Familiar faces in new places: Here are the key transfer QBs to know this college football season

There are a lot of familiar quarterbacks in new places ahead of the 2024 college football season.

Playoff contenders like Ohio State, Oregon, Notre Dame and Florida State all added QBs in the offseason in an attempt to bolster their national title chances. And that’s just a fraction of the quarterback transfer activity that happened since the 2023 season ended. Here’s a brief look at the notable names who have found new teams for the upcoming season.

Wake Forest QB Hank Bachmeier (from Louisiana Tech)

Bachmeier spent one season at Louisiana Tech after four at Boise State. His best season came in 2021 with the Broncos when he threw for over 3,000 yards and completed 63% of his passes.

Michigan State QB Aidan Chiles (from Oregon State)

Chiles appeared in nine games for the Beavers in 2023 and comes to East Lansing after Michigan State hired Jonathan Smith away from Corvallis. Chiles is the favorite to start for the Spartans in 2024.

Baylor QB DeQuan Finn (from Toledo)

The 2023 MAC Player of the Year threw for 2,657 yards and 22 TDs a season ago while rushing for 563 yards and seven scores. He’ll be counted on heavily as Baylor looks to remake its offense following a disappointing 2023 season.

Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel (from Oklahoma)

Gabriel is one of the Heisman favorites entering the 2024 season as he plays his sixth college season at his third school. The former UCF QB spent two seasons at Oklahoma and threw for over 3,600 yards with 30 TDs in 2023. Can he have the same type of season that Bo Nix had last year on the way to setting the single-season completion percentage record?

Arkansas QB Taylen Green (from Boise State)

Green arrives from Boise State to run Bobby Petrino’s offense in the former Razorbacks coach’s return to Fayetteville as the team’s offensive coordinator. Green has work to do throwing the ball — his career completion percentage is just over 59% — but is a dynamic rusher. He’s averaged 6.3 yards per carry in hs career with 19 TDs.

Ohio State QB Will Howard (from Kansas State)

Howard is the heavy favorite to start for the Buckeyes in a season of immense expectations. He emerged as the Wildcats’ starter halfway through the 2022 season and played in 12 games in 2023 with 2,643 yards passing and 24 TDs to 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 351 yards and nine touchdowns a season ago.

Jefferson will play his sixth season of college football in Orlando for former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn. Jefferson was very good in 2021 and 2022 before he and the Arkansas offense regressed in 2023. Jefferson has completed 65% of his passes in his career with 67 TDs to just 18 interceptions. He’s also rushed for 1,876 yards and 21 TDs.

North Carolina QB Max Johnson (from Texas A&M)

The son of former NFL QB Brad Johnson is at his third school in five seasons. He’s the favorite to succeed Drake Maye with the Tar Heels after throwing for 1,452 yards and nine TDs in eight games with the Aggies in 2023. Johnson’s best season came in 2021 at LSU when he threw for 2,814 yards and 27 TDs.

Irish coach Marcus Freeman has landed a transfer QB from the ACC for the second time in two seasons. Leonard was limited to just seven games in 2023 because of injuries after a stellar 2022. Two seasons ago, Leonard completed 64% of his passes for 2,967 yards and 20 TDs. He also rushed for 699 yards and 13 scores.

USC QB Jayden Maiava (from UNLV)

Maiava ended up at USC after briefly transferring to Georgia after a stellar freshman season with the Rebels. He completed over 63% of his passes for 3,085 yards and threw 17 TDs to 10 interceptions. He’ll compete with Miller Moss to be the Trojans’ starter.

NC State QB Grayson McCall (from Coastal Carolina)

McCall was the maestro of Jamey Chadwell’s offense at Coastal Carolina. He was excellent from 2020 through 2022 as he threw 77 TDs to just eight interceptions and averaged over 10 yards an attempt during that span. A concussion on a nasty hit limited him to seven games in 2023 and his stats were down in his first year playing for coach Tim Beck.

Texas State QB Jordan McCloud (from James Madison)

McCloud is set to play for his fourth school in 2024 after a breakout season at James Madison in 2023. After stints at South Florida and Arizona, McCloud threw for 3,657 yards and 35 TDs in 2023 while also rushing for eight more scores.

Syracuse QB Kyle McCord (from Ohio State)

The Buckeyes’ 2023 starter transferred before the Cotton Bowl. McCord was 229 of 348 passing for 3,170 yards and 24 TDs. However, he struggled against Notre Dame before a late game-winning drive and threw two interceptions in Ohio State’s loss to Michigan.

