Transfer portal rankings

Portal rankings usually count recruiting stars. These count production: the wins above replacement each transfer put up the season before he moved, summed for every FBS team's arrivals and departures, and what each one has done since.

2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021

Moves made for the 2021 season, valued by the 2020 season; 2021 WAR for the full season beside it.

Biggest moves

The 25 transfers with the most WAR in 2020, at their old school, and their WAR in 2021 after the move. A dash means no FBS snaps that season.

#	Player	Move	2020	2021
1	Asher O'HaraQB · 3★Middle Tennessee → Sacramento State	Middle Tennessee → Sacramento State	1.52	0.10
2	Charlie BrewerPRO · 3★Baylor → Utah	Baylor → Utah	0.93	0.19
3	Hendon HookerPRO · 3★Virginia Tech → Tennessee	Virginia Tech → Tennessee	0.88	2.14
4	Tyler ShoughPRO · 3★Oregon → Texas Tech	Oregon → Texas Tech	0.76	0.45
5	Sam NoyerQB · 3★Colorado → Oregon State	Colorado → Oregon State	0.61	0.10
6	Logan BonnerQB · 3★Arkansas State → Utah State	Arkansas State → Utah State	0.59	2.12
7	Terry WilsonQB · 3★Kentucky → New Mexico	Kentucky → New Mexico	0.57	0.37
8	Carlos DavisRB · 3★South Alabama → undecided	South Alabama → undecided	0.57	-
9	Tyrrell PigromeQB · 3★Western Kentucky → undecided	Western Kentucky → undecided	0.54	-
10	Eric GrayRB · 4★Tennessee → Oklahoma	Tennessee → Oklahoma	0.53	0.26
11	Jarrett GuarantanoDUAL · 3★Tennessee → Washington State	Tennessee → Washington State	0.47	0.17
12	Jack AbrahamQB · 3★Southern Miss → Mississippi State	Southern Miss → Mississippi State	0.44	-
13	Stephon HudersonRB · 2★Tulane → McNeese	Tulane → McNeese	0.44	-
14	David BaileyRB · 3★Boston College → Colorado State	Boston College → Colorado State	0.41	0.57
15	Jake BentleyPRO · 3★Utah → South Alabama	Utah → South Alabama	0.39	1.41
16	Jason BeanQB · 3★North Texas → Kansas	North Texas → Kansas	0.37	0.51
17	Keyon Henry-BrooksRB · 3★Vanderbilt → Louisiana Tech	Vanderbilt → Louisiana Tech	0.37	0.01
18	Rocky LombardiQB · 3★Michigan State → Northern Illinois	Michigan State → Northern Illinois	0.37	1.72
19	Kenneth WalkerRB · 3★Wake Forest → Michigan State	Wake Forest → Michigan State	0.35	1.14
20	Will LevisQB · 3★Penn State → Kentucky	Penn State → Kentucky	0.34	1.69
21	Jamale CarothersRB · 3★Navy → Western Kentucky	Navy → Western Kentucky	0.34	-
22	Ross BowersQB · 3★Northern Illinois → undecided	Northern Illinois → undecided	0.34	-
23	Joe Milton IIIQB · 3★Michigan → Tennessee	Michigan → Tennessee	0.33	0.05
24	Ty ChandlerRB · 4★Tennessee → North Carolina	Tennessee → North Carolina	0.32	0.65
25	Bailey HockmanQB · 3★NC State → Middle Tennessee	NC State → Middle Tennessee	0.31	0.08

Every FBS team, 2021

130

In is the arrivals' WAR in 2020 at their old schools, Out the departures' WAR here that season, and Net the difference. The 2021 columns are what the same players have done since.

