I looked up this stuff mostly out of curiosity, thinking I might use it for a story. But then I just decided to drop it here instead.
Been thinking about the impact of transfer OL as Ohio State finds itself in the market again.
• In the 2023 NFL Draft, only six of the 43 offensive linemen drafted were guys who had transferred at some point in their career, and one of those was a JUCO transfer. Three of those six players were one year plug-and-play guys before getting drafted.
• I went through all of the all-conference teams for the five power leagues. The Big Ten and ACC do three teams. The SEC, Pac-12 and Big 12 do two teams. Out of all of those offensive line spots, only six went to players who had transferred at some point in their careers. Only one of those players, Michigan center Drake Nugent, earned a first-team nod. The Big Ten had three total transfer OL selected. The ACC had two. the Big 12 had one. The SEC and Pac-12 had none.
• By my count using the data that was available, there were 39 OL who transferred from a G5 program to a P5 program last year. Less than half (19) started double-digit games.
• Of the top-25 OL in Rivals portal rankings last year, 16 were regular starters. Josh Simmons, who was ranked No. 38, had a higher PFF grade than 8 of those 16 regular starters in the top 25.
• Was curious about the Sun Belt in particular with OSU hosting Troy's Derrick Graham after taking Vic Cutler from the same league last year. There were seven Sun Belt to P5 OL transfers last year. Three became immediate full-time starters at their new spots. Two of the three were All-Sun Belt players the year before. The third, Oklahoma State's Dalton Cooper, was a really nice player for OSU last year despite not being an all-league player in the Sun Belt the year before (though he was a third-team selection in 2021). I mention that because I'm a proponent of guys needing to show a baseline all-conference level of play in the G5 if Ohio State is gonna try to bring them to the Big Ten. Graham isn't that, Cutler and Simmons weren't that. But Simmons was (arguably?) Ohio State's best lineman this year and Cooper is at least another example of a guy playing really well as an up-transfer despite not being an all-conference selection. So maybe I shouldn't bang that drum so loudly.
Why look all of this up? I don't really know. I think I'm of the mind that, while all portal shopping is a crapshoot, offensive line portaling feels especially treacherous. There are success stories, no doubt, but the list of super high-impact transfer offensive linemen seems short. I just don't know that you want to be in the portal looking for offensive linemen every offseason and I'd like to see Ohio State get off that particular carousel as soon as possible.
Been thinking about the impact of transfer OL as Ohio State finds itself in the market again.
• In the 2023 NFL Draft, only six of the 43 offensive linemen drafted were guys who had transferred at some point in their career, and one of those was a JUCO transfer. Three of those six players were one year plug-and-play guys before getting drafted.
• I went through all of the all-conference teams for the five power leagues. The Big Ten and ACC do three teams. The SEC, Pac-12 and Big 12 do two teams. Out of all of those offensive line spots, only six went to players who had transferred at some point in their careers. Only one of those players, Michigan center Drake Nugent, earned a first-team nod. The Big Ten had three total transfer OL selected. The ACC had two. the Big 12 had one. The SEC and Pac-12 had none.
• By my count using the data that was available, there were 39 OL who transferred from a G5 program to a P5 program last year. Less than half (19) started double-digit games.
• Of the top-25 OL in Rivals portal rankings last year, 16 were regular starters. Josh Simmons, who was ranked No. 38, had a higher PFF grade than 8 of those 16 regular starters in the top 25.
• Was curious about the Sun Belt in particular with OSU hosting Troy's Derrick Graham after taking Vic Cutler from the same league last year. There were seven Sun Belt to P5 OL transfers last year. Three became immediate full-time starters at their new spots. Two of the three were All-Sun Belt players the year before. The third, Oklahoma State's Dalton Cooper, was a really nice player for OSU last year despite not being an all-league player in the Sun Belt the year before (though he was a third-team selection in 2021). I mention that because I'm a proponent of guys needing to show a baseline all-conference level of play in the G5 if Ohio State is gonna try to bring them to the Big Ten. Graham isn't that, Cutler and Simmons weren't that. But Simmons was (arguably?) Ohio State's best lineman this year and Cooper is at least another example of a guy playing really well as an up-transfer despite not being an all-conference selection. So maybe I shouldn't bang that drum so loudly.
Why look all of this up? I don't really know. I think I'm of the mind that, while all portal shopping is a crapshoot, offensive line portaling feels especially treacherous. There are success stories, no doubt, but the list of super high-impact transfer offensive linemen seems short. I just don't know that you want to be in the portal looking for offensive linemen every offseason and I'd like to see Ohio State get off that particular carousel as soon as possible.
