Published Feb 15, 2022
Transfer Tracker: Plenty of interest for WKU OL
Mike Farrell  •  Rivals Transfer Portal
Rivals National Columnist

Mark Pszonak contributed to this report.

The transfer portal never stops grinding. Veteran offensive lineman Cole Spencer of Western Kentucky entered the portal on Monday, and it did not take long for numerous Power Five programs to show serious interest.

Recruiting: Spencer committed to Western Kentucky over Bowling Green and Tulane a couple of days before National Signing Day.

At Western Kentucky: Spencer played in 45 games during his Western Kentucky career. He earned All-Conference honors after the last two seasons, while starting all of the 26 games with the Hilltoppers.

Potential landing spots: Several schools quickly expressed serious interest, with Penn State leading the way. The Nittany Lions have already landed Western Kentucky transfer wide receiver Mitchell Tinsley and are a serious possibility with Spencer. Other schools to watch include UCLA, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Washington State, Kentucky, Michigan State, Purdue, Florida State and Nebraska.

Farrell’s Take: As usual, a talented offensive lineman gets a ton of attention in the portal and you can bet home state Kentucky will make a push but Penn State appears to have the early edge. He's an experienced lineman on a team that passed the ball a ton and can play any of the interior positions which is key. He's a huge late addition to the portal.

Impact Meter: 8.2 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.