The college football landscape has been overhauled in recent years thanks to the implementation of name, image and likeness laws as well as the expansion of the transfer portal into an entity not dissimilar to professional free agency. In fact, the combination of those two nascent elements has given collegiate sports a much more business-like feel, quickly shedding any vestiges of its amateur past.
The latter has been a crucial element in the short-term plans of [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag], who has dealt with a fair amount of turnover so far — especially in light of the dismissal of three players recently. The good news is that the new head coach and his staff are off to a good start on that front, having brought in a pair of studs from the skipper’s previous stop with at Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns while the third crossed the country from the Arizona State Sun Devils to relocate to the Sunshine State, among others.
The Athletic’s college football staff recently assembled an overview of the transfers to watch for in 2022, including the three new Gators referenced above. Take a look below at what writer Manny Navarro offered on the topic.
Ex-Arizona State wide receiver [autotag]Ricky Pearsall[/autotag] (48 catches, 580 yards, four touchdowns in 2021) definitely will help the Gators, but Billy Napier brought over the two most impactful transfers with him from Louisiana. That would be offensive guard [autotag]O’Cyrus Torrence[/autotag], a 35-game starter at guard and tailback [autotag]Montrell Johnson[/autotag], who ran for 838 yards rushing with 12 touchdowns as a freshman last season.
While there are others who arrived through the portal, such as quarterback [autotag]Jake Miller[/autotag], cornerback [autotag]Jalen Kimber[/autotag] and offensive lineman [autotag]Kamryn Waites[/autotag], none offer the experience nor can be expected to hit the ground running like the aforementioned trio. In a debut season with a challenging schedule, the Gators will need all the help they can get and hopefully the portal proves its worth for the Orange and Blue.
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