The portal is officially closed.

Well, let’s clear that up. While nobody can enter the transfer portal until after spring ball, there are still guys in the portal who need a home. Anyone who already entered the portal before the window closed on Wednesday can still join a team.

Consider that my way of saying this will be a fluid discussion of “most important transfer portal additions.”

This is every SEC team’s most important transfer portal edition (so far):

Alabama — CJ Dippre, TE (Maryland)

Whoever replaces Bryce Young is going to need a safety blanket. Young had Cameron Latu and Jahmyr Gibbs in that role. Both are gone, but the good news is that Dippre can be that guy. He had 30 catches for 314 yards with 3 touchdowns as a second-year player. Of course, he also made plays like this:

Dippre might not be getting Brock Bowers comps, but he was No. 18 in PFF receiving grade among Power 5 tight ends and he decided between Alabama and Ohio State. There was clearly a market for his skill set. He should be more than capable of replacing Latu.

Arkansas — Al Walcott, S (Baylor)

Arkansas losing Jalen Catalon was brutal in many ways. The smash-mouth safety represented the Hogs at SEC Media Days and would’ve been a lock to start as a preseason All-SEC guy, but he left for Texas after suffering his second consecutive season-ending injury. Naturally, Sam Pittman dipped into the Lone Star State to get his replacement. Walcott chose to come to Fayetteville, where he’ll spend his final year of eligibility playing for an Arkansas defense with question marks galore. The second-team All-Big 12 selection will be an upgrade in coverage from the Catalon replacements in Arkansas’ secondary. He played in Dave Aranda’s “Star” position, which meant he’d line up all over the place as a hybrid player. His snap count shows just how versatile he was:

  • Slot CB: 420
  • Box: 137
  • D-Line: 97
  • Free safety: 62
  • Wide CB: 6

Walcott is a physical player who loves attacking ball-carriers. That’s why he had 10 TFLs in 2022. Arkansas needs him to stay healthy and plug a few holes for a new-look defense.

Auburn — Gunner Britton, OT (Western Kentucky)

Hugh Freeze knew that he needed major help in the trenches on both sides of the football. That was really the biggest on-field issue during Bryan Harsin’s time at Auburn. Freeze might need a couple cycles to get back to the Auburn standard in that department, but adding someone like Britton will help. The second-team All-Conference USA selection protected the nation’s leading passer, Austin Reed. In that high-powered passing attack, WKU allowed just 14 sacks all year. Britton ranked No. 15 among FBS tackles with a PFF pass-blocking grade of 84.0, and he had the 5th best win rate among FBS tackles at 87.0. The 6th-year player figures to be an immediate starter at one of the tackle spots.

Florida — Graham Mertz, QB (Wisconsin)

I said Mertz is the “most important” transfer because that Florida quarterback room was desperate for depth, and Mertz projects as a slight upgrade from Jack Miller, who was the team’s lone scholarship quarterback for the bowl game. Mind you, that was before the Jaden Rashada mess blew up. Mertz is a former U.S. Army All-American Bowl MVP. He’s also a guy who started for 3 years at Wisconsin and he never threw for more than 2,136 yards. He doesn’t add anything with his legs and for a guy who played in a conservative offense, he turned the football over too much (1 interception for every 29.7 passes). He and Miller will battle for the starting job. No matter what, Billy Napier has another project after Anthony Richardson was 1-and-done in his offense.

Georgia — Dominic Lovett, WR (Mizzou)

I don’t think people outside of Mizzou realize how good Lovett was. Here are the nuts and bolts:

  • PFF’s No. 1 receiver in SEC
  • PFF’s No. 3 receiver in Power 5
  • T-No. 3 in SEC in 30-yard catches (9)
  • No. 5 in SEC in receiving yards (846)
  • No. 7 in SEC in receptions/game (4.7)

Lovett operated primarily out of the slot (84.8%) and proved to be the most consistent pass-catcher for a Mizzou team that often struggled to move the chains through the air. That wasn’t the case with Lovett’s new team, Georgia. Lovett will get to operate alongside fellow SEC transfer Rara Thomas, Ladd McConkey and Brock Bowers. Todd Monken didn’t really operate with a primary slot receiver in 2022. It was more of a job by committee among the wideouts with McConkey (177 slot snaps), Kearis Jackson (203 slot snaps) and Dominick Blaylock (129 slot snaps) sharing those duties. Of course, Bowers played twice as many slot snaps (410) as any UGA receiver, but Jackson is out of eligibility and Blaylock hit the portal, which means Lovett will step into that role immediately. The rich get richer? Absolutely.

Kentucky — Devin Leary, QB (NC State)

For my money, Leary was the No. 2 quarterback in the transfer portal behind only Sam Hartman. Hence, why I have Leary as my No. 2 quarterback in the SEC entering 2023. In other words, yes, I believe in the NC State transfer. The preseason ACC Player of the Year had his 2022 come short because of a season-ending injury, but this is someone who had 35 touchdown passes and just 5 picks in his last full season.

Leary might actually be a better fit to operate behind a subpar offensive line than Will Levis, who had a pro-style skill set but would hold onto the ball too long. With Liam Coen back in Lexington, Leary has 3 established pass-catchers, along with 1,000-yard rusher Ray Davis, who transferred from Vandy. UK’s offense should take a step forward after a disappointing 2022.

