Transfer portal breakdown: The key transfers for independents, Group of 5 leagues

This is a slow period in the transfer portal, and the current portal lull is a good time to do a re-examination of the transfer portal comings and goings. Today, we examine key incoming transfers among independents and Group of 5 leagues. We will end the series Tuesday we a look at the key departures from the same group of schools.

We’ve already looked at the key incoming and outgoing transfers in the ACC Atlantic, the important incoming and outgoing transfers in the ACC Coastal, the key incoming and outgoing transfers for SEC East teams, the key incoming and outgoing transfers in the SEC West, the key incoming and outgoing transfers in the Big Ten East, the key comings and goings in the Big Ten West, the most important incoming and outgoing transfers in the Big 12 and the key arrivals and departures in the Pac-12.

AAC

Cincinnati
Player: QB Ben Bryant, from Eastern Michigan
The skinny: Bryant started 11 games and led the Eagles to a bowl appearance last season. This is his second go-round at Cincinnati: He was Cincinnati’s backup in 2019 and ’20, then entered the transfer portal and transferred to EMU last season. He threw for 3,121 yards and 14 touchdowns with the Eagles. Worth noting: He had a “Do Not Contact” designation in the portal, which means the player must initiate any contact with a school. The transition from Desmond Ridder to Bryant as the starter should be relatively seamless, though Bryant doesn’t have as high a ceiling.

Memphis
Player: RB Jay Ducker, from Northern Illinois
The skinny: Ducker rushed for 1,184 yards and was the MAC freshman of the year in 2021 at Northern Illinois. Ducker played a significant role in helping the Huskies win the MAC title. He finished the season with seven 100-yard games in his final eight outings after beginning the season as a reserve. He rushed for 146 yards in NIU’s Cure Bowl loss to Coastal Carolina. Memphis returns Brandon Thomas, who rushed for 669 yards, at running back. But Thomas had 494 of those yards in the first four games of the season, and Ducker’s addition is a big one even if Memphis relies on a share-the-carries approach as it attempts to get back near the top of the league.

Memphis
Player: LB Tyler Murray, from Charlotte
The skinny: Murray was a team captain who led Charlotte in tackles in each of the past two seasons. He began his career at Troy before transferring to Charlotte after the 2018 season. After sitting out in 2019, he was a two-year starter and made 128 tackles in 18 games with Charlotte. Murray was a two-time All-Conference USA honorable mention selection and should provide instant impact to a defense that was gouged repeatedly last season on the ground and in the air. Memphis has just one returning starter in the front seven.

UCF

Player: OT Ryan Swoboda, from Virginia
The skinny: Swoboda was a two-year starter at right tackle for the Cavs and goes from a pass-heavy offense to one that wants to rely heavily on the run. Swoboda, who is 6 feet 10 and 325 pounds, was a key reserve in 2018 and ’19, making a combined four starts, before earning a starting job in 2020 and ’21. Swoboda, who is an Orlando native, should fill one of UCF’s two open tackle spots.

USF
Player: QB Gerry Bohanon, from Baylor
The skinny: Bohanon helped Baylor win the Big 12 last season, providing a running threat and throwing it well enough. He also was a solid decision-maker. Still, he lost his starting job to Blake Shapen during spring practice and hit the transfer portal in late April. USF has struggled the past few seasons,  mainly because quarterback play has been extremely uneven. True freshman Timmy McClain was the starter at the end of last season, probably before he was ready. In that regard, Bohanon is an excellent one-season rental of sorts. His experience will be invaluable, and his arrival all of a sudden means USF looks to have legit hopes for a solid offense.

Conference USA

FAU
Player: OT Brendan Bordner, from Rutgers
The skinny: UAB and UTSA look to be the two best teams in Conference USA, and there’s no reason FAU can’t be third in the league pecking order. More offensive consistency is needed, and Bordner can help in that regard. He started five games last season at Rutgers, and his physicality should play well in an offense that must run the ball better. Bordner spent his first three seasons at Rutgers as a defensive lineman, then moved to offense during the spring of 2020. He made three starts at tackle that fall. FAU has openings at tackle and guard, and while Bordner was a tackle at Rutgers, the potential exists for him to move inside for the Owls. Regardless, he almost certainly will be a starter.

