Max OlsonSep 25, 2025, 07:00 AM ETCloseCovers the Big 12Joined ESPN in 2012Graduate of the University of NebraskaFollow on X
Tulane Green Wave vs. Ole Miss Rebels: Full Highlights (1:05)Tulane Green Wave vs. Ole Miss Rebels: Full Highlights (1:05)
The best players available in college football’s transfer portal are making millions these days, and the programs assembling top portal recruiting classes are the ones willing to spend the most. But make no mistake: Talent evaluation is still very much the name of the game during portal season.
When thousands of players become available at the same time, there will always be good players who get overlooked and under-recruited. Four full weeks into this college football season, it’s time to celebrate the September surprises.
This is not exactly an early all-transfer team; we’ll get to that later in the season. Consider the following more like the all-sleeper team.
None of these players made our offseason rankings of the top 100 transfers for 2025, but they’ve been impressive and productive through nonconference play. Some brought serious experience to their new programs while others are finally getting a shot to start. This team includes hidden gems from the Group of 5, FCS and even Division II as well as Power 4 players.
Cook rushed for a team-high 460 yards and nine TDs last season at TCU but opted to enter the portal in search of a better opportunity. He has already surpassed that rushing total through four games at Jacksonville State, leading Conference USA with 537 rushing yards and four scores on 6 yards per carry. He’s also leading all FBS backs with 22 rushes of 10-plus yards and has forced 31 missed tackles, tied for second most in the FBS, per ESPN Research.
After a Freshman All-America-caliber season at the FCS level in 2024, the San Jose, California, native made the move up to join the Spartans and is proving he can produce at the highest level. The speedy 5-foot-9, 174-pound slot receiver is leading the Mountain West with 379 receiving yards on 22 catches. He debuted with a 189-yard performance against Central Michigan and followed that up with seven catches against Texas’ defense.
Jones, a native of Montreal, began his career at Maine and became an FCS All-American as a fullback at Montana State last season. The 6-foot-3, 242-pound senior just keeps getting open for big plays in the Razorbacks’ offense. Jones has caught only five passes so far this season but has turned them into gains of 41, 33, 21, 40 and 62 yards with two TDs, and he ranks fourth among SEC tight ends with 197 receiving yards.
Trost, a seventh-year senior, went from FCS Morgan State to Indiana State to Wake Forest before moving to the SEC for his final season of eligibility. He’s holding down the starting job at right tackle for the Tigers, is Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded offensive lineman in the SEC and has helped pave the way for the No. 5 rushing offense in the country.
Benson left Indiana during its coaching change at the end of the 2023 season and joined Colorado to help rebuild the Buffs’ line. He missed time because of injury and earned four starts, primarily at right guard, in his lone season in Boulder. Now he’s back with the Hoosiers and off to a nice start as their starting right tackle, with one pressure and zero sacks allowed through their 4-0 start.
After playing in a reserve role for three seasons, Giudice earned five starts at center last year at Michigan. He moved on to Missouri as a grad transfer for his final season of eligibility and has fared well as the Tigers’ starter at left guard, with only one blown block through four games, according to ESPN Research. Giudice shared SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors after the Tigers’ win over Kansas and has asserted himself as a leader for this unit.
The former Alabama transfer went through a rough season with the Seminoles in 2024 but has turned things around as a sixth-year senior at Syracuse. Ferguson has played nearly every snap this season as the starter at left guard and held up well against Clemson’s D-line on Saturday, allowing just one pressure in the 34-21 upset win on the road.
Vanderbilt had to reload along the offensive line this offseason with three new starters arriving via the transfer portal. White, a two-year starter and All-CUSA performer at Liberty, has brought invaluable experience to this unit and has been one of the SEC’s top centers for the No. 18 Commodores with zero blown blocks or sacks allowed during their 4-0 start, according to ESPN Research.
Burnett was on track to be a starter at Louisiana Tech in 2023 until a season-ending lower leg injury, and he produced five career sacks over four seasons in the program. The 6-foot, 250-pound pass rusher has already matched that total through his first four games at Tulsa. Burnett is tied for second in FBS in sacks, leads the American Conference with seven tackles for loss and had three more pressures in Tulsa’s upset win at Oklahoma State last week.
