Dillon Gabriel, Nic Scourton, Jabbar Muhammad Among 2024 Transfer Portal All-Stars

The path for college athletes — or "student-athletes," as the NCAA would prefer them to be known for all kinds of nefarious reasons — to have the same rights any other employees would have has been a long and fractious journey. But one thing that has made a difference is the transfer portal, which eliminated in 2021 the requirement that players moving from one school to another had to sit out a year before they could participate in games with their new teams.

That's created a lot of confusion for fans and analysts, but it does give college athletes the rights pretty much everyone else has in America, which is nice. So, as we move into the 2024 college football season, here are the most prominent players who have moved through the portal this offseason.

Dillon Gabriel, QB, Oklahoma to Oregon

Gabriel's transfer from Oklahoma to Oregon marks his second overall — he also transferred to the Sooners from UCF before the 2022 season. In two years at Oklahoma, Gabriel totaled 496 completions on 751 attempts (a completion rate of 66.0%) for 6,828 yards (9.1 yards per attempt), 55 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and an NFL passer rating of 113.0.

Now that he's replacing Bo Nix as the epicenter of Oregon's offense, watch out for the deep pass. It's a specialty of Gabriel's, as the tape clearly shows. In 2023, he completed 30 passes of 20 or more air yards on just 60 targets for 1,200 yards, eight touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 114.6.

At an unofficial 6-foot-0 and 200 pounds, Gabriel isn't the biggest guy, but that doesn't seem to affect his passing abilities or his work as a runner. Last season, he toted the rock 85 times for 456 yards, 12 touchdowns, 16 forced missed tackles, and three runs of 15 or more yards — at times out of some highly interesting concepts.

Gabriel's Ducks debut happens on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. EST against Idaho.

Quinshon Judkins, RB, Ole Miss to Ohio State

Judkins was Ole Miss' leading rusher over the last two seasons, but he's decided to take his talents to the Buckeyes, and that will be a serious uptick for Ryan Day's offense. In 2023, Judkins ran 271 times for 1,159 yards, 15 touchdowns, an incredible 78 forced missed tackles, 15 runs of 15 or more yards, and epic tape against some of the NCAA's best defenders, like Penn State linebacker/edge-rusher Abdul Carter...

...except for the time that Judkins tried to block Carter, and got his block knocked off.

The 6-foot-0, 219-pound Judkins is equally adept in zone and gap schemes — he had 134 carries in each — and he's as explosive in a straight line as he is tough to deal with in power situations.

You can see Judkins' Ohio State debut against Akron at 3:30 p.m. EST this Saturday.

Nic Scourton, DL, Purdue to Texas A&M

A three-star recruit in high school, Scourton chose Purdue over Memphis and Colorado State, and over two years with the Boilermakers, put on 45 pounds to take his frame from 235 to 280. That extra weight did not affect his explosiveness to the quarterback in any way. Last season, Scourton totaled eight sacks and 42 total pressures while living on the edge of the defensive line, which is an interesting schematic construct for a player his size. One wonders if Texas A&M will move him around more often.

Scourton hails from Bryan, Texas, which is close to the Aggies' campus, and you can see him in his near-hometown debut against Notre Dame on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Caleb Downs, DB, Alabama to Ohio State

Alabama has been quite the factory for multi-position defensive backs over the last few seasons from Minkah Fitzpatrick to Brian Branch, and Caleb Downs was one of the last in the Nick Saban era for the Crimson Tide. In his one season with Saban, Downs had 287 snaps at free safety, 285 in the box, 268 in the slot, 28 at cornerback, and 20 on the defensive line. Downs allowed 33 catches on 51 targets for 453 yards, 255 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, two interceptions, three pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 89.7. He also had 85 solo tackles and 30 stops.

Saban's retirement opened a 30-day window for any of his former players to test the portal as opposed to staying put. It was thought Georgia would have a good shot at Downs given that it's his home state, but he chose instead to ride with the Buckeyes.

You can watch Downs in his Ohio State debut against Akron at 3:30 p.m. EST this Saturday.

Cam Ward, QB, Washington State to Miami

Ward wasn't a highly valued prospect out of high school, as his offense was thought to be less than conversant for the next level. So he started his college career at Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, before transferring to Washington State ahead of the 2022 season. The transition from the Lone Star Conference to the Pac-12 (RIP) proved to be seamless, as Ward completed 64.9% of his passes with 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions in his first season with the Cougars. Then, in 2023, Ward completed 324 of 486 passes (66.7%) for 3,723 yards (7.7 yards per attempt), 25 touchdowns, seven interceptions, and a passer rating of 100.7.

