College football will be here soon, so let’s take a closer look at the top seven college football transfers in 2020. These players are my top dogs who will represent new schools in the coming school year and hope to increase their chances to shine in the NFL in the near future.
Top 7 College Football Transfers List
QB – Jamie Newman (Wake Forest – Georgia)
Newman comes across from Wake Forest to a Georgia team looking for a spark.
They won the SEC East but were decimated by LSU in the SEC Title game and missed a chance to play in the final four.
Former QB Jake Fromm left some big shoes for the Bulldogs, but Newman is more than up to the challenge. The 6-4 230-pound NFL-looking passer with a great arm and excellent mobility will add a different dimension to the Georgia attack
Newman started well for Demon Deacons, going 5-0, throwing 14 TDs, and rushing for 300 yards. Despite being injured for much of the back half of the season, Newman played all 12 games and found the endzone 26 times with a banged-up receiving core.
The QB Comp in Georgia will be interesting, as D’Wan Mathis is recovering from having a cyst removed from his brain. Expect these two to push each other in training camp.
Georgia will push for the SEC Title and a final four birth with Newman under center.
QB – D’Eriq King (Houston Cougars – Hurricanes)
The Miami Hurricanes are among the best football Colleges in the country, but they cannot seem to catch a break now.
In 2019, Tate Martell transferred from the Buckeyes to the U. He was supposed to be the answer to a struggling offense. Subsequently, he lost a quarterback battle to incumbent Jarren Williams. Williams played most of 2019, but Snow transferred himself.
As we enter the 2020 season, the U still has Martell and N’Kosi Perry on the roster, and they will both play backup to D’Eriq King.
The former Houston Cougar is a statistical superstar who played in four games last year but sat out the rest of the way to preserve his eligibility.
In his four years with the Cougars, he completed 62% of his passes for 4,925 yards and 50 touchdowns with just ten picks, and he ran for 1.421 yards and 28 scores.
No one doubts the U has an excellent defense, but you still need to score points to win games. Is King the man they need to start them back up to the team of the 1990s?
Maybe, who knows?
QB – K.J. Costello (Stanford – Miss State)
It was common knowledge that Costello wanted to play in the SEC. Multiple teams, including Alabama and LSU, chased him, but he chose Mississippi State and HC Mike Leach.
At 6-5, 222-pound Costello can stay healthy, he might be the big national breakout star of 2020. No matter who gets the starting quarterback job.
Costello spent much of his 2019 on the sideline injured and is a risky transfer signing for a Bulldogs team looking to rise through the ranks in the SEC. He needs to find his 2018 form to work for both teams. A big year for him, and it will see his draft stock rise a poor year, and he will go undrafted.
He still must win the job over Garrett Shrader and Keytaon Thompson.
I think this is a big call for Mike Leach, and it will not pay off. They will be lucky to win 6 games in 2020.
RB – Khalil Herbert (Kansas – Virginia Tech)
Herbert enters his fifth year in college football and will play as a Virginia Tech Hokie for the first time. He amassed 1735 yards from 320 carries in 35 games for the Jayhawks and scored 14 TDs.
However, they failed to use him to his full potential.
The 5’9”, 205-pound speedster will form a dangerous one-two combo with fellow Rutgers transfer Raheem Blackshear. Look for the Hokies to win the ACC Coastal in 2020 ahead of Miami and their rival Virginia Cavaliers.
S – Isaiah Pryor (Ohio State – Notre Dame)
The Fighting Irish have a good team returning in 2020 but will lack talent at safety. They lost Alohi Gilman, Jalen Elliott, and CB Troy Pride to the NFL.
Isaiah Pryor was a talented prospect out of high school, but he has failed to live up to the hype during his three seasons with the Buckeyes.
The 6’2”, 205-pound Pryor remained as a relative backup last season and struggled to impress when given the chance.
Notre Dame is a strong fit and will be his last chance to impress before he is hopefully drafted in the coming years. Both parties need this to work. Expect Pryor to step up in 2020 and be the player he was supposed to be coming out of HS.
DE – Quincy Roche (Temple – Hurricanes)
There is nothing wrong with the Hurricane’s defense, but they just added a superstar at DE.
The versatile 6-4, 235-pound Roche can be used as a defensive end, outside linebacker, or anywhere the Hurricanes want to use him.
Roche played 35 games for Temple and had 137 tackles and 26.0 sacks. He was named the 2019 American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
He sees the football well and reads the play even better. This is a massive addition to the Hurricanes’ defense, with Sophomore Greg Rousseau on the other edge for the 2020 season. Expect their stocks to rise if they can score points on offense.
DE – Xavier Kelly (Clemson – Arkansas)
The Versatile 6’4”, 305-pound Kelly will be a plug-and-play starter after transferring from Clemson. The former 4-star recruit comes into a defense decimated by the NFL Draft. He can play anywhere on the line, but expect him to play DT right off the bat.
Great pickup by the Razorbacks for the 2020 season.
What do you think about my Top 7 College Football Transfers list?
Do you agree, or would you include some other players?
Stay tuned for more College Football here on Sports Talk Line, or check the NCAA site for even more college sports news.
