Ohio State Football: QB transfers changing college football landscape

Jalen Hurts couldn’t find himself in a better position. He is the presumed starter for the Oklahoma Sooners and will be taking over a high-powered offense while facing Big 12 defenses instead of those in the SEC.

Who knows, Hurts may become Lincoln Riley’s third straight Heisman Trophy winner.

With his skill set, the Sooners’ head coach shouldn’t have to make many adjustments to the offense Kyler Murray had so much success in last season. Hurts has proven to be effective both passing and running with the football.

He completed 62.9 percent of his passes for 5,626 yards and 48 touchdowns while only throwing 12 interceptions at Alabama. He also rushed for 1,976 and 23 scores.

Justin Fields looks to be the ideal fit for Ryan Day’s State offense and is quite a get. He is 6 ft. 3, 225 pounds and was the top dual threat quarterback in the 2018 recruiting class, and is known as much for his passing ability as his running.

In limited action for Georgia his freshman season, Fields completed 69.2 percent of his passes for 328 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also rushed 42 times for 266 yards (6.3 yards per carry) and 4 scores.

With the success coach Day had with Dwayne Haskins at the helm it appears he is going to stay with a downfield passing attack, and it looks like Fields is the guy to make it work. While the read option won’t be featured like it was with J.T. Barrett at QB, defenses will still have to account for Fields in the run game which will add a twist to the offense.

Another QB transfer to keep your eyes on is Kelly Bryant. He took advantage of the new rule allowing a player to play four games and still be redshirted.

Bryant announced he was leaving after losing his starting job last season. He then transferred to Missouri and will be eligible to play next season.

Who knows, the Tigers may make things interesting in the SEC East with Bryant behind center. After all, he led Clemson to the playoff in 2017.

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Expect more graduate QB transfers going forward as well as ones who attempt to get a waiver from the NCAA to play immediately. They will have suitors because many coaches will be in need of a quarterback and players will be looking for greener pastures.

You can’t blame quarterbacks for looking elsewhere for playing time. They only have four to five years to make their mark and there usually isn’t a rotation at their position like there is at most others. They either win the starting job or just see the field in garbage time as the backup.

Just think if Russell Wilson had stayed at North Carolina State in 2011 instead of transferring to Wisconsin after he graduated. After leading the Badgers to the Rose Bowl, Wilson was chosen in the third round of the NFL draft the following spring. If he would have stayed at NC State, Wilson probably wouldn’t be paid to play on Sundays.

Whether you like quarterbacks moving around or not expect more of them to do so. And it will continue to change the college football landscape.