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It’s official.
With Dabo Swinney’s long-awaited and begrudging acceptance, everyone in the FBS other than the service academies has finally entered college football’s transfer portal era.
Clemson’s 3 free-agent additions – Purdue edge rusher Will Heldt, Alabama linebacker Jeremiah Alexander and Southeast Missouri State receiver Tristan Smith – are among the 2,200-plus players who applied to transfer during the 2023-24 cycle, according to NCAA.com. With more to come once the portal reopens for 2 more weeks at the end of spring practice.
There are still a few marquee names lingering in the portal, especially from teams recently eliminated from the Playoff. But for the most part, there’s a calm in the free-agent storm now that the first of the NCAA’s 2 transfer windows is closed.
That makes this a good time to take stock of the 10 most impactful additions to ACC teams:
10. Jeremiah Johnson, S, NC State
The Wolfpack lost their entire starting secondary, literally, when defensive coordinator Tony Gibson left to take the head coaching job at Marshall. That gave Dave Doeren an opportunity to fashion a new unit around to suit the style of new coordinator DJ Eliot. Of the 3 transfer defensive backs Doeren has plucked (so far), Johnson is the most likely candidate to make a major impact. He’s a 2-year starter from Georgia State, where he recorded 164 tackles, 7 pass breakups and 2 interceptions while earning All-Sun Belt Conference recognition in 2023 and ‘24.
9. Dean Patterson, WR, Georgia Tech
The former Florida International receiver fills the Yellow Jackets’ most pressing portal priority after the loss of leading pass-catcher Eric Singleton to Auburn. While there’s a significant difference between the 2 physically – Patterson is 3 inches taller and about 10 pounds heavier than Singleton – their production in 2024 was almost identical. The 6-2, 202-pound Patterson caught 50 passes for 685 yards and 7 touchdowns, averaging 13.7 yards per reception. Singleton pulled in 56 passes for 754 yards and 3 scores, with a 13.5-yard average. He will immediately become a top target for returning quarterback Haynes King.
8. Devin Neal, S, Virginia
Neal was a third-team All-ACC selection in 2023 after making 74 tackles and ranking 2nd in the ACC with 4 interceptions for Louisville. When things didn’t go well for him early in 2024, he made the calculated gamble of redshirting to preserve his final season of eligibility. And he’s found what would seem to be the perfect landing spot at Virginia. For himself and the Cavaliers. Neal figures to be the ideal fit for a defense in need of a proven playmaker to replace 2-time first-team All-ACC safety Jonas Sanker.
7. Pryce Yates, Edge, North Carolina
You’ve heard the saying “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em?” Yates has added a variation to it by joining the Tar Heels and their new coach Bill Belichick only a few weeks after helping UConn beat them in the Fenway Bowl. The 6-4, 265-pound senior was the Defensive MVP in the Huskies’ Dec. 28 victory in Boston. Although he missed the first half of the season with an injury, Yates still managed to amass 21 tackles, 6.5 TFLs and 3.5 sacks. His totals for his 3 seasons at UConn include 108 tackles, 12.5 sacks and 3 forced fumbles.
6. Miller Moss, QB, Louisville
Jeff Brohm hit the jackpot with the first 2 transfer quarterbacks since returning to coach his alma mater in 2023. His latest addition figures to be just as good a fit in the Cardinals’ offense as Jack Plummer and Tyler Shough were. Moss is a former 4-star prospect ranked by ESPN as the No. 3 quarterback on the free-agent market. He’s coming off a 2024 season in which he threw for 2,555 yards and 18 touchdowns with 9 interceptions at Southern Cal. Although things didn’t go well with the Trojans under Lincoln Riley, Moss has the talent to thrive given a fresh start and the guidance of Brohm, a former star quarterback.
5. Darian Mensah, QB, Duke
It didn’t take long for Manny Diaz to find a suitable replacement for Maalik Murphy after last season’s record-setting starter transferred out of the program. Within 2 days, the Blue Devils’ coach got a commitment from Mensah, the top-rated passer in the portal according to ESPN. The former Tulane quarterback didn’t come cheap. It’s been reported that Duke had to shell out $8 million over the next 2 seasons to lock up his services. But if Mensah gives the Blue Devils the kind of production he had last season – 2,723 yards, 22 touchdowns and an American Athletic Conference-best .659 percentage in leading his team to the conference title game – he’ll be worth the investment.
4. CJ Daniels, WR, Miami
A quarterback, regardless of how much talent he has, is only as good as his receivers. Just ask Clemson’s Cade Klubnik about that. So while Miami’s addition of Carson Beck is significant – as noted on this list – picking up Daniels from LSU is equally as important. The 6-2, 205-pound combination of size and speed, who spent his first 4 seasons at Liberty, caught 42 passes for 480 yards with no drops last year as a complementary receiver for the Tigers. He’ll have a much more featured role in a Hurricanes’ offense that is losing top receivers Xavier Restrepo, Jacolby George and Sam Brown.
3. Duce Robinson/Squirrel White, WR, Florida State
As much as Miami needs to replenish its receivers room, rival FSU has an even greater need in order to improve a stagnant offense that ranked 130th out of 133 FBS programs at just 15.4 points per game. Robinson is a big receiver at 6-6, 229 pounds and is as much of a pro prospect as an outfielder in baseball as he is in football. He averaged 17.2 yards on his 23 catches with 7 touchdowns last season at Southern Cal. White is smaller at 5-10, 167. But he’s lightning quick as a slot receiver and punt returner who made 24 career starts over 3 seasons at Tennessee, recording 131 catches for 1,665 yards and 6 touchdowns.
2. Will Heldt, Edge, Clemson
Heldt’s arrival would be a big deal even if he didn’t figure so prominently into the Tigers’ defensive line rotation next season simply because of the change in philosophy his signing signals for Dabo Swinney’s program. He is 1 of 3 players to date in Swinney’s first-ever transfer class. The No. 3 defensive end in the portal, according to ESPN’s rankings, Heldt was brought in to bolster a pass rush that was underwhelming other than sacks leader TJ Parker. Along with a healthy Peter Woods, he’ll help strengthen that area after finishing with 56 tackles, 10 TFLs, 5 sacks and 26 pressures last season for Purdue.
1. Carson Beck, Miami
Beck is much different in style than the quarterback he’s being brought in to replace, Cam Ward. But the assignment is the same. Be the guy that finally gets the Hurricanes over the hump and delivers their first ACC championship. The Georgia transfer certainly has the pedigree to pull it off. He was a backup on 2 straight national championship teams with the Bulldogs. And his record as a starter over the past 2 seasons is 24-3 with a pair of trips to the SEC Championship Game. If fully recovered from the elbow surgery that kept him out of this year’s Playoff, there’s no reason he shouldn’t make a smooth transition into Shannon Dawson’s high-powered offensive scheme. Maybe even following Ward’s footsteps to New York as a Heisman finalist.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
