Published Nov 1, 2021
Transfer Tracker: 2021 5-star OL enters portal
Mike Farrell  •  Rivals Transfer Portal
Rivals National Columnist

Mark Pszonak contributed to this report.

The transfer portal never stops grinding. Occasionally a transfer makes everyone take notice. That happened on Tuesday night when Oregon OL Kingsley Suamataia, a 2021 five-star, entered the portal.

Recruiting: Suamataia trimmed his list of top schools down to Oregon, USC and Utah before committing to the Ducks during the early stages of his senior season. While the Ducks were considered the favorite for several months, the Trojans made a serious push during the late stages.

At Oregon: Suamataia enrolled at Oregon in January to participate in spring practice. He played in one game this fall, against Stony Brook, and was listed as the backup left tackle on the depth chart.

Potential landing spots: Rumors immediately began swirling that Suamataia's home sickness is what led to his transfer, which puts Utah and BYU as the two most likely landing spots. While the Utes were a player in his initial process, the Cougars were not seriously considered. However, it is BYU that is the very early front runner. This does not mean that other programs are not putting in effort, as Georgia, Nebraska, Miami, Texas, Michigan, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Penn State, Florida State and UCF are just a handful of the schools that have already reached out

Farrell’s Take: How crazy is this? This is reportedly about homesickness so look for him to land back home at Utah or BYU but others will continue to press and he will have a ton of offers. He has all the ability and skill to be a dominant left tackle for someone and a potential first rounder.

Impact Meter: 9.3 out of 10

IMPACT METER

The Transfer Portal continues to change the way college football programs recruit and manage their rosters so we here at Rivals.com continue to evolve our coverage. Each time a player of note enters the portal, we will examine their potential impact on the college football landscape and assign an impact rating, both when they enter the portal and when they choose a destination. The scale is from 1-10 and the description below explains the scoring scale.

1.1-4.0 — Not a big impact expected, likely a non-starter and down the bench depth player.

4.1- 6.0 — A solid impact can be expected in the right scenario and has the potential to battle for a starting job.

6.1-9.0. — A high impact player who won’t change a program but will certainly be a very good contributor and starter.

9.1- 9.9 — A very high impact player who should start the moment he steps on the field and will change the outlook of a program immediately.

10 — A franchise transfer who has a chance to be an All American and one of the elite players in college football.