Some Familiar Names Among Quarterbacks Who Entered Transfer Portal This Spring

The spring shopping season got underway April 15 when players had the opportunity to enter their names into the transfer database for the period that ended April 30.

With respect to quarterbacks, there were some familiar names seeking greener grass. Some will benefit from a transfer, others might remain at their current school while a few others, well, who knows.

Below is an alphabetical look at some of the quarterbacks who entered the portal during the most recent opportunity. (The first chance began the Monday following conference championship games, December 5, and ran through January 18.)

Harrison Bailey: TBD/UNLV/Tennessee

It is difficult to think of a grad transfer as having three years of eligibility. Yet, that is the case with Bailey, who started three games for Jeremy Pruitt at Tennessee in 2020. New coach Josh Heupel plucked Hendon Hooker from the portal in January 2021, which is where Bailey landed in October of that year. He ultimately committed to UNLV where he appeared in six games with one start for the Rebels last season under Marcus Arroyo — Barry Odum has since taken over — and threw for 318 yards and two touchdowns. In his career, Bailey has thrown for 912 yards and six touchdowns.

Ben Bryant: TBD/Cincinnati/Eastern Michigan

To say Bryant has had an interesting collegiate career would be a great understatement. After spending a couple of years as Desmond Ridder’s backup at Cincinnati, he left for Ypsilanti to be the Eagles’ starter in 2021 (3,121 yards, 14 TDs) before conveniently returning to the Bearcats to be Luke Fickell’s No. 1 in 2022. Bryant threw for 2,732 yards and 21 touchdowns. Fickell left for Wisconsin and Scott Satterfield took over at UC, where Bryant may still decide to complete his collegiate career. Evan Prater, Bryant’s backup last season, and Emory Jones, formerly of Arizona State and Florida, are among other QBs on the roster.

Tyler Buchner: Alabama/Notre Dame

It was May 2018 when Alabama offered Buchner a scholarship. Five years later, Buchner is on his way to Tuscaloosa where he will re-join offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, who was in the same role at Notre Dame the past three years. After serving as a backup as a freshman in 2021, Buchner won the Fighting Irish’s quarterback job in fall camp last year, sustained a shoulder injury in the second game and missed the remainder of the regular season. He returned for the Gator Bowl against South Carolina and threw for 273 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions in a win. Buchner’s resume is light, though it has more meat than any other quarterback on the Crimson Tide roster, including Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson, the duo that competed for the top job in the spring.

Thomas Castellanos: Boston College/UCF

When Mikey Keene entered the portal prior to the Knights’ Military Bowl loss to Duke, Castellanos was seemingly next in line behind starter John Rhys Plumlee. Instead, UCF/BC connections seem to have won out in a couple of instances. In Chestnut Hill, Castellanos reunites with former UCF receiver Ryan O’Keefe. The latter’s position coach at UCF, Darrell Wyatt, joined Jeff Hafley’s staff at BC last year. As for Castellanos’ competition on his new team, Emmett Moorehead started the final four games for the Eagles last year after Phil Jurkovec sustained a season-ending knee injury. Jurkovec transferred to Pitt, so Moorhead was No. 1 in the spring and will be No. 1 at the start of preseason camp. Castellanos considered Texas State as a potential landing spot. He visited the school, where former UCF co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach G.J. Kinne is in his first year as the Bobcats’ head coach. (Keene, by the way, is at Fresno State.)

Ben Finley: Cal/North Carolina State

Finley found himself making his first career start in the 2022 regular-season finale against North Carolina after injuries decimated NC State’s two-deep. Finley, who also started the Duke’s Mayo Bowl loss against Maryland, threw for 912 yards and four touchdowns in bits and pieces of three seasons. The brother of former record-setting Wolfpack quarterback Ryan Finley brings three seasons of eligibility to Berkeley, where coach Justin Wilcox was in need of quarterback depth following the transfers of Jack Plummer (Louisville) and Kai Millner (Northern Arizona).

Grant Gunnell: TBD/North Texas/Memphis/Arizona

Gunnell is looking for a fourth school in as many years. He served as a backup (9 attempts, 75 yards) at UNT last season after losing out to Austin Aune in preseason camp. The 29-year-old Aune, a former Yankees farmhand, declared for the NFL draft after throwing a school-record 35 TD passes last season. Coach Eric Morris hit the portal to land Louisiana-Monroe transfer Chandler Rogers, a Texas native. Gunnell began his career in 2019 at Arizona, where he threw for 1,864 yards and 15 touchdowns in 12 games over two seasons. He transferred to Memphis in 2021 and did not see any action.

Casey Thompson: TBD/Nebraska/Texas

Thompson’s days in Lincoln appeared by numbered when new coach Matt Rhule turned to the portal in December to land former Georgia Tech quarterback Jeff Sims. The 24-year-old Thompson sat out the spring while recovering from shoulder surgery. He threw for 2,407 yards and 17 touchdowns in 10 games for the Cornhuskers last season, when he missed a couple of games due to an elbow contusion and numbness in his ulnar nerve. He threw 24 touchdown passes for Steve Sarkisian’s Longhorns in 2021. Thompson has 57 career total touchdowns, 47 through the air.

Hayden Wolff: TBD/Old Dominion

Wolff is forever part of Monarchs’ history in that he became the starter midway through the 2021 season and led them to a 5-1 finish and the first bowl game in program history. He threw for 2,908 yards and 18 touchdowns with six interceptions last year when ODU went 3-9. The 6-foot-5 Florida native threw for 5,578 yards and 30 touchdowns in three seasons – Old Dominion did not play in 2020 – with the Monarchs. In 2019, his first year on campus, Wolff played in three games and maintained a redshirt. He has two seasons of eligibility.