Pac-12 storylines to watch as December transfer window approaches
The transfer portal may be quiet now, but that's likely to change in a big way in two months.
On Dec. 5, the first "transfer window" will open, allowing all players to enter the portal. The NCAA implemented the transfer windows this season, creating two periods during which the majority of college football players are allowed to enter the transfer portal (graduate students and players whose head coaches were fired may still enter any time).
The opening of the first window should lead to a flood of players into the portal. We're looking two months into the future to project the top storylines in the Pac-12 for the first ever transfer window.
RELATED: SEC storylines to watch | Big Ten | ACC | Big 12
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Will the Pac-12 go quarterback crazy in the transfer market once again?
No conference saw its quarterback landscape changed more drastically last offseason than the Pac-12. Eight of the league's 12 programs have started a new quarterback this season that they landed via the transfer portal. Several are off to great starts.
That number likely won't be quite as high in 2022. Several of the new quarterbacks, like USC's Caleb Williams and Arizona's Jayden De Laura, have multiple years of eligibility remaining. But given the success of players like Williams, Oregon's Bo Nix and Washington's Michael Penix, it seems possible that quite a few teams will look to the portal for an upgrade behind center once again this offseason. UCLA and Utah come to mind as programs with a starting quarterback who is about to exhaust his eligibility and little experience behind him.
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Will we see a mass exodus from Arizona State or Colorado?
The Sun Devils fired Herm Edwards and the Buffaloes fired Karl Dorrell prior to the midpoint of this season, opening the door for players from both programs to enter the transfer portal before the December window. So far, only two players have done so: Arizona State's Kejuan and Keon Markham.
Might that change once the season ends? History suggests there's a good chance. Coaching changes typically beget a lot of roster turnover, and even if some players want to finish this season out, the new coaches at both schools will probably want to bring in some of their own players from the portal and will need to usher some out in order to make room.
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Will Lincoln Riley try to replicate his portal success?
No one recruited the portal more successfully than USC last offseason. After Riley left Oklahoma to coach the Trojans, he brought Williams with him. All the former five-star has done is account for 15 touchdowns and one interception while leading the team to a 5-0 start. He's currently second on the Heisman Trophy odds board.
But Riley didn't stop there. He also added USC's leading rusher, Travis Dye, its two leading receivers, Jordan Addison and Mario Williams, and its leading tackler, Eric Gentry, from the transfer ranks.
Could we see Riley try to mine the portal again in the coming years? It likely won't be to the degree he did so in 2021, when he was trying to reshape the roster in a single offseason. But given Riley's success at landing talent and building a team through the portal this year and the desirability of playing for him in Los Angeles, it wouldn't come as a surprise if he makes the transfer portal a major part of his recruiting efforts moving forward.
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Can Stanford figure out a way to stop bleeding talent through the portal?
The clear loser of the young transfer portal era in college football has been academically-minded Power Five programs that lose players to transfer like just about everyone else but struggle to bring players in due to their stringent academic requirements. Stanford has embodied that struggle more than anyone. It was just four years ago that the Cardinal were finishing up their 10th season in a row with at least eight wins. Now, they haven't beaten an FBS program in more than a calendar year.
There are other factors that have led to the program's decline, to be sure. But a negative transfer portal balance sheet hasn't helped David Shaw's cause. Last year, for instance, Stanford lost its two leading rushers and two starters on the defensive line to the transfer portal. It brought in just one starter from the transfer ranks in safety Patrick Fields.
Is that a trend Stanford can reverse? It might take some flexibility on the part of the academic administration, which seems unlikely. But it feels almost impossible for a program to keep up in modern college football without being able to use the transfer portal to its advantage.