I’m attempting to get back on schedule for the transfer portal report, so this edition will likely be shorter than the previous versions. However, even though this edition will cover a smaller time period, the transfer portal waits for no one! This week’s theme has undoubtedly been the big names both entering and exiting the portal at wide receiver!
We will cover the most important names regarding the portal this week. We’ll cover their recruiting pedigree, what they’ve accomplished so far, why they may have entered the portal, and finally, speculate where they could be headed! We’ll also be touching on a few players that have found their new homes. Afterward, we’ll cover plenty of other players who pique our interest but don’t warrant a full in-depth dive. We’ll always finish with the top three available players at each position!
Note: Transfers for this report occurred between the dates of April 19th and April 24th, 2022
Quarterbacks
Nothing to report at this time!
Running Backs
Nothing to report at the time!
Wide Receivers
Jaylon Robinson: UCF → ???
The first of our WRs we’ll be covering today comes from the sunshine state in the city of Orlando, with former breakout wide receiver Jaylon Robinson entering the portal for the second time. Robinson was a 3-star recruit in the class of 2018, and originally committed to Oklahoma as their top-rated WR for their class. However, after only a year with the Sooners, seeing limited playing time, Robinson transferred out and found his way to UCF, which was in the midst of an incredible run for a G5 school.
Robinson would have to sit out the 2019 season, but during the 2020 season, Robinson made a name for himself as the WR2 on the team, only behind Marlon Williams. In the shortened season, Robinson amassed 55 catches for 979 yards and six TDs. In six out of the ten games he played, Robinson hit over 100 yards. The excitement was through the roof for him in 2021, as with Marlon Williams gone, Robinson could truly take over as the Alpha. Unfortunately, the injury bug was cruel to Robinson, and he would only play in six games in 2021. He finished the season with 18 receptions, 322 yards, and two touchdowns, with six receptions, 140 yards, and a score coming in his first game. In addition to his injury, the Guz Malzahn offense wasn’t as friendly to receivers as Josh Heupel’s offense had been. Ryan O’Keefe would become the leading receiver in Robinson’s absence. Even though he had over 80 receptions, O’Keefe had 100 yards less than Robinson had the previous year. After rehabbing himself, it looks as though Robinson sees that the Malzhan offense will not use him like wants to be, and thus he’s entered the portal for a second time.
As for the possible destinations for Robinson, it seems very clear that Robinson will be headed back to the Power 5. He certainly has the talent to do so, for when he’s healthy, he’s a reliable outside deep threat for the offenses he’s apart of. The first team of speculation many tied him to was the Tennessee Volunteers. This certainly makes sense, as Robinson saw his best year of production under Heupel’s system. In addition, Tennessee has clearly been shopping around the transfer portal, as they at one time landed Wyoming WR Isaiah Neyor, and are believed to be the school former 5-star Bru McCoy will be attending. Whether McCoy’ll be apart of the team remains to be seen. Robinson would make an excellent addition to the Vols offense in 2022, but they are not the only WR-needy school in the Power 5.
Some speculated that Robinson might look to perform a “prodigal son” and return to Oklahoma. The previous coaching regime that Robinson had soured relations with has moved on, and both Robinson’s former QB and former OC at UCF, in Dillon Gabriel and Jeff Lebby, are now at Oklahoma. The WR depth chart at Oklahoma isn’t something that would be difficult for Robinson to break into. Marvin Mims looks to be the only receiver that has indeed locked down his starting gig. While Theo Wease and Jalil Farooq looked to be the guys to fill the last two spots, Robinson’s experience on the field, as well as with Gabriel and Lebby may give him a leg up on them and let him see the field before them.
Finally, let’s discuss where we know Robinson has visited this past weekend, and that’s the Ole Miss Rebels. This off-season, Lane Kiffin has been a monster in the transfer portal, bringing in offensive talent at almost every position. At WR, he’s already brought in Louisville’s Jordan Watkins and Mississippi St’s Malik Heath. However, once again we have a situation where only one player seems to have locked down their starting spot at receiver, Jonathan Mingo, and even he can’t seem to stay healthy. There is plenty of opportunity for Robinson to land at Ole Miss and become one of Altmyer/Dart’s favorite targets before week 1. Robinson’s speed would instantly help Ole Miss replace what they’re missing from the departure of Dontario Drummond and Braylon Sanders.
