Transfer Tracker: Ohio State LB enters the portal

Mark Pszonak contributed to this report.

The transfer portal never stops grinding. Late last week an interesting linebacking option became available when Ohio State's Dallas Gant officially entered the portal.

Recruiting: Gant trimmed his list of top schools down to Ohio State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State before committing to the Buckeyes during the spring after his junior season.

At Ohio State: Gant played in 38 games during his Ohio State career, including three this season. He had 10 tackles in 2021 and 53 in his career with two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and 3.5 tackles for a loss.

Potential landing spots: Initial thoughts were that Kentucky, Pittsburgh and Missouri would be contenders, but none of these three are taking a serious look at this point. This one may take a little time to play itself out, but look for several MAC schools to be players when everything is said and done.

Farrell’s Take: Gant has experience so some teams will certainly be intrigued by that. But going into the portal during the season means for a crawl of interest rather than the frenzy that occurs during the off season. I would say MAC level is most likely for him at this stage but a lot depends on which coaches end up where at the end of the season.

Impact Meter: 6.1 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.