North Texas QB Chandler Morris (from TCU)

The former Oklahoma and TCU QB moves north to Denton for 2024. Morris was Max Duggan’s backup in 2022 as TCU made the national title game but was limited to seven games in 2023 as the Horned Frogs struggled. Last season, Morris threw for 1,532 yards and 12 TDs.

Maryland QB MJ Morris (from NC State)

Morris spent two seasons at NC State and emerged as the Wolfpack’s starter in 2023, albeit briefly. Morris made the decision to redshirt the rest of the season after playing in four games and then transferred to Maryland over the offseason. He’s thrown for 1,367 yards and 14 TDs on 199 attempts across nine career games.

Duke QB Maalik Murphy (from Texas)

Murphy started in Quinn Ewers’ absence in 2023 before transferring ahead of the College Football Playoff. He’ll play for new Duke coach Manny Diaz and should take over for Leonard as Duke’s starting QB. Murphy was 40 of 71 passing for 477 yards and three TDs and three interceptions over seven appearances a season ago.

The former five-star recruit appeared in just one game as a freshman in 2023 for the Trojans. He’s the presumptive starter in Boise as the Broncos are one of the favorites to be the Group of Five representative in the expanded College Football Playoff.

Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia (from New Mexico State)

Pavia had a breakout 2023 season as New Mexico State made the Conference USA title game and went to a bowl. Pavia threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 26 TDs while rushing 176 times for 923 yards and seven TDs. He had three passing TDs in the Aggies’ 31-10 win at Auburn in November.

Petras played in 12 games in each of the past two seasons at Iowa and perhaps he’ll get a chance to flourish in a different offensive system. Petras threw for 5,199 yards on 825 career attempts at Iowa with just 24 TDs and 19 interceptions.

Washington QB Will Rogers (from Mississippi State)

Rogers threw for over 12,315 yards in four seasons at Mississippi State and is the SEC’s all-time leader in career passing yards. He transferred to Washington while coach Kalen DeBoer was still there and is staying under new coach Jedd Fisch. Rogers should fit much better in Fisch’s offense than he did in Mississippi State’s in 2023. As the Bulldogs transitioned away from Mike Leach’s Air Raid system, Rogers completed less than 60% of his passes for the first time in his career.

Rourke arrives at Indiana after five seasons at Ohio. He suffered a torn ACL near the end of a great 2022 season where he completed 69% of his passes for 3,257 yards and 25 TDs. Rourke played in 11 games in 2023, but his stats were down from the previous season. He should be fully healthy in 2024.

TCU QB Ken Seals (from Vanderbilt)

Seals played in 27 games over three seasons at Vanderbilt. He has a career completion percentage of 60.5% and has thrown for 4,292 yards with 28 TDs and 22 interceptions.

Mississippi State QB Blake Shapen (from Baylor)

Shane appeared in 27 games over three seasons for the Bears. He’s completed 64% of his passes for 5,574 yards and 36 TDs. He should start for the Bulldogs and new coach Jeff Lebby.

Louisville QB Tyler Shough (from Texas Tech)

The 2024 season will be Shough’s seventh year of college football at his third school. After three seasons at Oregon, Shough spent three seasons in Lubbock. Injuries have derailed his career so far; Shough has never played in more than seven games in a single season. He has a career completion percentage of 63% and has averaged 8.2 yards per attempt.

Florida State QB DJ Uiagalelei (from Oregon State)

The former Clemson QB is back in the ACC after one season at Oregon State. Though his completion percentage declined from his final season at Clemson, Uiagalelei had the best season of his career with 2,638 yards passing and he averaged 8.4 yards an attempt. He’s tasked with succeeding Jordan Travis in Tallahassee and getting FSU to the College Football Playoff for the second time.

Van Dyke had a breakout redshirt freshman season with the Hurricanes in 2021 with 2,931 passing yards and 25 TD passes in 10 games. He failed to live up to that season in 2022 and 2023, however, and threw 12 interceptions to 19 TD passes in 2023. He’s looking to rejuvenate his career In Madison.

With Carson Beck entrenched as Georgia’s starter, Vandagriff moved to another SEC school in the offseason. The former four-star recruit threw the first 18 passes of his career in 2023 and tossed two touchdowns.

Miami QB Cam Ward (from Washington State)

Ward had an uncertain offseason. He was mentioned as a possible transfer at numerous schools before declaring for the NFL Draft. He eventually ended up with the Hurricanes, where he’ll be counted on heavily as the Hurricanes try to meet expectations in Mario Cristobal’s third season. In two seasons at Washington State, Ward threw for nearly 7,000 yards and 48 TDs.