LSU — Omar Speights, ILB (Oregon State)

LSU got some huge news Thursday night when it landed a commitment from the All-Pac 12 linebacker. Welcome to the new age of the portal, wherein an all-conference Power 5 player can transfer to a bigger, more established program (never mind the fact that Oregon State just finished ahead of LSU in the final AP Poll and it had its best season since the Chad Johnson days). Speights was a 4-year starter for the Beavers, and he’ll have a chance to step right into LSU’s defense and presumably work alongside freshman sensation Harold Perkins. Speights had a team-high 83 tackles, 8 TFLs and 4 hurries. He’ll give LSU a key presence against the run while Perkins and Maason Smith give the Tigers an elite pass-rushing duo.

Mizzou — Theo Wease, WR (Oklahoma)

After losing the aforementioned Lovett to Georgia, Mizzou desperately needed an experienced outside weapon. Wease should check that box. Lining up almost exclusively out wide, he had over 1,000 career receiving yards and 10 touchdowns in his 3 years of action at Oklahoma. Wease should fit in well as the big-bodied target to complement the electric Luther Burden and Cooper, who had career highs in snaps (67), catches (7) and receiving yards (72) in the bowl game. Lovett, however, was really the only deep threat. Wease, who had more catches of 40 yards (3) than Mizzou’s entire returning receiving room combined, should give Brady Cook a much-needed downfield threat.

MSU — Kobi Albert, DB (Kentucky)

The former 4-star defensive back left Kentucky after 1 season to provide some needed help in Zach Arnett’s secondary, which will undergo a significant facelift in 2023. Albert appeared in 10 games in a reserve role, though he had just 3 tackles and 1 tackle for loss. Albert was the No. 20 athlete in the 2022 class, and he had a bunch of SEC offers both as a recruit and as a transfer. The Fairfield, Ala., native will have a chance to earn a regular role for an MSU defense that ranked No. 34 nationally in yards/play allowed.

Ole Miss — Spencer Sanders, QB (Oklahoma State)

Talk about a portal 1-2 punch. We got news in the middle of this past week that Lane Kiffin added 2 coveted Power 5 transfers at quarterback to compete with Jaxson Dart. Yes, Dart was the lone scholarship quarterback on the roster and it was assumed that Ole Miss would need to add some depth at the position. Ergo, adding Walker Howard, who spent 1 year as a redshirt as a highly touted young signal-caller at LSU. But adding Sanders was telling. Sanders was a 4-year starter at Oklahoma State, and he was an All-Big 12 quarterback in 2021. He’s got 1 year of eligibility left, and one would think he didn’t go to a place where he thought he’d lose the job. Go figure that he transferred to a place with an incumbent starter in Dart and a promising second-year player in Howard. Ole Miss has the most interesting quarterback battle in America this spring, though the versatile, experienced Sanders has a leg up on the competition.

South Carolina — Trey Knox, TE (Arkansas)

Once upon a time, Knox and Treylon Burks were expected to be Arkansas’ elite 1-2 punch at receiver. Burks took off, but Knox had issues getting on the field, and ultimately, he made the switch into a valuable tight end. He elected to reunite with former Arkansas receivers coach Justin Stepp at South Carolina, who just lost Jaheim Bell to the transfer portal and would love if Knox could fill that void. I don’t think that means Knox will be asked to fill in as an emergency tailback, but you get the point. He’ll have a chance to become a threat between the hashes for Spencer Rattler coming off a 5-touchdown season.

Tennessee — Dont’e Thornton, WR (Oregon)

Tennessee has some nice weapons returning with Bru McCoy and Squirrel White, but considering what they have to replace in Biletnikoff Award winner Jalin Hyatt and the invaluable Cedric Tillman, it was fair to assume that Josh Heupel would look to the portal for some more help at receiver. He got that in Thornton. He didn’t become a primary weapon during his 2 seasons at Oregon, though one would think the 6-5 wideout should have more opportunities to be a downfield threat in Knoxville. He had 4 grabs of 40 yards, which was tied for 6th in the Pac-12. He can line up in the slot and out wide, which is a plus in the Heupel scheme. Joe Milton is going to put plenty of air under his targets to Thornton.

Texas A&M — Tony Grimes, CB (UNC)

The former 5-star recruit should provide an immediate impact for an A&M secondary that had 4 players hit the portal, including former 5-star corner Denver Harris. Grimes was an honorable mention All-ACC player in 2021, and he started all 13 games this past season in Gene Chizik’s defense. Grimes will step in and be a starting outside corner for DJ Durkin’s defense, which needs some help in the secondary after losing those 4 transfers, the versatile Antonio Johnson and top outside corner Jaylon Jones, who declared early for the NFL Draft. Grimes and Tyreek Chappell should be put in some better spots with an improved A&M pass rush in 2023.

Vanderbilt — Aeneas DiCosmo, LB (Stanford)

Well, as of this writing, DiCosmo won this by default. Vandy has only added 1 player via the transfer portal so far. Fittingly, it’s a Stanford linebacker. DiCosmo broke into the regular rotation in his 4th year, which saw him record 13 tackles and 1.5 sacks on 401 defensive snaps. The Commodores desperately need some help getting to the quarterback. They didn’t have a single player record more than 3 sacks, and they finished 120th in FBS with just 17 sacks on the season. A veteran like DiCosmo should be able to provide some sort of pass-rushing presence for Clark Lea’s defense.