After starting three games last season at Washington State in a reserve role, Laufau has been one of the more impressive defensive tackles in the country through three games. He’s a 6-foot-3, 300-pound force who can really move, stop the run and pass rush. Laufau has generated some big plays early on with nine stops, four pressures, a sack against Colorado and a forced fumble against Rice.
It’s been a rough start to the season in Madison, but Reiger has been a revelation. The former walk-on and Louisville transfer missed the 2024 season with a knee injury and had to sit out spring practice with the Badgers as well. But the 6-foot-5, 248-pound edge rusher has bounced back nicely as a sixth-year senior with 10 tackles, 11 pressures and two sacks through four games.
After two productive seasons at ETSU, Coney followed Tre Lamb and his coaching staff to Tulsa and has emerged as college football’s leading tackler with 49 stops through his first four games at the FBS level. The 6-foot-2, 240-pound junior has produced 13 or more tackles in three games and racked up nine solo stops and a sack in the win over Oklahoma State.
Nestor transferred from Iowa to Minnesota this spring after playing primarily on special teams during his two seasons with the Hawkeyes. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound corner proved he was ready to be a starter and has allowed 36 passing yards on five catches through three games, per ESPN Research. Nestor opened the Gophers’ 66-0 win over Northwestern State with a 29-yard pick-six on the first play of the game and grabbed another later in the first half.
Cal always does such a good job of mining the transfer portal for under-recruited talent, and Masses looks like its next great get. The two-year starter at FIU has come in and made a big splash right away with three interceptions and an FBS-leading seven pass breakups. Masses picked off a pass in each of his first three games for a Bears defense that is also getting good early returns from South Florida transfer cornerback Brent Austin.
The No. 1 starting safety in Pro Football Focus’ grading this season is Fitzgerald, a former junior college transfer who started 16 games over his two seasons at NC State. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound senior snagged a 39-yard pick-six in his Trojans debut and intercepted two more in the Big Ten opener against Purdue, both times in the red zone to stop scoring opportunities. The No. 21 Trojans will need plenty more of that timely playmaking with three consecutive top-25 opponents up next.
McLaughlin, an All-Big Sky performer at the FCS level at Northern Arizona, earned a starting role with the Huskies and was already playing well before he took his game to another level in the Apple Cup on Saturday. He delivered an interception and 27-yard return on Washington State’s opening drive, then put the game away for good in the fourth quarter with a 47-yard pick-six. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound junior is also the Huskies’ second-leading tackler with 16 stops.
Last season, Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham became so frustrated with the Sun Devils’ kicking issues that he announced he would hold open tryouts. This year, Gomez has more than calmed those concerns. Gomez is 9-for-10 on field goal attempts through four games and has made all 12 extra-point tries. The former All-MAC performer got to be the hero in the Sun Devils’ 27-24 road win at Baylor on Saturday, converting his fourth field goal of the night from 43 yards out with time expiring.
The Australia native joined the Buffaloes after two seasons at Kansas and has been a difference-maker on special teams, averaging 45.8 yards per punt with five dropped inside the 10-yard line, tied for most among all Power 4 punters.
Ross has been everything the Cavaliers hoped as an all-purpose playmaker through his first four games. He’s their second-leading receiver with 252 yards and one touchdown on 19 catches, and he has gained 98 yards on punt returns and another 176 on kickoffs, including a 100-yard touchdown return against Coastal Carolina in which he went untouched. The former UConn and James Madison transfer ranks seventh in the FBS in total return yards.
Back in December, ESPN ranked the top 25 quarterbacks available in the winter portal window. Castellanos was No. 16 on the list after a tough season under Bill O’Brien at Boston College that ended with the QB getting benched and leaving the program. Now that he has found a perfect fit at Florida State, that ranking seems way too low. The 5-foot-11, 201-pound senior is off to an excellent start in Tallahassee, ranking third nationally in QBR (91.6) and second in total yards per play (11.3) while leading his Seminoles squad back into the AP top 10 after their 2-10 slide a year ago. He talked a big game going into the season opener against Alabama and backed it up with a dazzling performance in a stunning 31-17 upset. Three games in, the Seminoles have the No. 1 scoring offense in the country at 58 points per game and an opportunity to become the clear ACC title front-runner if they can take down Virginia (Friday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN) and No. 2 Miami over these next two weeks.