#	Team	Moves in / out	In	Out	Net	In, 2021	Out, 2021
1	Oregon State	6 / 12	0.81	0.00	+0.81	0.35	0.50
2	Mississippi State	8 / 22	0.74	0.07	+0.67	0.44	1.69
3	Texas Tech	13 / 16	0.95	0.30	+0.64	0.56	0.09
4	Utah	8 / 16	1.15	0.52	+0.62	0.52	1.75
5	Louisiana Tech	9 / 11	0.61	0.03	+0.58	1.67	0.00
5	Washington State	7 / 24	0.59	0.02	+0.58	0.33	0.07
7	Utah State	13 / 14	0.70	0.18	+0.52	2.81	0.91
8	USC	9 / 9	0.69	0.31	+0.38	0.88	0.45
9	Oklahoma	11 / 18	0.62	0.28	+0.34	0.42	3.42
9	New Mexico	4 / 14	0.57	0.23	+0.35	0.37	0.02
11	North Carolina	1 / 21	0.32	0.00	+0.32	0.65	0.08
12	Kansas	13 / 27	0.37	0.07	+0.31	0.59	0.36
13	Colorado State	5 / 10	0.47	0.21	+0.27	0.59	0.01
14	SMU	14 / 9	0.26	0.00	+0.26	2.92	0.00
15	Georgia Tech	10 / 19	0.26	0.03	+0.22	0.20	0.00
16	Washington	4 / 10	0.20	0.00	+0.20	0.03	0.78
17	Michigan State	14 / 21	0.56	0.37	+0.19	1.14	1.72
18	UCF	10 / 17	0.18	0.00	+0.18	0.44	1.04
19	Arizona	14 / 15	0.36	0.20	+0.16	0.40	0.21
19	Auburn	9 / 20	0.30	0.14	+0.16	0.53	0.02
19	Illinois	10 / 17	0.18	0.03	+0.15	0.46	0.02
19	Indiana	8 / 10	0.15	0.00	+0.15	0.32	0.00
23	Louisville	6 / 14	0.14	0.00	+0.14	0.00	0.00
24	Rice	3 / 5	0.12	0.00	+0.12	0.65	0.00
25	App State	7 / 4	0.30	0.20	+0.10	1.25	0.47
25	Buffalo	3 / 17	0.10	0.00	+0.10	0.16	0.08
27	Florida Atlantic	7 / 8	0.09	0.00	+0.09	1.80	0.00
28	UCLA	8 / 7	0.08	0.00	+0.08	1.11	0.00
28	Ball State	3 / 9	0.07	0.00	+0.07	0.23	0.00
30	Troy	9 / 9	0.25	0.19	+0.06	0.70	0.11
30	Kent State	7 / 14	0.07	0.01	+0.06	0.17	0.07
30	Pittsburgh	4 / 6	0.07	0.00	+0.07	0.03	0.00
33	Arizona State	7 / 18	0.05	0.00	+0.05	0.04	0.00
34	Boise State	5 / 6	0.07	0.03	+0.04	0.27	0.00
34	Texas State	19 / 15	0.04	0.00	+0.04	0.00	0.00
36	Northern Illinois	2 / 17	0.37	0.34	+0.03	1.72	0.00
36	Purdue	9 / 8	0.04	0.01	+0.03	0.13	0.06
36	Ole Miss	4 / 9	0.03	0.00	+0.03	0.08	0.00
39	Memphis	12 / 25	0.20	0.18	+0.02	0.28	0.20
39	Oklahoma State	5 / 8	0.07	0.05	+0.02	0.79	0.03
39	UTSA	9 / 6	0.06	0.04	+0.02	0.01	0.00
39	Minnesota	7 / 12	0.03	0.01	+0.02	0.07	0.01
39	Old Dominion	8 / 14	0.02	0.00	+0.02	0.77	0.00
44	Virginia	6 / 7	0.01	0.00	+0.01	0.03	0.00
44	UAB	5 / 7	0.01	0.00	+0.01	0.00	0.00
44	Louisiana	9 / 7	0.01	0.00	+0.01	0.00	0.00
47	South Florida	10 / 13	0.19	0.21	−0.01	0.38	0.67
47	Georgia	3 / 13	0.03	0.04	−0.01	0.00	0.23
47	San José State	9 / 7	0.00	0.00	+0.00	0.19	0.00
47	New Mexico State	2 / 10	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
47	Massachusetts	11 / 21	0.00	0.01	−0.01	0.00	0.00
47	Alabama	4 / 9	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.36	0.01
47	Clemson	0 / 8	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.56
47	Army	0 / 2	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
47	Fresno State	8 / 13	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.06	0.00
47	BYU	5 / 2	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.26	0.00
47	Tulsa	7 / 6	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.11	0.00
47	Air Force	0 / 2	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
47	Iowa State	2 / 7	0.00	0.01	−0.01	0.09	0.16
47	Kansas State	8 / 15	0.00	0.01	−0.01	0.01	0.18
47	UConn	3 / 7	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.15
47	Wyoming	0 / 2	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
47	Maryland	1 / 15	0.00	0.01	−0.01	0.00	0.00
47	Texas A&M	1 / 14	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.06
47	Georgia State	3 / 7	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.36	0.00
47	Ohio State	2 / 5	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.08	0.36
47	Florida International	5 / 0	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
47	UNLV	6 / 13	0.00	0.00	−0.00	0.00	0.01
47	Iowa	1 / 10	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.41
47	Western Michigan	2 / 6	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
47	Central Michigan	4 / 14	0.00	0.01	−0.01	0.25	0.00
47	Florida	7 / 9	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
