Transfer Tracker: Rutgers adds in-state weapon

Mark Pszonak contributed to this report.

The transfer portal never stops grinding. After initially committing to Kentucky, but then re-opening his process, Syracuse transfer wide receiver Taj Harris decided to play closer to home by announcing his decision to continue his collegiate career at Rutgers.

Recruiting: Harris had offers from Syracuse, Rutgers, NC State, Maryland, Wake Forest, UConn and others, before committing to the Orange during the summer leading up to his senior season.

At Syracuse: Harris set a true freshman record at Syracuse with 40 receptions for 565 yards. Overall, in 37 career games with the Orange he finished with 151 receptions for 2,028 yards and 10 touchdowns, including 16 receptions for 171 during the 2021 season.

Farrell’s Take: Harris is a prolific receiver who absolutely blew up in the portal and had so many options despite the timing of his entry. The ACC and Big Ten came calling but the opportunity to play at Kentucky and in the SEC was what he wanted at first. But now he's staying closer to home and has an even better chance to impact at Rutgers. He's a great fit as an outside receiver with size and speed and he can also work out of the slot and should be one of their leading pass catchers immediately.

Impact Meter: 8.5 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.