UTSA
Player: RB Trelon Smith, from Arkansas
The skinny: UTSA is Smith’s third school; he began his career at Arizona State, then played two seasons at Arkansas. He rushed for 1,308 yards and 10 TDs in his time with the Razorbacks, including 598 yards and five TDs last season. Smith was part of a share-the-wealth backfield at Arkansas, but figures to be more of a true feature back with the Roadrunners. He will be tasked with replacing two-time 1,000-yard rusher Sincere McCormick, a former C-USA player of the year.

Western Kentucky
Player: QB Jarret Doege, from West Virginia
The skinny: Doege, a two-year starter for the Mountaineers, is on his third school; he began his career at Bowling Green before transferring to WVU. He started 18 games at BG, then 26 for WVU. Doege threw for 3,048 yards and 19 TDs last season, but he also tossed 12 picks. While Western Kentucky OC Zach Kittley left for Texas Tech, the Hilltoppers still are going to throw the ball all over the place. Doege figures to put up big numbers, but he has to cut down on his interceptions.

Independents

BYU
Player: RB Christopher Brooks, from California
The skinny: BYU has to replace 1,600-yard rusher Tyler Allgeier, and Brooks was snagged from the transfer portal to help in that regard. He’s a big (6 feet 1, 235 pounds), physical back who twice led Cal in rushing and finished his four-season career in Berkeley with 1,734 yards and 14 TDs. Brooks rushed for a team-high 607 yards in 2021. (In three of his four seasons at Cal, he was Chris Brown Jr. To honor his mom, he changed his name to Christopher Brooks after the 2020 season.) Brooks also is a good receiver, and that facet of his game will be put to good use. Brooks originally was headed to Purdue out of the transfer portal but changed his mind and enrolled at BYU.

Liberty
Player: WR Caleb Snead, from Campbell
The skinny: Liberty’s offense figures to change with dual-threat QB Malik Willis now in the NFL (former Baylor and Utah starter Charlie Brewer looks to be the leader in the clubhouse to replace Willis). Liberty returns leading receiver Demario Douglas, but one of the presumptive starters opposite Douglas, C.J. Daniels, suffered a torn ACL on the first day of spring practice. Snead’s arrival, then, is big. He has excellent size (6-3, 205) and had 147 receptions for 2,431 yards (16.5 per catch) and 25 TDs in his three seasons of action with the Camels. You know coach Hugh Freeze is going to throw it around, and Snead could be a 50-catch guy.

Notre Dame
Player: S Brandon Joseph, from Northwestern
The skinny: Notre Dame lost safety Kyle Hamilton, who was an All-American in 2021, to the NFL draft, where he was a first-round pick. Enter Joseph, who was an All-American in 2020. No, Joseph isn’t as good as Hamilton. But he is talented and should fit nicely in the Irish defensive scheme. As a redshirt freshman in 2020, Joseph had 52 tackles, six interceptions and two pass breakups. Last season, he had 80 tackles, three picks and four pass breakups in earning second-team All-Big Ten honors.

Mid-American

Akron
Player: WR Shyheem “Shocky” Jacques-Louis, from Pitt
The skinny: Unlike the two other MAC teams on here, Akron has no shot at a league title this season. But new coach Joe Moorhead will be bringing in better talent and Jacques-Louis is an example out of the transfer portal. Jacques-Louis was a fulltime starter the past two seasons after being a part-time starter in his first two seasons with the Panthers. Jacques-Louis had 83 receptions during his Pitt career, with three TDs. While he was a complementary talent at Pitt, he has a chance to be the go-to guy for the Zips.

Central Michigan
Player: WR Carlos Carriere, from Maryland
The skinny: Carriere started eight games over the past three seasons with the Terps, including five last season. He’s not a game-breaker, but he should be able to provide solid production for an offense that returns just one wide receiver who had more than four receptions last season. That would be Dallas Dixon, who had 45 catches and has all-league potential. CMU returns QB Daniel Richardson and RB Lew Nichols III, who led the nation in rushing last season. If Carriere indeed produces, the Chippewas should have one of the top two offenses in the league.

