Michigan State OT Spencer Browns enters transfer portal

Michigan State offensive tackle Spencer Brown entered the transfer portal on Monday afternoon, On3 has learned.

The tackle had been contemplating his entrance into the portal over the last week. The Spartans hired Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith over the weekend.

An experienced linemen, he’s played in more than 30 career games with over 20 starts. According to Pro Football Focus, in 870 career pass-blocking snaps he has allowed eight sacks, eight hits and 32 hurries.

The right tackle has one year of eligibility remaining. Brown played high school football at Walled Lake’s (Mich.) Western, where he was a three-star prospect in the 2019 recruiting class, per the On3 Industry Rankings. Brown was also rated as the No. 545 player overall and the No. 43 offensive tackle in his cycle.

Named to the Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List at the beginning of the year. Instead of entering the NFL draft, Spencer Brown will now be entering college football’s version of free agency. The former Michigan State starter will be a name to watch with offensive linemen at a premium in the portal.

Spencer Brown enters portal with linemen at premium

Throughout this past spring’s transfer portal, there was a premium on linemen with experience. That expectation is still there as college football’s December free agency inches closer and closer. Projecting talent at the line of scrimmage is just as hard as identifying a quarterback.

Even if a program brings in a strong class on the offensive or defensive line, it does not mean the team is going to see a significant difference in play immediately. A freshman wide receiver has a better chance of impacting a team’s trajectory than a lineman. 

“Do we want a couple of elite guys who can make up for the guys who are just OK?” an NFL scout previously told On3. “Or do we want five good ones who really know how to play together? Reality is, most of the top linemen are going to the top 10 programs and there’s just not that many.”

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

Transfer portal background information

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.

The portal has been around since Oct. 15, 2018 and the new calendar cycle within the portal begins each August. For example, the 2021-22 cycle started Aug. 1. During the 2020-21 cycle, 2,626 FBS football players entered the transfer portal (including walk-ons). That comes after 1,681 entered during the 2019-20 cycle and 1,709 during the abbreviated 2018-19 cycle. In comparison, 1,833 Division I basketball players entered the portal during the 2020-21 cycle after totals of 1,020 in 2019-20 and 1,063 in 2018-19.