How the transfer portal has affected QB situations for the teams Texas plays in 2025

It’s been 10 days since the transfer portal officially opened and already over 150 different quarterbacks have entered their names into college football’s very own knock-off free agency simulator. That has SEC teams very interested, and many on Texas’ 2025 schedule making moves.

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With players asking for upwards of $2 million for their services at large-scale universities, it’s never been more important to either have your future quarterback on campus or to be aggressive in the portal. Schools like Auburn, Louisville and Houston have been quick to pounce on the future signal-caller for their respective programs, while some teams, including ones that Texas will face next season, have been much more patient.

With the SEC still working to figure out its long-term goals with scheduling and a potential pod system, Texas will face a similar schedule to last season. The Longhorns will face the same eight SEC schools, this time with flipped venues, and still face an out-of-conference schedule featuring three FBS programs and a Big 10 powerhouse.

Some of these schools have been mostly unaffected by the portal. UTEP is a program that has seen none of its quarterbacks enter the portal, sticking with Cade McConnell or Skyler Locklear heading into next season. UTEP is the rare case of a team with zero movement at the QB position in the portal, as every single other team on Texas’ schedule in 2025 has either added or subtracted at the position in this short window.

A few teams will be very unaffected by the portal because their main guy is already on campus. Arkansas and Florida each saw backups withdraw themselves from the program, but Taylen Green and DJ Lagway aren’t going anywhere. Texas will have to face a much healthier version of each, with the Longhorns having to battle Lagway in the Swamp.

San Jose State, Sam Houston State and Ohio State are similar to Arkansas and Florida where their starting QB next year likely won’t come from the portal. San Jose State lost a talented former transfer in Emmett Brown, but he had already lost the starting job mid-season. Ohio State’s Will Howard will have graduated, and with backups Devin Brown and Air Noland hitting the portal, all signs point to redshirt freshman and former No. 2 QB in the class of 2024 Julian Sayin being the starter in The ‘Shoe on August 30.

In other instances, the portal has brought players into the quarterback rooms of teams Texas will face in conference play next season.

Texas could potentially face the top three QBs in the ’24 class next season. With Lagway and Sayin taking the top two spots, Luke Kromenhoek was the fellow top-30 QB recruit in On3’s own rankings.

Kromenhoek entered the portal after one year with Florida State and landed in Starkville, where he will likely backup Blake Shapen for Mississippi State. Shapen returns after suffering a season-ending injury in 2024. Texas never played Shapen last year; instead, the Longhorns battled dual-threats Michael Van Buren and Chris Parson. With the potential Van Buren had and no promise to start, the Maryland native landed in Baton Rouge and will backup Garrett Nussmeier at LSU for the 2025 season. Parson transferred to Austin Peay.

Vanderbilt will have Diego Pavia back when it travels to Austin. Pavia’s lawsuit against the NCAA earned the graduate transfer and former JUCO product an extra year of eligibility. Despite beating Pavia’s Commodores this year, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was not in support of the move that gave Pavia another crack at Texas.

Texas A&M has also utilized the portal this offseason, adding UAB’s Jacob Zeno as a likely backup to Marcel Reed. Conner Weigman has already left and will be playing for Houston in 2025.

Georgia and Kentucky are where it begins to get interesting for Texas’ 2025 preparation. Georgia is of course preparing for the College Football Playoff so there is less news surrounding the future of the QB position, but there have been rumblings about the Bulldogs seeking out Cal transfer Fernando Mendoza, the No. 2 QB in the portal. Mendoza’s breakout 2024 season saw him throw for over 3000 yards and bring Cal to a bowl game, and his upside and extra eligibility make him an obvious take.

With Carson Beck likely heading to the NFL, questions around who will start for Georgia loom large. Will it be Mendoza, another portal QB, or someone in-house like backups Gunner Stockton or Jaden Rashada? Stockton has already made a great case for himself in the SEC Championship game.

Kentucky is adding former Texas A&M, Auburn, and UIW quarterback Zach Calzada after a disastrous year with Brock Vandagriff. Though Cutter Boley looked good against Texas last season, Kentucky will continue its theme of relying on the portal for the position.

The Sooners have seen an exodus on offense this season, with nearly its entire wide receiver depth chart and quarterback Jackson Arnold hitting the portal. Given the success of Washington State’s high-powered offense these last few seasons, head coach Brent Venables sought out Ben Arbuckle to be the team’s next offensive coordinator and rectify these offensive problems. Arbuckle was the man who helped bring Cam Ward to big screen, and Ward’s efforts at Miami last year likely landed him as a top-10 pick in the NFL Draft.

Arbuckle is bringing star quarterback John Mateer with him to Norman. Mateer’s flashy stats include 29 touchdowns on 261 yards per game.

Oklahoma’s offense received an instant jolt after the moribund season with Arnold and Michael Hawkins that saw offensive coordinator Seth Littrell fired. More needs to be done around Mateer, but his addition is a start to that process for OU.

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Texas shouldn’t feel the ill effects of the transfer portal at the quarterback position after the season, but the so-called free agent market for quarterbacks has already altered what opposing offenses on the Longhorns’ 2025 schedule will look like.