Top 5 college football transfer portal additions so far this spring

There have been some major additions during the college football transfer portal this spring and here are the top five so far. 

Not long ago, we ranked the top five quarterbacks that were added in the college football transfer portal this offseason, but just in the spring, there have been a bunch of key additions.

More are coming too. Keon Coleman is still out there. He’s visited Florida State, Ole Miss, and could also visit Texas A&M. There’s also the chance he could go back to the Spartans. You just never really know.

There are some really talented running backs too in Logan Diigs, formerly of Notre Dame, as well as former Houston running back Alton McCaskill still available.

5. Casey Thompson to FAU

It opened some eyes when Casey Thompson entered the college football transfer portal this spring and chose FAU.

However, if you investigate a little further, it makes a ton of sense. For one, Thompson’s former head coach Tom Herman has taken over the Owls. There is a familiarity with the staff.

Beyond that, the Owls return 83 percent of their production from a season ago according to ESPN and that’s first among the American Athletic Conference. When you add Thompson into the mix, a quarterback that started for Nebraska last season and had interest from Auburn, it’s a big upgrade.

When talking about Group of Five teams that could make some noise this season, the Owls could be in the mix. At the very least, after back-to-back five-win seasons, Thompson should help Florida Atlantic to a bowl game. If that happens, his NFL stock will be higher too.

4 . Tyler Buchner to Alabama

Alabama came out of spring football feeling like it might need another quarterback and Tyler Buchner was the perfect choice.

For one, Buchner is going to be able to get up to speed very quickly because former Notre Dame OC Tommy Rees is now calling the plays for Nick Saban.

It’s kind of a bold move for Buchner because he’s not guaranteed the starting job. Ty Simpson is a five-star quarterback from 2022 and he’s legit plus Jalen Milroe is another former top-100 recruit that didn’t play terribly in place of Bryce Young last season.

Buchner has had ups and downs. Even in the Gator Bowl last season, he was great at times but turned it over too much. If can figure that out, he’ll prove to be one of the better additions from the college football transfer portal, especially in the spring.

3. Payton Thorne to Auburn

I’m going to rate Payton Thorne a little higher than the other quarterbacks on this list because Auburn football desperately needed someone and they got a quality player in Payton Thorne.

There has been talk that Thorne was losing ground to Noah Kim in the Michigan State quarterback battle and that’s one reason why he transferred. But everyone tries to spin things, so it’s hard to tell what’s what.

Regardless of all that, Auburn needed someone like Thorne who did quarterback Michigan State to 11 wins two years ago. He even completed a higher number of passes a season ago at 62 percent to go along with 19 touchdowns.

Thorne has thrown 21 interceptions in the past two seasons. But also 47 touchdowns. He can scramble a little and he’s a playmaker.

Undoubtedly, Auburn is much better off with him as their starter (especially with Hugh Freeze calling the plays) and if the Tigers could add Keon Coleman, they could be even better, although I already love the addition of Caleb Burton from Ohio State.

2. Emmanuel Pregnon to USC

Just like last year, USC football is killing it when it comes to the college football transfer portal and the Trojans added another key player in former Wyoming offensive lineman Emmanuel Pregnon.

Pregnon is a late bloomer and after one season starting for the Cowboys, he had tons of suitors this spring in the college football transfer portal.

At 6-foot-6, 318 pounds, you wonder if he could even play tackle. Regardless, he’s a huge upgrade for the Trojans who are getting the No. 54 overall player in the college football transfer portal for the 2023 class, as well as the No. 4 interior offensive lineman, assuming he stays there.

Landing an offensive lineman might be not as sexy as landing a big-name quarterback, but the Trojans already have elite quarterbacks.

They need to be able to stand up in the trenches to teams like Utah that beat them up last season, at least if they want to win the Pac-12 and make the playoff.

This will help.

1. Bear Alexander to USC

The former top-100 prospect wasn’t expected to enter the college football transfer portal after playing a key role as a freshman for the Georgia Bulldogs last season on their way to winning the national championship.

Heck, Alexander, a 6-foot-3, 325-pound monster, had two sacks in the national title game and seemed poised to have a much bigger role in 2023.

Maybe he wanted to take advantage of NIL. Who knows why he entered the portal but like Pregnon, he had a ton of suitors. USC was able to get him on campus for an official visit right away and he essentially committed soon after that.

Lincoln Riley has done a spectacular job of recruiting at USC football and that shouldn’t come as a surprise based on what he did at Oklahoma. He’s a dynamic head coach, who runs a dynamic offense and knows how to win.

Sure, he hasn’t won a national championship yet, but the Trojans added the No. 1 defensive lineman according to 247 Sports available in the transfer portal, as well as the No. 4 interior offensive lineman.

They also landed Duce Robinson, a five-star tight end that’s an absolute freak in the 2023 recruiting class, and beat Georgia head-to-head for his commitment. Robinson has aspirations of playing pro baseball and has crazy numbers in high school.

Sort of like Alexander getting 13 hurries for Georgia last season in just 12 games. It was an impressive haul for Lincoln Riley, who is as good as it gets in terms of landing talent from the college football transfer portal.

Note: Some key transfers hadn’t made decisions at the time of this article.