By Sam Khan Jr., Manny Navarro and Antonio Morales
The first 72 hours of portal madness have been fast and furious. Since the transfer portal officially opened at midnight on Friday, more than 4,000 Division I scholarship players have entered the portal, according to SportSource Analytics and Tracking Football. In the FBS, more than 2,500 scholarship players had hit the portal as of Sunday night.
Let’s take a look at the highlights from the first weekend of activity during the two-week portal window.
Quarterback dominoes
It took until late Sunday, but Texas Tech has its quarterback for 2026.
Cincinnati transfer Brendan Sorsby, the No. 1 player in The Athletic’s transfer quarterback rankings, committed to the Red Raiders on Sunday night. Texas Tech had targeted Sorsby as its top quarterback option from the start, and despite Sorsby visiting LSU on Sunday, the Red Raiders were able to seal the deal.
Sorsby visited Texas Tech on Saturday but left without committing, which mobilized the Red Raiders into a backup plan. Arizona State transfer Sam Leavitt, the No. 2 portal quarterback, scheduled a visit to Texas Tech on Sunday. A school source said Leavitt’s visit was “delayed” and it ultimately fell through as Sorsby finalized his deal with the Red Raiders.
Adding Sorsby fills a major need for the Red Raiders, who are losing starter Behren Morton to exhausted eligibility. Sophomore quarterback Will Hammond, who Tech coaches viewed as his successor, tore his ACL in October, making landing a portal quarterback a priority for the Red Raiders.
Sorsby was expected to field offers upwards of $4 million for 2026. There was some speculation on Sunday that Sorsby signed a $5 million deal with the Red Raiders, but a source briefed on the contract terms told The Athletic that Sorsby’s deal was not quite that high.
— Brendan Sorsby (@Brendan_Sorsby2) January 5, 2026
With LSU missing on Sorsby, it appears Lane Kiffin and the Tigers will turn their attention to Leavitt, who is scheduled to visit campus this week. Garrett Nussmeier is graduating, and backups Michael Van Buren and Colin Hurley are transferring. LSU did not sign a Class of 2026 high school quarterback recruit, so the Tigers will likely need multiple transfer quarterbacks this offseason.
Kentucky is also in the mix for Leavitt. The Wildcats, led by new coach Will Stein, hosted Leavitt for a visit over the weekend.
• Indiana was maybe the biggest winner on Sunday. The Hoosiers got their quarterback, TCU transfer Josh Hoover — the No. 4 quarterback in the portal — but also got some help for him, too. Michigan State transfer Nick Marsh, one of the top receivers in the portal, and Turbo Richard, Boston College’s leading rusher, also committed to the Hoosiers. Indiana also landed three defensive players, including Kansas State edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi, one of the best in the portal at his position.
The Hoosiers were the favorite to land Hoover as soon as he declared his intent to enter the portal. He shares similarities in his skill set with Indiana’s current quarterback, Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, and should be a scheme fit as well. Curt Cignetti signed Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke in his first year in Bloomington, then Mendoza. Hoover has a chance to continue a strong run of transfers at the position for the Hoosiers and keep them in title contention in 2026.
• It should come as no surprise that Rocco Becht followed his coach, Matt Campbell, to Penn State. The Nittany Lions are expected to bring a bunch of former Cyclones over to Happy Valley and already had 11 pledges in tow as of Sunday night. The list of commitments included backup quarterback Alex Manske, a four-star recruit in the Class of 2025 and an Iowa native.
Tight ends Benjamin Brahmer and Gabe Burkle, safety Marcus Neal Jr., receiver Brett Eskildsen and running back Carson Hansen are among the other Cyclones starters who have committed to play at Penn State.
• A similar story will potentially play out at Oklahoma State with new coach Eric Morris, who had his redshirt freshman star quarterback at North Texas, Drew Mestemaker, follow him to Stillwater with a commitment on Saturday. There are eight other former North Texas players already committed to the Cowboys, including standout receiver Wyatt Young, 1,400-yard running back Caleb Hawkins and starting left tackle Braydon Nelson.
No program has lost more players than Oklahoma State, which has had 59 players enter the portal.
• Arizona State replaced Leavitt on Sunday with former Kentucky starter Cutter Boley, a Freshman All-SEC quarterback in 2025.
Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham has recruited good young arms, including Jake Fette, a four-star from El Paso, Texas, in the 2026 recruiting cycle. ASU also signed blue-chip quarterback Cameron Dyer in the 2025 cycle.
Boley finished 12th in the SEC in passing efficiency, completing 65.8 percent of his attempts for 2,160 yards, 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and he ran for 85 yards and two scores over 11 games.
• Nebraska landed former Notre Dame backup Kenny Minchey as a potential replacement for Dylan Raiola, whose 2025 season was cut short by a broken right leg. Minchey, a redshirt sophomore this past season and former four-star recruit from Hendersonville, Tenn., will have to beat out sophomore-to-be TJ Lateef, who started the final four games of the season for the Cornhuskers.
• Instead of going with a proven starting quarterback out of the portal as he has for the past three seasons, Louisville coach Jeff Brohm added former Ohio State backup Lincoln Kienholz. The South Dakota native appeared in seven games as a redshirt sophomore in 2025.
Louisville needed to replace starter Miller Moss and had three other scholarship quarterbacks enter the portal since the end of the season: redshirt junior Brady Allen, redshirt freshman Deuce Adams and freshman Mason Mims.
