Hayes: Maalik Murphy, too? The QB transfer portal is wilder than ever … and the blue-bloods are circling
By Matt Hayes
Published:
The field is changing by the day, and a new twist has arrived in the offseason of quarterback moves to further shake the senses.
One that adds more intrigue to the most compelling and entertaining quarterback offseason ever: Maalik Murphy, the talented Texas backup who could’ve started for many Power 5 schools in 2023, has entered the transfer portal.
Suddenly, everyone in need of a quarterback is on notice — as are some teams that aren’t. Or aren’t yet.
At the top of the list is Georgia, which is still waiting for Carson Beck to decide between staying in school or leaving early for the NFL. If Beck leaves, Georgia is a perfect spot for Murphy.
But Florida State needs a quarterback. So does USC and Ohio State and Washington and Miami and LSU and … do I need to continue?
Never have so many blue-blood programs had this much uncertainty at the most important position on the field. By the end of spring practice — and after the 15-day spring portal closes — we’ll need a cheat card to decipher the moves.
Murphy won 2 games (BYU, Kansas State) this season as a starter for Texas — when starter Quinn Ewers missed time with an injury — and threw for 477 yards and 2 TDs. He’ll join a group of elite quarterbacks already in the portal — for 11 days now — who haven’t chosen a new school.
The reason is twofold: They want to take visits and make sure everything fits, and everyone in (and out of) the portal is waiting to see what Beck does.
An SEC coach told Saturday Down South earlier this week that if Beck leaves Georgia, there will be quarterbacks moving into the portal with an eye on playing for a championship-ready team with the most talented roster in the game.
One of those quarterbacks could’ve been Murphy, who won’t play for the Longhorns in the Playoff and will instead focus on finding a new school.
All of the aforementioned blue-bloods are going after a similar pool of quarterbacks, including Ward, Kansas State’s Will Howard, UCLA’s Dante Moore, Oregon State’s Aidan Chiles, and now Murphy.
Of all the blue-blood programs looking for quarterbacks, Georgia has the safest landing spot.
— Ohio State is transitioning and could lose multiple critical draft-eligible players to the NFL, including WRs Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, TE Cade Stover and RB TreVeyon Henderson.
— USC is a mess, and even coach Lincoln Riley’s track record of producing Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks can’t overshadow a team struggling to win games. Riley said late last month that 5-star backup Malachi Nelson hasn’t progressed this season like Nelson and the staff had hoped. Nelson threw 3 passes this season, all in the opener against San Jose State.
— Washington won 24 games in the past 2 seasons but will lose star QB Michael Penix Jr., and will head into the Big Ten in 2024 with a rebuilt offense. Austin Mack, a top-100 recruit in 2023, may not be ready. The Huskies are pursuing Rogers and Ward.
— FSU will lose the core of its team — a transfer-heavy starting depth chart that has been the backbone of 23 wins the past 2 seasons — and lean more on young players (and more transfers) in 2024. The Noles are pursuing former Clemson and Oregon State quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, among others.
— Georgia will lose critical players, too, but has the deepest roster in college football — one full of 4- and 5-star blue-chip recruits on both sides of the ball. The Dawgs are also the favorite for the top non-quarterback skill player in the portal: Florida RB Trevor Etienne.
How crazy could this offseason of change get? If Texas wins the national title — and that’s not out of the question — the team with the deepest quarterback room in college football at the end of the regular season could be looking for help in the portal.
Ewers said late last month after a win over Texas Tech that he was “not real sure” if he planned on returning to Texas in 2024. If Texas wins the national title, it will more than likely be because of a huge postseason from Ewers. Then what?
Ewers already is a projected Day 1 pick, and could move into the upper half of the 1st round with a big postseason run. If that scenario plays out and Ewers leaves Texas, the Longhorns are left with Arch Manning and Charles Wright, a Texas legacy who isn’t exactly high on the list of quarterbacks who could win SEC games.
In fact, his road to Texas only further underscores the instability of the position in college football, and how it will only increase. Ewers was the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2021 class, and initially committed to Texas in 2020 before finally signing with Ohio State.
But when Ewers initially committed to Texas in 2020, it set in motion of chain of events that saw Jalen Milroe decommit from Texas and commit to Alabama — and then-Texas coach Tom Herman scramble to find another quarterback for the 2021 class. That quarterback was Wright.
Now Texas is one memorable postseason run away from beginning its first season in the SEC with Manning — who didn’t play this fall until mop up work in the last game of the regular season, and has 5 career attempts — Wright and 3-star 2024 commit Trey Owens.
In other words, the Longhorns, too, could hit the portal to find help.
And that’s only the beginning of what will be a wild offseason at the most important position on the field.
Matt Hayes is a national college football writer for Saturday Down South. You can hear him daily from 12-3 p.m. on 1010XL in Jacksonville. Follow on Twitter @MattHayesCFB