Miami
Player: S Michael Dowell, from Michigan State
The skinny: The RedHawks are replacing both starting safeties from last season, so Dowell’s decision was a big one. He started at both nickelback and safety during his time with the Spartans. Dowell started four games last season for the Spartans and finished the season with 41 tackles and three pass breakups. He also started two games in 2020 after serving as a reserve as a redshirt freshman in 2019. Dowell was a consensus four-star prospect from perennial power Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward in the 2018 class.

Mountain West

Boise State
Player: G Cade Beresford, from Washington State
The skinny: Boise State struggled to consistently run the ball last season, and a lack of push from the offensive line was one of the reasons. The line also struggled in pass protection, and Beresford’s versatility should help the Broncos. He started nine games last season at guard after playing in five games as a reserve tackle earlier in his career. Beresford, whose dad played at Boise State, could start at guard or tackle.

Colorado State
Player: QB Clay Millen, from Nevada
The skinny: Millen threw two passes last season as a true freshman, but his transfer is big. Millen followed coach Jay Norvell from Nevada to Colorado State. He has a good arm, and his knowledge of the offense means he could put up big numbers (like 3,000-plus passing yards) this season as Norvell moves the Rams from a ground-based offense to an air-it-out approach.

San Diego State
Player: QB Braxton Burmeister, from Virginia Tech
The skinny: Burmeister, a San Diego-area native who began his career at Oregon, started four games for the Hokies in 2020 before taking over as the fulltime starter last season. He is a dual-threat quarterback who is a better runner than passer. Burmeister ran for 696 yards and four TDs and threw for 2,647 yards and 16 TDs in his two seasons at Virginia Tech. He will be a key part of a rebuilt offense for coach Brady Hoke, whose defense again will lead the way for the Aztecs.

San Jose State
Player: QB Chevan Cordeiro, from Hawaii
The skinny: This intra-conference pickup from the transfer portal should boost the Spartans, who won the league title in 2020 but dropped to 5-7 last season, with one reason being inconsistent quarterback play. Cordeiro is a dual-threat guy who threw for 2,793 yards and 17 TDs last season, and also rushed for 343 yards and three scores. He is the only player in Hawaii history with 6,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards. If the offensive line comes together, San Jose State can be a bowl team.

Utah State
Player: S Gurvan Hall, from Miami
The skinny: Hall, a former four-star recruit, started 17 career games for the Hurricanes. He was a fulltime starter in 2019, then a part-time starter the past two seasons. Hall finished his UM career with 148 tackles, one interception and seven pass breakups. He should slide in as a starter for Utah State. Hall will be reunited with Ephraim Banda with the Aggies. Banda is heading into his second season as Utah State’s defensive coordinator after five seasons as Miami’s safeties coach; he was Hall’s position coach with the Hurricanes

Sun Belt

Coastal Carolina
Player: WR Sam Pinckney, from Georgia State
The skinny: The Chanticleers don’t return a wide receiver who had more than six receptions last season, so Pinckney’s intra-conference transfer is an important one. He had 27 receptions for the Panthers last season, when their passing attack was one of the least productive in the nation (161.6 yards per game). Pinckney could double that catch total this season working with QB Grayson McCall. Look for something like his 2020 season, when he had 47 receptions for 815 yards (17.34 yards per catch) and seven TDs.

Georgia Southern
Player: QB Kyle Vantrease, from Buffalo
The skinny: Vantrease was a three-year starter for the run-heavy Bulls; he threw for 1,865 yards last season, which was a career-high. He’ll be the quarterback for an offense moving from an option-based look to more of a balanced style under new coach Clay Helton. There will be growing pains: The line didn’t do much in terms of pass protection in the past, and the receiving corps looks pedestrian.

Marshall
Player: DT Isaiah Gibson, from Kentucky
The skinny: Gibson played 17 games at UK and made 10 tackles; he found it tough to make much of an impact on an experienced front with the Wildcats. That won’t be the case at Marshall, which moves into the Sun Belt this season and might be a dark-horse contender for the league title. Gibson had an excellent spring and should be a starter for a Thundering Herd defensive line looking to rebuild in the interior. Gibson is one of three transfer tackles who need to make an impact.