There has been an influx of player transfer news in college football this month, so many that it can be challenging to keep everything straight. In this article, I will cover all of those big-name QB transfers and give my thoughts on how this affects their Devy value headed into 2024 and beyond. I also plan to make a follow-up article covering the skill-position transfers, so be on the lookout! We have quite a few names to discuss at quarterback, so let’s jump right in and talk some college football!
Dillon Gabriel | Oregon
(Transfer from Oklahoma)
Dillon Gabriel had another successful year at Oklahoma in 2023, leading the Sooners to a 10-2 record and finishing with 3,660 pass yards, 373 rush yards, 42 total touchdowns, and just six interceptions. This was Gabriel’s fifth season in college, spending 2019-21 at UCF before transferring to Oklahoma for the 2022-23 seasons. With the 2024 draft class looking fairly strong, Gabriel elected to use his last year of eligibility and transfer to Oregon, the Pac-12 powerhouse that helped revive Bo Nix‘s college career and exponentially increased his NFL draft stock.
Regarding Devy value, I don’t have confidence Gabriel will ever turn into a long-term NFL starter, but this 2025 QB class looks much weaker, so I think this was a good move for him. If Dillon can put together a Heisman-worthy season as Nix did, he could absolutely hear his name called in Round 1 of the 2025 NFL draft. Oregon should be set for quite some time at QB, as they have another promising transfer waiting to take over the reins, which we’ll talk about next.
Dante Moore | Oregon
(Transfer from UCLA)
I was a little surprised to hear freshman QB Dante Moore was transferring to Oregon as well, but after some thought, I think it makes sense and will be the best thing for Moore’s development in the long run. He gets to sit behind a quality veteran QB who has been doing this for five years now. Moore may have been thrust into the spotlight too early at UCLA, and getting a full year to sit behind Gabriel in Eugene should help him mature and come in more prepared as their 2025 starter.
On3 covered HC Chip Kelly’s reaction to Moore’s transfer decision here, who took the news in stride and said this is now the nature of the position, especially considering factors like NIL. Kelly said Garbers outplayed Moore later in the season and earned that starting role, which surely played into Moore’s decision.
Let’s not forget Dante was the top-ranked player in Michigan and the QB2 overall coming out of high school, according to ESPN, so we shouldn’t let the news of Moore being a backup in 2024 deter us from acquiring him in Devy. He still has a chance to declare in 2025 if he has a breakout junior season, and I think he’s still a Top 3 QB in his class.
Kyle McCord | Syracuse
(Transfer from Ohio State)
McCord’s junior season was a mixed bag. He put up some respectable numbers (3,170 pass yards and 24 TDs), but the bar is set higher than that in Columbus. McCord doesn’t appear to have any of the characteristics of an elite college quarterback, which is what fans have come to expect with C.J. Stroud, Justin Fields, Dwayne Haskins, and more. The Buckeyes finished the season with just one loss, but that loss came to rival Michigan in the Big Ten championship, effectively removing Ohio State from playoff eligibility. McCord made a few mistakes in that game, and while it wasn’t all on him, the quarterback will always get the brunt of the criticism.
Transferring to Syracuse gets McCord out of the spotlight, and he’ll be able to play against some less dominant defenses in 2024. While I think McCord will be suiting up on Sundays in the future, I don’t think he has the skillset to legitimately compete for a starting job at the next level. In my opinion, he doesn’t have the arm strength, mobility, or processing abilities to succeed. That said, this is still a nice pickup for Syracuse, and I expect them to be much more competitive in the ACC next year.
Riley Leonard | Notre Dame
(Transfer from Duke)
Leonard had a disappointing junior campaign, only appearing in seven contests due to injuries. First, Leonard suffered an ankle injury against the team he transferred to, then a toe injury about a month later against Louisville, sidelining him for the remainder of the year. The Blue Devils had a promising start to the season, starting 4-0, including a blowout win over Clemson. But things fell apart quickly after that, due partially to Leonard’s injury troubles.
Riley has never put up gaudy passing numbers, but he’s been a dual-threat guy his whole career, totaling over 1,200 rush yards and 19 touchdowns in his three years in Durham. His numbers, playing style, and build are all quite similar to Daniel Jones (which may not be a good thing). I’m interested in seeing how Riley fares with the Irish. He holds some decent Devy value as he has that rushing upside, but I would love to see him develop further as a passer in 2024.
Grayson McCall | NC State
(Transfer from Coastal Carolina)
I mentioned Grayson in my article on freshman WR standout Kevin Concepcion (you can view that here), so I won’t go into too much detail. McCall was a 5-year player and 4-year starter for the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina. He had tons of success there, totaling over 11k yards and 106 touchdowns during his time and earning Sun Belt Player of the Year honors three separate times.
While I think McCall will have a solid 2024 season at NC State and further boost Concepcion’s Devy value, I don’t think he holds any real Devy value himself. He’s not a great processor and hasn’t played against the same level of competition that the others on this list have. I think he’s a good college quarterback, but nothing more. I do expect McCall to lead NC State to another solid season in 2024, though.
Tyler Van Dyke | Wisconsin
(Transfer from Miami)
Van Dyke really hasn’t progressed as everyone expected him to after a quite impressive redshirt freshman season in 2021. Through 11 games in 2023, Tyler finished with 2,703 yards, 19 pass TDs, and 11 INTs. All three of these categories were worse than his freshman-year finishes. However, some of this can be attributed to his lack of surrounding cast.
I do think Van Dyke has the skill set to have a chance at starting at the NFL level down the road. He’s a good processor and has an NFL-quality arm; he just needs to improve his decision-making. I’ll be interested to see how different this Wisconsin offense looks in 2024 and whether or not Tyler can raise his draft stock into the top tier of 2025 draft-eligible QBs. The Badgers finished the 2023 regular season at 7-5, and the passing game was almost non-existent, as they relied more heavily on their defense and running game. Van Dyke won’t have Braelon Allen next season, as he plans to enter the draft. HC Luke Fickell may rely much more on the passing attack with his transfer quarterback. Tyler needs a big 2024 season to make himself NFL-relevant heading into 2025.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you got some valuable information you can use for your fantasy team! If you’d like additional insight into Dynasty Football news and analysis, please follow me on Twitter at @jim_DFF. Until next time, keep grinding out there, DFF family! #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding
