The Pac-12 enters its first year since 10 teams defected to other conferences, forcing the issue of realignment in college football.
It has led to difficulties for the two remaining programs – the Oregon State Beavers and the Washington State Cougars – retaining their own and signing players from the transfer portal. It is undoubtedly going to be a difficult year for both teams, but it offers a chance for a new crop of players for both remaining schools to make an impact.
2024 Pac-12 Transfer Portal Team Rankings
The transfer portal rankings are decided by the number and quality of players leaving and how they signed, so far. Both the Beavers and Cougars have lost great options and quarterbacks, and how they will fill that void will impact the rankings.
Both teams have struggled to attract elite-level talent. The new Pac-12 is more difficult to sell to potential signees than the conference ever was in its original state. However, both teams have added talent, and there should be some impact performers in 2024 for both teams.
1) Oregon State Beavers
Total Transfers: 15
Top Offensive Transfer: Anthony Hankerson
Top Defensive Transfer: Kobe Singleton
Losing 12 players to the transfer portal — many of them starters or big-time recruits — is a blow for Oregon State. Three have followed Jonathan Smith to the Michigan State Spartans, while outstanding quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has departed for the Florida State Seminoles.
While the Beavers have been able to replace their departures, the overall quality means their roster will be worse heading into the 2024 season than the season before.
With both quarterbacks in Uiagalelei and Aidan Chiles out in Corvallis, Gevani McCoy has transferred in from Idaho. Meanwhile, Gabarri Johnson arrives from the Missouri Tigers.
McCoy completed 230 of his 354 passing attempts in 2023, for 2,919 yards, 15 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Hardly recruited coming out of Lawndale High School, McCoy has turned into a competent starter with the Idaho Vandals, having started the last two years.
The competition in the Beavers QB room will be hot in 2024 as Johnson was a four-star recruit in 2023, and big things are still expected from him. He was recruited highly, not only by Oregon State but also by the Oregon Ducks and Washington Huskies, among others.
Johnson didn’t play a snap with Missouri in 2023, but he will provide adequate competition to McCoy and high school commit Kallen Gutridge.
There will also be stiff competition in the running back room with Jam Griffin returning and Anthony Hankerson transferring in from the Colorado Buffaloes. Griffin played in Corvallis in 2022 but transferred to Ole Miss. In 2022, Griffin rushed for 288 yards and four touchdowns. He now returns for his senior year after featuring sporadically with the Rebels.
Anthony Hankerson is an exciting addition to HC Trent Bray’s offense. One of three transfers in from the Buffaloes, he is a big get for the Beavers. A three-star recruit in 2022, he has had 393 rushing yards and four touchdowns over two years in Boulder and should feature heavily in 2024.
MORE: 2023 All-Transfer Portal College Football Team
The additions on defense are also promising for Oregon State. The cornerback transfers look exciting in Kobe Singleton, Sai Vandrawale, and Mason White.
Singleton, especially, is an exciting addition coming off a four-interception season in 2023. White, on the other hand, is a great athlete who was ultra-productive at the JUCO level. He left junior college with an abundance of offers, but after opting for TCU, he rarely featured for the Horned Frogs. A sophomore in 2024, White has big things ahead of him in Corvallis.
Oregon State’s Transfer Portal Class, 2024
- Darrius Clemson, WR, Michigan
- Jam Griffin, RB, Ole Miss
- Sai Vadrawale III, CB, Cal
- Kobe Singleton, CB, Liberty
- Tygee Hill, DL, LSU
- Gabarri Johnson, QB, Missouri
- Gevani McCoy, QB, Idaho
- Tevita Pome’e, DL, Oregon
- Amipeleasi Langi, DL, Houston
- Nick Norris, Edge, Northern Colorado
- DJ Wesolak, Edge, Missouri
- Anthony Hankerson, OT, Colorado
- Van Wells, OT, Colorado
- Mason White, CB, TCU
- Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan, OT, Colorado
2) Washington State Cougars
Total Transfers: 8
Top Offensive Transfer: Kris Hutson
Top Defensive Transfer: Syrus Webster
Losing 18 players and only bringing in eight sums up the transfer portal for Washington State. There has been a tide of outgoings, none more important than QB Cam Ward, who has signed for Miami after flirting with entering the 2024 NFL Draft.
After picking up Evans Chuba from high school in Canada, the Cougars added Zevi Eckhaus to compete for the starting QB position.
Chuba is an exciting addition as a three-star prospect after passing for 2,173 yards, 20 touchdowns, and eight interceptions at Clearwater Academy. Eckhaus is at the other end of his career, having started three seasons with the Bryant Bulldogs.
In three years, Eckhaus has thrown for 8,527 yards, 75 touchdowns, and 25 interceptions. Eckhaus will be entering his senior year in 2024.
The pair of newcomers will compete for the starting job in Pullman alongside 2023 backup John Mateer.
Whoever ends up as the starting QB for the Cougars will have three shiny new weapons to throw to. Kris Hutson from Oregon is the headline, but Kyle Maxwell and Tre Shackelford should also see good game time.
Hutson has spent four seasons with the Ducks but has fallen down the depth chart. In his four seasons in Eugene, Hutson played 39 games but only five in 2023. The 2023 season only saw him have one catch for eight yards in what ended up being a redshirt year.
However, over his four-year career, Hutson has had 80 receptions for 936 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 11.7 yards per reception. He is also impactful in returning kicks, where he has had 31 returns for 658 yards.
MORE: College Football’s Best Transfers of All Time
Along with losing key players on offense, there have also been huge departures on the defense. However, Syrus Webster committing for the 2024 season from Utah Tech will add some energy to the group.
In 2023 Webster had 77 total tackles, five sacks, and three forced fumbles in 2023. The 6’4”, 255 lbs. defensive lineman should be destructive for the Cougars in 2024, having committed to Washington State ahead of other programs such as Kansas, Fresno State, Utah, and Oklahoma State.
Washington State’s Transfer Portal Class, 2024
- Zevi Eckhaus, QB, Bryant
- Keith Brown, LB, Louisville
- Parker McKenna, LB, Portland State
- Kyle Maxwell, WR, Louisiana Tech
- Syrus Webster, DL, Utah Tech
- Tyson Durant, CB, Akron
- Tre Shackelford, WR, Austin Peay
- Kris Hutson, WR, Oregon
Miss any action from the top college QB Rankings during the 2023 football season? Want to track all the movement with the college football’s transfer portal? College Football Network has you covered with that and more!