This is a rare case of no matter which one of these schools that Robinson ends up at, I’ll consider it a stock up landing spot for him. Getting away from Malzhan’s system and being intentional about going to and offense known to use receivers makes me very bullish on Robinson. As of today, I’d ranked the landing spots as Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. Keep an eye on Robinson, as he could easily find his way back onto your CFB rosters come the fall.
Agiye Hall: Alabama → Texas
I already took the time in last week’s report to detail Hall’s path to this point in his career. In short, he was one of four top-tier wide receiver recruits to go to Alabama in the 2021 class. He showed the most flashes during the spring game after enrolling early before hardly playing a down throughout the year. His first real chance came in the National Championship against Georgia after Jameson Williams tore his ACL. Hall only amassed two catches for 52 yards and dropped multiple crucial passes. All the while, Hall was very vocal about his displeasure and not getting snaps. Eventually, Hall was removed from the crimson tide two weeks ago and made his way into the transfer portal. Many, including myself, speculated as to where he could go, but one name jumped from the very beginning of his transfer process and it’s now where he’ll be spending his second chance in CFB: The Texas Longhorns.
Almost as soon as Hall entered the portal, many realized that the Texas Longhorns WR coach, Brennan Marion, refollowed Agiye Hall on social media. Hall was visiting Austin, Texas within a week, and by the next weekend, he had committed to the Longhorns. Hall has his second chance and has positioned himself to be a part of what should be an extremely explosive offense going into 2022.
The question remains how this impacts his CFB fantasy value. In terms of CFF Redraft for this year, I don’t see much change from where he was in Alabama. Hall mostly played on the outside when he did see the field, and the Longhorns already have two outside deep threats in fellow freshman, Xavier Worthy and Wyoming transfer, Isaiah Neyor. Typically, I might’ve saw a path to starting over Neyor, if he puts some things together. However, Neyor has had an exceptional spring camp and confirmed his role with an excellent performance in the Texas Spring Game. Thus, unless Hall plans to move to the slot and attempt to overtake Jordan Whittington, I doubt he sees significant time as a starter this year, barring injury to one of the guys ahead of him.
So avoid him in redraft, but that doesn’t mean I think he’s lost all value in CFB fantasy. For those in C2C leagues and CFF Dynasty leagues, Hall, I believe, still carries some value. He’s shown flashes of talent in every game he has played, so if he were to ever find a situation he could thrive in, the ceiling is astronomical for him. However, the elephant in the room clearly is his behavioral problems, and them continuing to be a problem for him. If you’re someone who has Hall on your roster and believes he can turn it around, I don’t think there’s any shame in you keeping him on your roster to see what happens. However, know that you will have missed your chance to trade him for anything of value if things go south. If you aren’t a believer, I’m sure there’s someone in your league who may still. Find that person and work something out. I’m cautiously optimistic that Hall can have a promising career at Texas if he turns his behavior around, however I believe it’ll take time before we see that value, if it ever comes. Work him on your rosters at your own risk.
Tyler Harrell: Louisville → Alabama
I told y’all last week that if the rumors were true and Harrell was going to Alabama, it would be big enough to warrant a spot in the main body of the report. Well, lo and behold, here we are! Similar to Hall, I’ll keep his career up to this point brief, as we covered it in last week’s report. Harrell was a 3-star wide receiver in the 2018 class. Harell’s special gift is his game-breaking speed, of which many speculate that he already runs a sub 4.3 forty-yard dash. Harrell certainly had his role in the Louisville offense, but with Malik Cunningham being limited in the deep target department, Harell’s role was limited. Last season, he amassed 18 receptions for 523 yards and six touchdowns. That’s over 29 yards per receptions, one of the highest in the nation. However, it looks as though wasn’t happy with his limited role, and has made his way to a program that has had recent history with WRs and their game-breaking speed in the Crimson Tide.
It’s not like Alabama needed to add another monster addition to their loaded 2022 team. On offense, they’ve added Jahmyr Gibbs and Jermaine Burton, two guys who are likely to be massive studs this year. But they can add another receiver like Harrell because they can. The question becomes what can we expect out of Harell for CFF. My views on this have changed over the past week. When Harrell first entered the portal and I heard he may be Bama-bound, I thought of him as a nice pickup in CFF Dynasty or C2C to stash for a year, and hope he wins the starting job at receiver next year. But then I thought about it some more. Ja’Corey Brooks has been nursing an injury during spring camp, and Hall had just entered the portal. That leaves Traeshon Holden to start at X and nothing but with only rue freshman behind him, likely. Bama saw last year what happens when you’re forced to rely on freshman WRs before they’re ready and Saban wasn’t going to chance that again this year.
