Transfer Portal Tracker 12.13.22 Update

If you missed the first edition of the transfer portal tracker you can find it right here. It has an explanation of the rating system used so I’m not going to repeat it here. No time. A score of approximately 60.0 is generally the lower limit for a transfer who you should expect to come in and be a starter/heavy depth player.

Uncommitted Players to Watch for Washington

I put together a very basic formula for players that Husky fans should be keeping an eye on in the transfer portal. You can see the description of it in the dashboard view below. Underneath that I’ll talk a little about some of the key names on the list with reported Husky offers. The ones with ties to the program are still worth noting in case an offer is eventually forthcoming and they will vault up the list if/when that happens.

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The biggest piece of news in the last few days from the portal was the entry from Michigan State WR Germie Bernard. Even those that pay no attention to recruiting (in which case you’re probably not reading this) will recall that Bernard was originally the crown jewel of last year’s recruiting class for Washington. He stuck with it through the coaching change because of his relationship with WR coach Junior Adams who stayed on through the transition.

...Only for Adams to bolt and take the job at Oregon on the same day Bernard arrived in Seattle ready to begin classes as an early enrollee. Bernard didn’t attend classes so he could still potentially get out of an NLI and ultimately decided to join his former high school QB in East Lansing. Of course Michigan State greatly underachieved in year 2 under Mel Tucker and Bernard played just 129 offensive snaps while returning a handful of kicks. There is certainly smoke that he may be regretting his decision under time constraints to move on from UW and a return to Washington could be in the cards. The Huskies await the decisions from Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan to help determine how much room is available in the Husky receivers’ room.

A fellow alumnus of Liberty High School in Nevada is now former Oregon Duck TE Moliki Matavao who also entered the portal on Monday. Washington was considered the favorite for the highly talented tight end once upon a time but after Chris Petersen stepped down and TE coach Jordan Paopao wasn’t retained, Matavao moved on and ended up in Eugene. It seems like out of high school runner-up UCLA or Arizona (which now has Paopao as the TE coach) are likely going to be major factors but expect the Huskies to gauge interest.

Cal Poly tight end Josh Cuevas visited last weekend and said that he is planning on taking official visits to Utah and Michigan. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear that Washington was able to close down his recruitment right away and earn a commitment so we’ll see if they made enough of an impression to keep him from going to one of two other really great programs. Michigan TE Erick All didn’t immediately commit after a visit to Iowa this last weekend so we’ll see if the Huskies are still able to get a visit from him.

An intriguing offer was handed out on Monday night to Edge rusher Zach Durfee. He wasn’t in my database before that point since he entered the portal from NAIA Sioux Falls. You might recall that’s the school where Kalen DeBoer played in college and eventually led to a national title as a head coach. Durfee was a quarterback and basketball player in high school but moved to defensive end after redshirting and wreaked havoc with 4 sacks and 2 forced fumbles in his first career start. He finished the season with a league leading 11.5 sacks. There’s a huge level of competition gap between the Pac-12 and NAIA but that kind of production as a RS freshman is worth taking a flier. One quick note that I put in makeshift totals for Durfee since PFF doesn’t do grades for that level of football.

Pac-12 2023 Transfer Portal Standings

Unfortunately for Husky fans, Oregon added a pair of impact pieces from the portal over the weekend. Former 5-star Justin Flowe exited the Duck program via the portal but Oregon likely found an upgrade to replace him with in Iowa LB Jestin Jacobs (70.5 grade). He only played in 2 games this season due to injury but was a starter for the Hawkeyes in 2021 as a former 4-star recruit.

It may not have been a clear upgrade over Dont’e Thornton who entered the portal as a significant contributor at wide receiver but Oregon found a major pickup. Alabama WR Traeshon Holden (76.7 grade) committed to Oregon after catching 6 TD passes for the Crimson Tide this season.

California also got in the portal action rebuilding their secondary. Colorado CB Kaylin Moore (64.7) was one of the few bright spots for the Buffaloes in their dismal season but he now heads to Berkeley. Competing with him for a starting job will be former UNLV CB Nohl Williams (69.3) who received glowing PFF grades the last 2 years in the Mountain West.

One player in the region who considered UW out of high school was Oregon RB Sean Dollars who saw time for the Ducks this season mainly on 3rd downs. He decided to move down a level and committed to Nevada whose head coach Ken Wilson was previously an assistant at Oregon before taking that job.

Top Rated Uncommitted Transfers by Position

(position groupings listed by rough order of need for UW)

Cornerback

1. Denver Harris from Texas A&M- 86.3
2. Tony Grimes from North Carolina- 84.5
3. Myles Jones from Texas A&M- 76.2
4. Gilbert Frierson from Miami- 75.7
5. Cam’Ron Kelly from North Carolina- 75.5

Safety

1. Myles Slusher from Arkansas- 81.8
2. Cam Williams from Washington- 78.6
3. Adari Haulcy from New Mexico- 70.4
4. Jaxen Turner from Arizona- 69.0
5. Antavious Lane from Georgia State- 68.9

Tight End

1. Trey Knox from Arkansas- 80.9
2. Erick All from Michigan- 76.4
3. CJ Dippre from Maryland- 73.2
4. Moliki Matavao from Oregon- 68.3
5. Seydou Traore from Arkansas State- 62.8

Edge Rusher

1. Josiah Stewart from Coastal Carolina- 82.6
2. Stephen Herron from Stanford- 81.4
3. Clayton Smith from Oklahoma- 78.7
4. John Morgan III from Pittsburgh- 76.3
5. Andre Carter from Western Michigan- 69.0

Defensive Lineman

1. Allan Haye from Miami- 75.3
2. Trace Ford from Oklahoma State- 70.5
3. Devin Phillips from Colorado State- 70.4
4. Tayler Manoa from USC- 69.0
5. Joshua Harris from NC State- 67.9

Quarterback

1. DJ Uiagelelei from Clemson- 92.4
2. Spencer Sanders from Oklahoma State- 91.3
3. Hank Bachmeier from Boise State- 90.0
4. Graham Mertz from Wisconsin- 89.6
5. Emory Jones from Arizona State- 89.5

Linebacker

1. Amari Gainer from Florida State- 88.4
2. Travion Brown from Washington State- 76.5
3. Francisco Mauigoa from Washington State- 70.8
4. Gaethan Bernadel from Florida International- 67.8
5. Eriq Gilyard from Kansas- 67.4

Running Back

1. Thad Franklin from Miami- 82.1
2. Byron Cardwell from Oregon- 81.6
3. MarShawn Lloyd from South Carolina- 81.5
4. Trevion Cooley from Louisville- 79.5
5. Daniyel Ngata from Arizona State- 76.7

Wide Receiver

1. Dominic Lovett from Missouri- 86.5
2. Jack Bech from LSU- 84.0
3. Kaden Prather from West Virginia- 83.0
4. Joey Hobert from Utah Tech- 81.2
5. Cam Johnson from Arizona State- 80.4

Interior Offensive Line

1. Junior Angilau from Texas- 92.1
2. Keiondre Jones from Auburn- 84.5
3. Javion Cohen from Alabama- 82.0
4. Avery Jones from East Carolina- 81.0
5. Drake Nugent from Stanford- 78.4

Offensive Tackle

1. Ben Coleman from California- 79.4
2. Grant Starck from Nevada- 72.4
3. Amari Kight from Alabama- 71.6
4. Jake Hornibrook from Stanford- 70.8
5. Dalton Cooper from Texas State- 69.7

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If you want to look through all of the rankings yourself you can go scroll through here and go into the dashboard to look in a bigger browser.