Football: top transfer quarterback targets

TCU Football will be a real player in the quarterback transfer marketplace for the first time since college football has opened up the portal for free and unlimited annual transfers. As QB Josh Hoover seeks greener pastures after four seasons in Fort Worth, the Horned Frogs will require reinforcements to fill the depth chart for 2026. Ken Seals is set to lead TCU into the Alamo Bowl, but his eligibility expires after that game, leaving freshman Adam Schobel as the presumptive leader of the offense going into the offseason. Head Coach Sonny Dykes has expressed confidence in Schobel, but has confirmed he and new Offensive Coordinator Gordon Sammis will seek an experienced starting signal caller to compete for the QB1 job ahead of the Week Zero season opener vs. North Carolina in Dublin. Which QBs will be the priority targets for the Horned Frogs when the transfer portal opens on January 2?

P4 Powerhouses

• DJ Lagway, Florida (Willis, TX)
• Rocco Becht, Iowa State (Zephyrhills, FL)
• Sam Leavitt, Arizona State (Portland, OR)
• Brendan Sorsby, Cincinnati (Lake Dallas, TX)
• Dylan Raiola, Nebraska (Buford, GA)

If TCU was going to play in these waters, it likely would’ve just put whatever cash was necessary on the table to keep Josh Hoover in Fort Worth. The reported price tag for for this tier of portal QB is expected to be cost prohibitive unless the player is really targeting a specific destination (e.g. Sorsby to Texas Tech, Becht to Penn State). Additionally, don’t expect the QBs at the top of the rankings to be interested in any sort of competition for a QB1 role; although each may feel confident in a camp battle with Schobel, would be a surprise for any to sign on to anything less than a certain starting role. Of this group, the most likely target for TCU would be Lagway; the former 5-star is a Texas native and was offered by Sonny Dykes in the Class of 2024. Heavy is the crown for such a highly-touted prospect, but failure to live up to outsized expectations at Florida had Lagway and his coach Billy Napier shipped out of town. The TD-INT ratio (28-23) is rough for the former Gator, but he completed 62% of his passes for 4,179 yards through two seasons in Gainesville.

Perhaps a dark horse candidate for the Frogs, Dylan Raiola was also offered by TCU as a 5-star 2024 prospect, and similar to Lagway failed to live up to lofty “program savior”hype heaped upon him at Nebraska, finishing his Cornhuskers career with a 13-9 record despite completing 69% of passes with 31 TDs and 17 INTs.

G5 Giants

• Byrum Brown, South Florida (Rolesville, NC)
• Drew Mestemaker, North Texas (Austin, TX)
• Katin Houser, East Carolina (Bellflower, CA)
• Colton Joseph, Old Dominion (Newport Beach, CA)
• Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, Colorado State (Aledo, TX)
• Jaylen Raynor, Arkansas State (Kernersville, NC)
• Alonza Barnett, James Madison (Greensboro, NC)

There is likely a future Horned Frog in this group. Byrum Brown is the splashy name, but is seen as likely to follow his coach Alex Golesh from USF to Auburn. There has been much discussion around TCU as a potential landing spot for Drew Mestemaker, who came out of nowhere for a breakout campaign leading the Mean Green to the American Championship game. The American Offensive Player of the Year won the Bulsworth Award as the nation’s best former walk-on, leading the nation with 4,129 passing yards with 31 pass touchdowns. Mestemaker could certainly follow former UNT coach Eric Morris to Oklahoma State, but is reportedly fully exploring his options and is likely to have many suitors.

The next set of G5 transfers may be perceived as a step down, but have an open mind as these guys have proven to be ready to take the step into P4 competition and could become a perfect fit for what the Horned Frogs want out of a portal QB. Houser spent two seasons (including a redshirt year) at Michigan State before transferring to ECU where he’s spent the last two seasons. The former four-star prospect had a standout campaign in 2025, leading the Pirates to an 8-4 record and a bid to the Military Bowl, posting 3,300 pass yards and 19 TDs with just 6 interceptions.

Colton Joseph may be my personal favorite from the entire transfer portal list, bringing a true dual threat that has been lacking at TCU during the Josh Hoover era. Joseph led the Monarchs to a 9-3 regular season record, including a win at Virginia Tech and a narrow loss at CFP No. 1 Indiana. Earning the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year, Joseph’s stats are eye-popping: his 83.9 rush yards per game ranks as 4th in the Sun Belt and 36th nationally – not among QBs, among all players. Adding to his rushing prowess, Joseph also completed 60% of his passes for 2,624 yards, 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Watch enough of his ODU film and you might just get a whiff of Max Duggan vibes, both in explosive plays and the chaotic unknown with each snap.

