(12-23-2025, 08:35 AM)KartyFan Wrote: Anybody have a QB transfer wish list?
Fun question.
The guy at the top of my list was former Penn St. 2026 QB commit Troy Huhn, but the 4* recruit from Mission Hills HS wound up following Jim Franklin to Va Tech. Andrew reportedly had a positive conversation with Huhn after his decommitment, but alas, it was not meant to be.
So, as of today, that leaves 88 QBs in 247’s list of portal entries. Scouring the list, the most obvious prize, aka THE $2M Man (borrowing from BostonCard’s guess at NIL$ amounts for solid QBs) is ISU’s Rocco Becht, who eventually replaced Brock Purdy as the Cyclone’s starter. Becht’s 6’1, 210# and compiled a 26-13 record as a starter, completing 714/1177 passes (60.9%) for 9,274 yards and 64 TDs, with only 27 INTs. On top of that, what’s attractive is that he earned offers from Harvard, Penn and Columbia out of high school. Now the bad news - consensus is that he’ll follow former HC Matt Campbell to Penn State.
Based on a quick scan of college stats and/or high school recruiting profiles, other guys on the list who stand out as possible prospects include:
- Katin Houser - at 6’3 and 225#, he’s transferring from East Carolina (via Michigan State). He graduates this month with an Economics degree and has been an honor roll student. A 4* prospect from Anaheim/St. John Bosco, his recruiting profile shows offers from Yale + other P4 offers from Arizona, Iowa, UW and Colorado. In his career, in 31 games, including 24 starts, he completed 531 of 846 passes (63%) for 6,438 yards, 43 TDs and 22 ints. He also scored 15 TDs, rushing for 352 yards on 183 carries,
- Colton Joseph, a 6’2, 200 lb QB who’s played two seasons with 20 (of 25) starts at Old Dominion. From Newport Beach, He was a 3* recruit in the 2023 class who we looked at, but didn’t offer – besides ODU, he had offers from Air Force, Army and Navy, but none from P4 schools. He had decent success at ODU - in 20 starts, he was 306 for 512 (65.8%) while passing for 4,251 yards and 32 TDs, and rushed for 1,654 yards and 24 TDs, &
- Davin Wydner, from West Georgia, is another interesting dual-threat QB in the portal, At 6’5 and 224 lbs, he completed 290 of 492 passes (59%) for 3,390 yards, 24 TDs and 10 ints, and also rushed for 690 yards and 10 TDs in 176 carries. A 2021 (early admit) recruit, he did pick up offers from Princeton and Tulane, + 3 from P4 schools (Maryland, Pitt & GaTech).
Further down the ladder were:
- Eljiah Oehlke, from Wake Forest. At 6’2 and 223 lbs, he was a 4* recruit and the #23 QB on the 2025 class, but had no playing time during his frosh season. He also had offers from Harvard, Army, Air Force and Cornell, but none from other P4 schools,
- Jackson Stratton, 6’4 205# from U of Iowa. He was a 3* recruit from La Jolla with offers from Brown and Columbia, and also a P4 offer from UW. He selected Colorado State, where he played sparingly. He then transferred to Iowa where he started 2 games during his time there, before entering the portal again,
- Pete Costelli, 6’3 220 lbs from Northern Colorado (via Utah). From Mission Viejo, he was a 4* 2021, dual-threat QB recruit who received offers from a number of P4 schools - including LSU, Louisville. Northwestern, Michigan State, Indiana, kal, Arizona, etc. – and his recruiting profile indicates interest in Stanford, but we didn’t extend an offer, so wondering it was a Door #1 issue, evaluation or ???. That said, he chose Utah, but got no playing time as a frosh then transferred to Northen Colorado, where he only played sparingly in 2 years, &
- Michael Merdinger, 6’2 and 210#, from Liberty U (via UNC). A 3* 2024 prospect, he had an offer from Brown and other P4 offers from Minnesota and GATech. He only played sparingly at both NC and Liberty.
I also have a "Please, Anybody But…" list, headed by a certain QB from Auburn who just entered the portal - yup Ashton Davis, to which I say, nope – AFAIC, been there, done that. Another blast from the past on my no-fly list is Ryan Lonegran, who IIRC we recruited quite heavily from the 2023 class, but chose Alabama instead. He played sparingly for two seasons at Alabama before transferring to Boston College, where he racked up a 2-10 record as the starting QB.
Again, this is just my take and is pretty much a SWAG - anyone else with more familiarity with our actual recruiting targets/strategy, please feel to correct me &/or chime in.