Ward transferred to Miami after the Pac-12's implosion left Washington State without a home, and he'll take an estimable deep passing game there. Last season, Ward completed 23 of 57 passes of 20 or more air yards for 725 yards, 10 touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 112.8.

Ward's 14 fumbles in 2023, and 23 overall in two seasons with the Cougars, may be the main thing in need of cleanup before he's able to reach his true NFL potential. But he did also run the ball 83 times for 384 yards and eight touchdowns in 2023.

Ward's debut with the Hurricanes comes against Florida on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST.

Trevor Etienne, RB, Florida to Georgia

After two seasons with the Florida Gators in which he had 1,475 yards and 14 touchdowns on 297 carries, adding 30 catches on 30 targets for 238 yards and a touchdown, Etienne — the younger brother of Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. — left Florida for Georgia, and had some parting shots on the way out .

"For me, it was like, does the good outweigh the bad?" Etienne said . "I've been with Florida for two years. I went through that whole process of rebuilding, it's kind of still rebuilding. I felt like there was a lot of uncertainty, so like, a lot of questions were unanswered. There's a lot of unknown going on. I felt like, I can stay here and do what I've been doing for another year or two, or bet on myself and take a chance somewhere else."

Betting on himself should be an easy task. Etienne is one of the NCAA's most explosive and tough-to-catch running backs, and his jump cuts in particular are preposterous.

Etienne forced 35 missed tackles on just 130 rushing attempts last season, and while he has some toughness, it's really about how elusive he is. Tennessee cornerback Kamal Hadden, selected in the sixth round of the 2024 draft by the Kansas City Chiefs, must have felt as if this was Groundhog Day.

You can see Etienne continue his knack of embarrassing potential tacklers when the Bulldogs take on Clemson at noon EST this Saturday.

Jabbar Muhammad, CB, Washington to Oregon

Former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer's move to Alabama to replace the aforementioned Nick Saban caused a bit of a Crimson Tide exodus, and it also caused one of DeBoer's best players who wasn't in the throes of the 2024 NFL draft to pick up for a new place as well. Jabbar Muhammad, the 2023 Oklahoma State-to-Washington transfer, moved down the West Coast, this time to Oregon. He's bringing some serious tools to the Ducks' defense.

Last season, Muhammad allowed 42 catches on 82 targets for 451 yards, 179 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, three interceptions, 12 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 60.6. Though he stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 183 pounds, it would be a mistake to term Muhammad as strictly a slot defender at any level; he lined up outside on 46% of his snaps last season, and no receiver could house him out there.

One thing I'd like to see Muhammad do more often is press opposing receivers — he had just four targets in press last season, but he was shutdown when it happened. He'll start shutting receivers down at his third school against Idaho at 7:30 p.m. EST on Saturday.

Isaiah Bond, WR, Alabama to Texas

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian may have lost Xavier Worthy as his primary speed target to the NFL, but cry no tears for the man. In response to that exodus, Sark landed former Alabama star Isaiah Bond as the epicenter of the Longhorns' vertical game, and Bond has absolutely everything required for that to happen without a hitch. Bond called the move a " business decision " after Saban's retirement, but for a smaller (5-foot-11, 180 pound) receiver, he doesn't make many of those on the field.

Overall last season, Bond caught 49 passes on 75 targets for 671 yards and four touchdowns, and he was dangerous as a deep threat with nine catches of 20 or more air yards on 18 targets for 302 yards and four touchdowns. And he's not just a straight-line guy; Bond is especially tough on opposing cornerbacks when he starts to bend his routes, and those opposing cornerbacks have to try and stay in phase against him. Good luck with that. Bond is also tough in traffic, and he ran a complete route tree at Alabama with all the deep hits (posts, overs, digs, seam routes) and explosive plays on hitches and screens at times.

Bond's secret weapon may be that he doesn't need a clean start off the line of scrimmage to bedazzle defenders — he can slow-play it at the beginning of the play, and then... zoom. Anywhere on the field.

Bond will begin his new journey against Colorado State at 3:30 p.m. EST this Saturday.

Related: 5 Most Intriguing Transfer QBs of the 2024 CFB Season

Related: Dillon Gabriel's Road to Oregon Marked by Faith, Family, Love of the Game, and Giving Back