• Wisconsin and Luke Fickell are pinning their hopes on former Old Dominion dual-threat starting quarterback Colton Joseph, who ranked 23rd nationally in passing efficiency this season. Joseph completed 59.7 percent of his 290 attempts for 2,624 yards, 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and he ran for 1,007 yards and 13 touchdowns in 12 starts in 2025.
• Illinois is another Big Ten school taking a chance on a Group of 5 QB: former East Carolina starter Katin Houser, who began his career at Michigan State. Houser, a redshirt junior in 2025, has made 26 starts in his career, including 12 this past season with the Pirates.
Houser completed 65.9 percent of his passes for 3,300 yards, 19 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2025. He’s 15-11 as a starter. Luke Altmyer, who is out of eligibility, went 22-12 as a starter in his time with the Illini.
• TCU picked up a commitment Sunday night from Jaden Craig, who was 19-5 as a starter at Harvard. He completed 61 percent of his passes for 6,074 yards, 52 touchdowns and 12 interceptions during his time with the Crimson and could be a good bridge quarterback for Class of 2025 four-star recruit Adam Schobel.
• Former James Madison starter Alonza Barnett — who led the Dukes to the College Football Playoff — found a good fit with UCF. Scott Frost’s Knights had five starting quarterbacks during the 2025 season and finished 14th out of 16 teams in the Big 12 in passing efficiency.
Barnett, a dual-threat, ranked 59th in passing efficiency in 2025. He’s 21-6 as a starter for the Dukes and has 1,075 rushing yards and 23 rushing touchdowns in his career.
What we’re hearing
• USC landed a significant commitment from Iowa State transfer Jontez Williams, one of the top corners available. Williams was second-team All-Big 12 in 2024, but his 2025 season came to an early end because of a knee injury. He should be an immediate starter for the Trojans, who had inconsistent corner play this past season.
This commitment should give USC fans a glimpse of what to expect from general manager Chad Bowden in his first full offseason. From conversations with sources with knowledge of USC’s portal efforts, the Trojans won’t have a big transfer class this offseason. They’ll sign players they believe can make an immediate impact. Williams would fit that bill.
Bowden has consistently said that USC will “major in high school recruiting and minor in the portal.” The Trojans just signed 35 players in their 2026 recruiting class. So don’t expect Bowden to deviate from his roster-building plan now, even though USC might have immediate needs at several spots, such as defensive line, linebacker, the secondary and receiver.
Bowden added eight transfers last offseason at Notre Dame. USC will probably fall somewhere close to that range this offseason. The Trojans on Sunday evening landed a commitment from Washington linebacker Deven Bryant, a Southern California native who registered 62 tackles this season.
• Auburn continues to trend as the favorite to land USF transfer Byrum Brown, the No. 5 player in The Athletic’s QB transfer rankings. If the Tigers close the deal, Brown is unlikely to come alone. A pair of his former teammates, receivers Keshaun Singleton and Chas Nimrod, are also considered likely to end up following former coach Alex Golesh to Auburn, according to a source briefed on the Tigers’ pursuit of the trio.
Singleton led the Bulls with 50 receptions, 877 yards and eight touchdown receptions. Nimrod, who transferred to USF last year from Tennessee, led the Bulls in receiving at midseason before an injury cut his season short.
• Top-tier offensive tackles can be in short supply in the portal because teams do their best to retain them. The good ones who enter the portal can command big money, and that market can quickly reach the upper six or low seven figures, according to industry sources. North Dakota State offensive tackle Beau Johnson, who was an FCS All-American, is expected to draw offers of at least $900,000 annually from interested programs, and potentially into the low seven figures, according to a Power 4 front office staffer. Johnson started 13 games for the Bison in 2025, primarily at left tackle. He allowed three sacks in 331 pass blocking snaps, according to PFF.
• Notre Dame is still in the hunt for a receiver after Marsh committed to Indiana on Sunday. The Fighting Irish are expected to host Rutgers transfer Ian Strong this week. Strong, who has 95 catches for more than 1,400 yards and 10 touchdowns combined in the last two seasons, is coming off a visit to Cal, according to On3. Iowa State receiver transfer Xavier Townsend is also expected to visit, according to 247Sports.
But the Fighting Irish were hopeful to land a top-flight pass catcher, which is why they targeted Marsh early. Notre Dame was interested in Duke’s Cooper Barkate and would have been willing to offer him more than $1 million, according to a source briefed on the situation. But Barkate, a second-team All-ACC pick in 2025, chose to remain with the Blue Devils, finalizing his intentions on Dec. 23.
• One of the big dominoes that has yet to fall is at running back, where interested programs are watching and waiting to see if Florida running back Jadan Baugh enters the portal.
Multiple Power 4 general managers told The Athletic that they’d consider him the top transfer running back if he entered, but he has not done so. One Power 4 recruiting director estimated that Baugh could draw offers up to $1.5 million annually, well above the traditional ceiling of the running back market. Other top running backs in the portal this cycle are expected to attract offers in the high six figures.
If Baugh were to enter the portal, Texas would be a team to watch. Coach Steve Sarkisian hired Jabbar Juluke, who was Florida’s running back coach and worked with Baugh in 2025, to the same position at Texas. And the Longhorns have a need at the position as running backs Quintrevion Wisner, CJ Baxter and Jerrick Gibson are all in the portal.