FCS Phenoms

• Jaden Craig, Harvard (Montclair, NJ)
• Braden Atkinson, Mercer (Rolesville, NC)
• EJ Colson, Incarnate Word (Byron, GA)
• Cardell Williams, Sacramento State (Houston, TX)

Since the widespread opening of the transfer portal, quarterbacks from the FCS ranks have had a better freedom of movement into FBS opportunities, with many becoming major stars across college football and even into the NFL. Big stars like Cam Ward (Incarnate Word) and Shedeur Sanders (Jackson State) have made the leap to great success while others like Max Brosmer (New Hampshire) and Matt Sluka (Holy Cross) have proven capable FBS QBs. Searching for the next QB to jump into the next level, FBS programs are certainly willing to explore the talents of FCS gun slingers and there are some strong candidates in 2025. Harvard’s Jaden Craig is the headliner of the group, leading the Crimson into the FCS Playoffs as a unanimous All-Ivy First Team selection. Through three seasons at Harvard, Craig has thrown 52 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions with another 11 touchdowns on the ground. As a fellow New Jersey native, perhaps new TCU Offensive Coordinator Gordon Sammis would have a strong connection with the dual-threat QB; Sammis alos coached at the FCS level and in the Ivy League prior to his time at UConn.

4-Star Bounce-Back

• Jadyn Davis, Michigan (Charlotte, NC)
• Kenny Minchey, Notre Dame (Hendersonville, TN)
• Bryce Baker, North Carolina (Kernersville, NC)
• Antwann Hill, Memphis (Warner Robins, GA)
• Trey Owens, Texas (Cypress, TX)
• Colin Hurley, LSU (Jacksonville, FL)
• Jake Merklinger, Tennessee (Savannah, GA)
• Isaac Wilson, Utah (Draper, UT)
• Nicco Marchiol, West Virginia (Chandler, AZ)
• Alex Manske, Iowa State (Algona, IA)

This group of portal quarterbacks are likely to fall into the bucket of QB1 opportunities at G5s or lower-level P4s, though, if willing, could push for QB battles at mid-to-high tier programs nationally. Recruiting pedigree will continue to carry them far despite perhaps limited opportunities at their original programs. This profile does not really fit what Sonny Dykes claims to be seeking from the portal, but many of these options would present very strong depth and a legitimate camp battle with Schobel for the TCU starter job. Minchey & Merklinger are the highest profile of this group while Wilson & Marchiol have seen the most playing time.

Another Change of Scenery

• Aidan Chiles, Michigan State/Oregon State (Downey, CA)
• Beau Pribula, Missouri/Penn State (York, PA)
• Ashton Daniels, Auburn/Stanford (Buford, GA)
• Max Johnson, UNC/LSU/Texas A&M (Watkinsville, GA)
• Garret Rangel, Virginia Tech/Oklahoma State (Frisco, TX)
• Marcos Davila, Nebraska/Purdue (Midland, TX)
• Air Noland, South Carolina/Ohio State (Fairburn, GA)
• Dylan Lonergan, Boston College/Alabama (Snellville, GA)
• Tayven Jackson, UCF/Indiana/Tennessee (Greenwood, IN)
• Luke Kromenhoek, Mississippi State/ Florida State (Savannah, GA)
• JJ Kohl, Appalachian State/Iowa State (Ankeny, IA)
• AJ Swann, Appalachian State/LSU/Vanderbilt (Canton, GA)
• Anthony Colandrea, UNLV/Virginia (St. Petersburg, FL)

If a QB is looking for a new home every season it likely means he was not good enough to warrant dedication of sufficient NIL funds to keep him on campus at any one location. The multiple transfers may result from frequent coaching turnover, a player gettering recruited over, a failure to meet expectations, an injury setback, or other misalignment of goals between the player and program. There are plenty of fish in the sea and maybe these serial transferrers are just looking for that one perfect fit, and perhaps the Horned Frogs can be that home.

Many of these have shown flashes of greatness when given the opportunity. This category is led by Dylan Lonergan and Aidan Chiles who played against each other in a terrific September battle with Chiles and the Spartans emerging with the victory in 2OT. The QB pair combined for 621 passing yards and 9 total touchdowns with zero interceptions. Neither player could reach those highs the rest of the season as both teams fell well short of bowl eligibility. However, these are both cases where we can lean on the idea that Wins are not a QB stat as each would continue to put up impressive games against some of their toughest competition. Lonergan’s next-best game would come against Top 25 Georgia Tech, throwing for 362 yards and 2 scores with no interceptions in a two-point loss thanks to a Yellow Jackets field goal in the final seconds; Chiles had elite games versus Top 25 USC (243 total yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs) and CFP No. 1 Indiana (291 total yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs). Each did play with an elite wide receiver, with Boston College’s Lewis Bond declaring for the NFL Draft while MSU’s Nick Marsh has entered the transfer portal and is considered the top WR currently on the market, but either would be a strong addition to TCU’s 2026 QB room.