If he comes in and performs well in the fall, Harell could very much be a threat to take over the starting role from Brooks. We all know Alabama has loved their speedy WRs on the boundary (see: Henry Ruggs, Jaylen Waddle, Devonta Smith, Jameson Williams). We assumed they had already found their guy in Burton for this year. If things go right for Harrell, we might seen Bama have two game-breaking wide receivers.
Additional Transfers Worth Mentioning
Carlos del Rio-Wilson, QB: Florida → ???
Del Rio-Wilson came in as a part of the final recruiting brought in by Dan Mullen to Florida. It looks as though Mullen’s firing from Gainesville was for the worse for Del Rio-Wilson. Del Rio was the QB3 behind Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson during the 2021 season. He saw no game action throughout the season, even when both of the other QBs weren’t performing well. He clearly doesn’t seem to be working out with new head coach Billy Napier, as he’s still the QB3 behind Richardson and incoming Ohio St transfer Jack Miller. Del Rio’s dual-threat ability makes him intriguing if he does transfer somewhere where he could earn the start. However, there hasn’t been any indication of where he might be headed, so we’ll keep an eye on him for now.
Jordan Hornbeak, RB: Fresno St → ???
Hornbeak is a former 3-star and the #45 running back in the class of 2021. Many saw him as a possible heir apparent once Ronnie Rivers left for the NFL. However, the emergence of Jordan Mims and the departure of head coach Kalen Deboer has suddenly made those plans go awry. Hornbeak didn’t get any run in the 2021 season, which isn’t a great sign as to the coaches feeling the need to get him on the field. The easy speculation here is that he follows DeBoer to Washington. However, Washington has already added Aaron Dumas and Wayne Taulapapa through the portal. I hate to say this to the Hornbeak fans out there, and I know you’re out there, but I think there’s a greater chance Hornbeak finds a home in the FCS than I think he finds a home somewhere we’ll have a CFB fantasy interest in.
Zeriah Beason, WR: Oregon St → Washington St
Beason was a former 3-star and the #129 WR in the class of 2020. Beason saw some early playing time as a freshman for the Beavers, recording 16 catches his freshman year. However, his sophomore year wasn’t much better, as he only recorded 20 catches for 236 yards and a touchdown. Now, he makes his way out to Pullman, Washington, where the Cougs are looking to put together a pass-happy offense under QB Cameron Ward and OC Eric Morris. Beason has shown a few flashes here and there, but don’t expect him to come in and fight for starting minutes. At best, he’s a stash and hope for next year, after guys likes Stribling, Victor and the like make their way to professional leagues.
Ricky Pearsall, WR: Arizona St → ???
The mass exodus from Arizona St continues, this time in the form of their leading receiver in 2021. Pearson accumulated 48 catches, 580 yards, and four touchdowns as the WR1. He was a former 3-star WR and the #151 WR in the 2019 class. Not a lot of indications as to where he could go, and given that he’s from Arizona, we can’t fall back on the “he’ll move closer to home.” Even still, Pearsall never established or looked like the player who demands targets, so he’ll likely be someone I don’t put much stock into going forward, even if he lands at a good landing spot.
Baylor Cupp, TE: Texas A&M → Texas Tech
I’ll be real with y’all: I’m not sure how to feel about this one. Cupp was the former #1 TE in the 2019 class and could never stay healthy at Texas A&M. Now, he’s made his way over to the Red Raiders of Texas Tech. All the ingredients are here for a fascinating transfer portal. A former highly ranked TE recruit is going to a pass-happy Zach Kittley offense who has said he wants to use TEs. However, it looks like Texas Tech, at least for this year, already has their TE choices in Mason Tharp and Henry Teeter, both of whom Kittley has raved about this spring. I’d love for one of these guys to be a go-to TE for the Kittley offense this upcoming season, but Cupp feels like he’s adding another mouth to feed and taking away that option of a CFF asset at TE for this offense. This spot is excellent for Cupp as a fresh start, but there is a vast range of possibilities for him here and I have no idea where I’ll land with him.
Top Available Transfers
Quarterbacks:
- Emory Jones: Florida → ???
- Doug Brumfield: UNLV → ???
- Carlos Del Rio-Wilson: Utah → ???
Running Backs:
- Marquise Irving: Minnesota → ???
- Cody Brown: Miami → ???
- Andrew Van Buren: Boise St → ???
Wide Receivers:
- Jaylon Robinson: UCF → ???
- Tyler Harrell: Louisville → ???
- Deion Smith: LSU →???
