The transfer portal is one of the latest trends to rock college football, and many programs are experiencing the benefit, especially at the quarterback position.
Since the transfer portal began in 2018, three of the five Heisman Trophy winners have been transfer quarterbacks. This season, three of the four Heisman candidates were transfer signal callers including winner Jayden Daniels, who transferred to LSU from Arizona State in 2022.
The recent uptick in transfer portal quarterback popularity gave Brad Crawford of 247Sports the idea to rank the 15 best transfer quarterbacks of all time. Two quarterbacks with Auburn ties made the cut.
The most obvious choice to make the list was [autotag]Cam Newton[/autotag], who transferred to Auburn from Blinn College by way of Florida ahead of the 2010 season. Newton, in his lone season on the Plains, won the Heisman Trophy and led Auburn to its second national championship in program history.
His 2010 season was incredible, which led him to slide in to the No. 2 slot on Crawford’s list behind LSU‘s Joe Burrow. Crawford cites Newton’s dual-threat ability and overall team success as his reasoning for placing Newton high on the list.
Cam Newton, who spent one season at Blinn (Texas) Junior College after departing Florida, enrolled at Auburn in 2010 and led the Tigers to their first national championship since 1957. Along the way, Newton completed passes at a 66.1% clip for 2,854 yards with 30 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Newton was a physical runner that accounted for 1,473 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns. The Carolina Panthers saw enough of Newton to make him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. Four years later, he was league MVP and playing in the Super Bowl.
On the opposite side of the equation is former Auburn quarterback [autotag]Bo Nix[/autotag], who is No. 9 in Crawford’s rankings. Nix won SEC Freshman of the Year at Auburn during the 2019 season, the same season that he led Auburn to an Iron Bowl win. However, most of his success has come at Oregon, where he has spent the last two seasons. Nix was a Heisman finalist in 2023, and is considered to be one of the most decorated quarterbacks in Oregon history says Crawford.
Nix has thrown 69 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions at Oregon over the past two seasons and has an additional 20 rushing touchdowns. As a rare five-year starter, he’s 42-18 in his college career.
Joining Newton and Nix on Crawford’s rankings include Hawaii’s Colt Brennan, Oklahoma‘s Jalen Hurts, and USC‘s Caleb Williams.
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