47	Notre Dame	3 / 17	0.00	0.01	−0.01	2.35	0.00
47	Stanford	0 / 2	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
47	Nevada	6 / 12	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.08
47	Miami (OH)	2 / 8	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.18	0.00
47	Toledo	5 / 3	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.08	0.00
78	Miami	4 / 5	0.04	0.07	−0.03	0.24	1.35
78	Marshall	6 / 13	0.00	0.04	−0.04	0.00	0.11
78	Charlotte	11 / 6	0.00	0.04	−0.04	0.41	0.00
78	Ohio	1 / 5	0.00	0.04	−0.04	0.00	0.00
78	UL Monroe	12 / 13	0.00	0.04	−0.04	0.28	0.00
83	Akron	5 / 14	0.00	0.05	−0.05	0.00	0.00
84	Houston	9 / 11	0.08	0.14	−0.07	0.10	0.01
84	Coastal Carolina	4 / 11	0.00	0.07	−0.07	0.00	0.00
84	Missouri	6 / 21	0.00	0.07	−0.07	0.00	0.55
84	Syracuse	3 / 15	0.00	0.07	−0.07	1.54	0.17
84	California	4 / 9	0.00	0.06	−0.06	0.00	0.37
84	East Carolina	12 / 13	0.00	0.07	−0.07	0.02	0.00
84	Cincinnati	3 / 10	0.00	0.07	−0.07	0.00	1.82
91	Vanderbilt	5 / 20	0.28	0.37	−0.09	0.11	0.01
91	Nebraska	5 / 17	0.16	0.25	−0.09	0.25	0.26
91	Arkansas	6 / 15	0.00	0.09	−0.09	0.07	0.15
94	UTEP	2 / 9	0.00	0.09	−0.09	0.00	0.00
95	Georgia Southern	4 / 14	0.15	0.25	−0.10	0.06	0.00
95	Eastern Michigan	6 / 12	0.00	0.11	−0.11	1.86	0.16
97	Wisconsin	2 / 8	0.00	0.13	−0.13	0.56	2.42
97	Bowling Green	6 / 14	0.00	0.13	−0.13	0.14	0.16
99	Kentucky	7 / 10	0.47	0.61	−0.14	1.94	0.37
99	Florida State	12 / 16	0.20	0.35	−0.15	0.46	0.76
101	Tennessee	10 / 37	1.27	1.43	−0.16	2.33	1.36
101	San Diego State	2 / 9	0.00	0.16	−0.16	0.06	0.00
103	Michigan	5 / 20	0.24	0.41	−0.17	0.00	1.28
103	South Carolina	9 / 11	0.03	0.20	−0.17	0.44	0.67
103	Rutgers	6 / 15	0.00	0.17	−0.17	0.00	0.46
106	West Virginia	2 / 23	0.00	0.18	−0.18	0.00	1.48
107	Penn State	6 / 14	0.15	0.34	−0.19	0.10	1.67
108	Liberty	6 / 9	0.00	0.21	−0.21	0.22	0.00
109	Texas	7 / 15	0.00	0.24	−0.24	0.01	0.45
110	TCU	6 / 22	0.01	0.25	−0.25	0.34	0.23
111	Boston College	6 / 14	0.13	0.41	−0.29	0.15	0.57
112	Hawai'i	6 / 10	0.00	0.30	−0.30	0.00	0.12
112	Duke	7 / 8	0.00	0.30	−0.30	0.00	1.25
114	NC State	4 / 10	0.00	0.31	−0.31	0.00	0.08
115	Wake Forest	6 / 11	0.03	0.35	−0.33	0.21	1.14
116	Navy	0 / 7	0.00	0.34	−0.34	0.00	0.00
117	South Alabama	13 / 8	0.43	0.80	−0.38	1.42	0.00
118	Northwestern	6 / 7	0.11	0.49	−0.38	0.71	0.64
119	LSU	2 / 14	0.00	0.44	−0.44	0.00	0.58
120	Western Kentucky	23 / 23	0.49	0.96	−0.47	4.01	0.11
121	Temple	11 / 18	0.03	0.58	−0.55	0.03	0.11
122	Arkansas State	17 / 8	0.11	0.70	−0.59	0.88	2.31
123	Tulane	5 / 8	0.10	0.70	−0.60	0.00	0.06
124	Colorado	6 / 13	0.07	0.70	−0.63	0.00	0.47
125	Southern Miss	7 / 10	0.00	0.64	−0.64	0.00	0.00
126	North Texas	10 / 18	0.00	0.69	−0.69	0.00	0.94
127	Oregon	0 / 12	0.00	0.82	−0.82	0.00	0.88
128	Virginia Tech	7 / 19	0.00	0.94	−0.94	0.00	2.14
129	Baylor	5 / 7	0.00	1.08	−1.08	0.12	0.29
130	Middle Tennessee	5 / 9	0.31	1.64	−1.33	0.08	0.10

How it works

Each player's value is YardLine's wins above replacement: every play's expected points credited to the players involved, adjusted for the opponent, against a typical backup. Only quarterbacks, skill players and specialists have a number of their own, because public play-by-play doesn't say which linemen or defenders were on the field. So a team that rebuilt its offensive line through the portal gets no credit for it here; the move counts show every position.

A move is valued by the season before it, so a team's portal class can be ranked as soon as the window closes, and the season after shows how it played out. WAR counts only snaps between FBS teams while the game was in doubt, so a transfer up from the FCS shows a dash before the move and adds nothing to his new team's In.

CFBD's portal list names players but doesn't identify them, so each entry is matched to the rosters of both schools. That ties about 19 in 20 skill-position transfers to a player; the rest count in the moves but add no WAR. The list updates every Tuesday.