Transfer Tracker: Top-level OL enters portal
Mark Pszonak contributed to this report.
The transfer portal never stops grinding. It is not often that one of the top offensive linemen in the country enters the portal, but that is exactly what happened on Monday. Virginia's Olusegun Oluwatimi, a finalist for the Remington Award this season, quickly heard from dozens of programs across the country after making himself available.
Recruiting: Oluwatimi initially signed and attended the Air Force Academy for one year before transferring to Virginia.
At Virginia: Oluwatimi played in 36 games at center over his last three seasons, after sitting out in 2018 due to his transfer. On Monday morning he was named one of the three finalists for the Remington Award, given annually to the best center in the country.
Potential landing spots: Considering his skill-level and the position he plays, interest was immediate for Oluwatimi. While dozens of schools quickly reached out, some of the more aggressive in the early going are Florida State, Penn State, Iowa, Ole Miss, Auburn, Baylor, Tennessee, Illinois, Michigan and Missouri.
Farrell’s Take: He is going to be very popular in the portal and will be able to pick and choose a great Group of Five home. Does he want to anchor a line that will push for a national title or will he focus on location and/or how teams develop centers. Right now it's anyone's guess but a big man who can play center, make the line calls and move in space like he can is very high impact for anyone.
Impact Meter: 8.8 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.