Howard, running back Quinshon Judkins, and safety Caleb Downs in a two-year window to reshape the Buckeyes on both sides of the ball.

Heisman contenders Travis Hunter and Cameron Ward? They transferred to their 2024 schools, too.

Which big names moved this offseason that could impact the landscape of college football? Here are five that caught my eye.

Transfer Portal Players to Watch in 2025

Carson Beck, QB, Miami (FL)

Carson Beck's decision to transfer will be monitored by two massive fanbases in the College Football Playoff (CFP) mix, so he's got to take the cake as the most notable one to watch.

It felt like Beck's struggles in 2024 were worse than they appeared on the stat sheet. His 80.9 QBR was still eighth in FBS. His worst moments just came at the wrong times, completing just 60.0% of his passes against the Georgia Bulldogs' six ranked foes. He had seven touchdowns to seven picks in those games.

Georgia didn't fight too hard to keep him in front of sophomore Gunnar Stockton, but the Miami (FL) Hurricanes were happy to scoop him up to replace the departing Cam Ward.

Beck keeps Miami in the mix in the ACC, which seems wide open behind the Clemson Tigers. If he shines and Stockton struggles against a brutal SEC schedule, it's possible that UGA fans get a huge case of FOMO.

John Mateer, QB, Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Sooners need a splash. They're swinging for the bleachers.

OU is just 23-17 in the Brent Venables era, but it's not really the defensive coach's fault. They've had a miserable time pairing offense (21.1 PPG in 2024) with a top-shelf defense, and quarterback was a disaster a year ago. Not only did the Sooners hire former Washington State offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle to head up their scoring unit, but Arbuckle brought his quarterback with him: John Mateer.

I find Mateer's switch closer to his native Little Elm, TX as perhaps the largest transfer portal domino for a team to contend. He was dynamite with the most scrimmage touchdowns in FBS last year (44) as a dual-threat option. There also were the mistakes, including 31 sacks and 7 interceptions.

If there's a dark horse team in the SEC, I've pinpointed it could be Oklahoma with Mateer under center. Of course, he'll have to avoid major sanctions for a scandal earlier this month to deliver what the team hopes.

Isaiah World, OT, Oregon

We'll see how quickly this transition for the Oregon Ducks can produce anything close to last year's undefeated regular season.

Oregon is hoping to take their CFP run a bit deeper than last year's one-and-done bid in the Rose Bowl. Many expect the transition from Dillon Gabriel to Dante Moore at quarterback could be electric, but Gabriel wasn't the only departing Duck. First-round pick Josh Conerly Jr. vacates the left tackle spot, and that's where UO dipped into Phil Knight's pockets.

Isaiah World was 24/7 Sports' second-ranked overall recruit that hit the portal this season, which speaks volumes about his talent with just one year of eligibility left. The 6'8" behemoth comes from the Nevada Wolf Pack, and he's a first-round prospect, according to The Ringer's Todd McShay.

Also adding Makhi Hughes from the Tulane Green Wave in the backfield, Oregon has plenty of parts to still be among the favorites in the Big Ten.

David Bailey, EDGE, Texas Tech

No school dipped further into the transfer portal than the Texas Tech Red Raiders this offseason.

Funded by a program alum in the energy industry, the Red Raiders landed 21 recruits and brought the second-best recruiting class to West Texas and the Big 12. Their star pupil from this attempt to grease the portal is EDGE David Bailey.

Bailey had 22 tackles and 6.0 sacks off the edge for the Stanford Cardinal in 2024. He's yet another first-round prospect in way-too-early evaluations, per McShay. Is it unreasonable to expect double-digit sacks in the Big 12? He'd address a massive need for a team that was 110th in FBS in sack rate (4.72%) last year.

Texas Tech is second to the Arizona State Sun Devils in odds to win the Big 12 (+550). A huge year from Bailey would help get it done.

Nic Anderson, WR, LSU

"The hot seat" doesn't even begin to describe the scalding chair of Brian Kelly with the LSU Tigers.

LSU was the only team who had a better portal class than Texas Tech entering a do-or-die season for Kelly, who has seen his win total decline in three consecutive years. There's really nothing by way of an excuse with first-round prospect Garrett Nussmeier at quarterback if they loaded him with weapons, and they've at least made the effort to do so.

Nic Anderson and Barion Brown transfer from the Oklahoma Sooners and Kentucky Wildcats, respectively, for a team that has plenty of turnover at the position. The late Kyren Lacy and Mason Taylor did not return to the team like leading receiver Aaron Anderson (884 yards in 2024).

Nic was a big-play machine when healthy for OU at 21.0 yards per reception (YPR) in 2023. The Tigers rank just 24th (a generous 24th) in ESPN's SP+ rankings on defense entering the season, so it'll be up to Nussmeier and his weapons to outscore a brutal schedule that starts with a whopper. LSU opens in Week 1 with Clemson on the road.

Futures Day is coming August 26th. Learn more here.

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