The college football Transfer Portal opened the second Thursday turned into Friday with thousands of stars officially beginning their search for a new program. While the Transfer Portal wasn't already open, players had already announced their plans to move in the weeks prior. Just minutes into the Transfer Portal being officially open, the quarterback dominos started to fall into place.
The Transfer Portal quarterback market is already falling in place
As Thursday Night turned into Friday Morning, everyone saw just how planned out most players and programs were heading into the Transfer Portal. Either most players and programs were clearly talking behind the scenes or they just so happened to quickly get on the phone.
Saturday Blitz Transfer QB Rankings
One minute after midnight, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that Iowa State transfer Rocco Becht would be visiting Penn State in the upcoming days.
Former Iowa State QB Rocco Becht tells ESPN he’s preparing to visit Penn State in the upcoming days. Now that he’ll officially be in the portal, a deal at Penn State reuniting him with his former coaching staff could come together quickly. pic.twitter.com/bo0xww3bcY
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 2, 2026
The news of Rocco Becht visiting with his former head coach quickly led to On3 predicting that Rocco Becht would transfer to Penn State.
NEW: On3's @PeteNakos has logged an expert prediction for Penn State to land Iowa State transfer QB Rocco Becht🦁https://t.co/J4KGrDrFkw pic.twitter.com/mSJmCgAzrJ
— On3 (@On3sports) January 2, 2026
Rocco Becht was always going to land at Penn State barring some truly shocking development. The Iowa State star is heading into his Senior season having spent his entire career playing for Matt Campbell, and if it's not broke, why fix it?
The next domino that seemingly fell into place in minutes came when 24/7 Sports placed a prediction for Georgia Tech QB Aaron Philo to commit to Florida.
Have joined @mzenitz with an early Crystal Ball pick in favor of Florida for Georgia Tech QB transfer Aaron Philo.
— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) January 2, 2026
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound freshman has thrown for 938 career yards. Played under current Gators OC Buster Faulkner with the Yellow Jackets.https://t.co/K1Ykho9zNC pic.twitter.com/QR6GUYP3Rs
The news doesn't come as a surprise as Philo's offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner is now on Jon Sumrall's staff at Florida. The Gators lost DJ Lagway to the Transfer Portal, and getting a quarterback who's already familiar with the system makes perfect sense.
On Friday Morning, 24/7 Sports again predicted a quarterback to find a new home picking Nebraska to land Notre Dame transfer Kenny Minchey.
Have joined @mzenitz and @TomLoy247 with a @247Sports Crystal Ball pick in favor of Nebraska for Notre Dame QB transfer Kenny Minchey.
— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) January 2, 2026
Minchey ranks as the No. 40 overall player and No. 9 QB in the @247SportsPortal rankings. https://t.co/LUzIgdeczR pic.twitter.com/0pj1eW9ngp
While Kenny Minchey to Nebraska is predicted early, it's far different than the other quarterbacks quickly being aligned with new programs. Kenny Minchey isn't directly following a former coach to the new program, but he's landing somewhere he can get on the field. Nebraska was searching for a new quarterback after Dylan Raiola's decision to transfer.
Teams that are looking for a quarterback in the Transfer Portal need to move quickly, and in this market they certainly are. The hope for most programs is to quickly land a quarterback this way you can let every other transfer you're targeting see the plan for the future.
While we're still early in this Transfer Portal cycle, expect players to start flying off the boards as soon as this weekend. Most players already know which programs have mutual interest in them before the portal even opens, and with just one Transfer Portal window, both parties won't be taking any risks.