Ranking college football’s 40 most impactful transfers over the past five years, from Joe Burrow to Caleb Williams

The transfer portal has gained popularity over the years and is now a resource for college football coaches to fill holes and revamp their rosters.

New coaches have used the portal to quickly turn around struggling programs. Established coaches have used it to fill holes quickly while high school prospects develop. Quarterbacks are taking advantage of the opportunity to change schools if they aren’t the starter at their previous school.

Over the past five years, thousands of players have entered the portal and made an impact for their new teams. We have seen players go from FCS to Power 5, change teams within their conference and even go from backup quarterbacks looking for a shot to Heisman winners.

We looked at the past five years and picked the top 40 college football transfers who either made an impact or are expected to make an impact at their new destinations.

1. QB Joe Burrow
From Ohio State to LSU

Burrow is probably the most high-profile transfer in the past five years, going from Ohio State to LSU in 2018. He played two seasons for the Tigers, leading them to the 2019 national championship after a Heisman campaign in which he threw for 5,671 yards, 60 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also won the Maxwell Award for college player of the year, the Walter Camp Player of the Year, the Manning Award and was an All-American.

2. QB Jalen Hurts
From Alabama to Oklahoma

Hurts had an interesting college career, as he won the starting job in the second game of his freshman season at Alabama. He threw for 2,780 yards and 23 touchdowns that season, also adding 13 touchdowns on the ground. In his sophomore season, Hurts threw for 2,081 yards and 17 touchdowns but was benched in the national championship game for Tua Tagovailoa, who went on to win the title for the Crimson Tide. Tagovailoa was then the starter the following season, leading to Hurts’ transfer to Oklahoma. Under coach Lincoln Riley, Hurts threw for 3,851 yards and 32 touchdowns and ran for 1,298 yards and 20 touchdowns, finishing as the Heisman runner-up to Burrow.

3. QB Justin Fields
From Georgia to Ohio State

Fields was in the same recruiting class as Trevor Lawrence, and the two quarterbacks were ranked Nos. 1 and 2 overall. Fields originally committed to Penn State before flipping to…