By Micheal Germanese
The transfer portal has been one of the biggest changes to college football over the past few years. It has allowed players to move freely across college football to find playing time, better teams and even more lucrative NIL deals.
On the surface, it seems like a win-win for the players. But is there an underlying issue NFL teams see with the portal and how it affects the early rounds of the draft? Do teams prefer players who stay the course and stick it out with one team?
It’s easy to see why NFL team’s might shy away from players who transfer from school to school. The perception could be a player who stays the course can and has overcome obstacles, and honors their commitment. An NFL team might see transferring as a negative because playing in multiple systems over a short period could lead to inconsistencies in the player’s game. Learning multiple schemes from year to year might be viewed as detrimental to a player’s development.
Is there truth to NFL teams preferring players that stay the course? Does entering the transfer portal act as a deterrent for NFL teams to draft a player in the first or second rounds?
The Numbers
Looking solely at the numbers, NFL teams preferring players that stay with one school appears to be true. Over the past four drafts (from 2022-2025), 255 players were selected in the first two rounds. Of the 255 players, 58 had transferred at least once before and only five transferred three times. Making up 22 percent of the picks made in eight rounds gives the appearance that it’s tougher on players who have transferred before.
In the first round of 2022, four of the first 32 players drafted transferred and only one played for more than two teams. The number remained consistent in the first round over the next three drafts. In 2023, five transfers were drafted, 2024 had nine and 2025 had seven. Given the appearance again, it’s harder to be drafted in the first round if you have entered the transfer portal.
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The second round of the draft stays consistent from 2022-2024 with seven transfers taken in 2022, seven in 2023 and five in 2024. This year’s draft loses that consistency as the number jumps to 14. Tyler Shough, Demetrius Knight Jr. and Trey Amos were all taken in the second round and all three played for more than two teams. It’s the first time since 2024 that multiple players were taken that have played for three teams.
Round 2, No. 40 overall: @Saints select @LouisvilleFB QB Tyler Shough! #NFLDrafthttps://t.co/9tIFXsUbfB pic.twitter.com/UB17gPMIdH
— NFL Draft (@NFLDraft) April 25, 2025
In total, the 2025 draft had 21 players taken in the first two rounds that have transferred at some point in their college career. It’s the highest number in four years, yet accounts for a small percentage of players picked in the first two rounds at 33.87 percent.
Not Everything Is What It Appears
Despite the low percentages and the narrative that fans and some members of the media push, the truth is the transfer portal has little impact on a player being drafted. NFL teams have one objective—to win. They do it by finding the best players that fit the system they play in. Players who can be instant contributors at the NFL level will be drafted in the first two rounds regardless of whether they transferred.
The numbers are skewed because college teams’ main priority is keeping professional-level talent. Teams allocate large amounts of resources to keep players like Abdul Carter, Brock Bowers, Aidan Hutchinson or Emeka Egbuka. Teams from the SEC and Big Ten conferences make up the largest number of players drafted in the first two rounds of play. In this year’s draft, 26 of the 32 players selected in the first round came from those two conferences. It’s no surprise considering the SEC and Big Ten teams have the most resources to keep and obtain the best players.
The truth is, top NFL prospects hardly end up in the portal because the teams they play for now understand what they want and use the resources to do what’s necessary to keep them. Top college teams today are built around the constant recruitment of the players they want and the players they have, and they use the large amount of resources they must to keep and get players.
From Portal to Drafted
When it comes to players drafted that have transferred, two things are consistent: the transfer was either a move up or laterally in team quality, or it was a move up in competition. The only picks in the four years that don’t follow this trend are Kingsley Suamataia, who was picked No. 63 overall and moved from a top team in Oregon to BYU. Shough, who went No. 40 overall this year to New Orleans, again moved from Oregon to Texas Tech to Louisville.
THE FUTURE HAS ARRIVED 🔥
Cam Ward has been selected first overall by the Tennessee Titans in the 2025 NFL Draft 👏 pic.twitter.com/G0MUKECrB5
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) April 25, 2025
The 50 remaining picks all have similar traits. Jameson Williams left Ohio State for Alabama in 2021, a lateral move between two comparable teams. Williams would go No. 26 overall in the first round to the Detroit Lions in 2022. The second overall pick in 2022 Jayden Daniels left Arizona State for LSU, a move up in team quality. At LSU Daniels had the chance to throw the ball to two first-round picks in Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. This year’s first overall pick, Cam Ward, went from Incarnate Word to Washington State to Miami. Like Daniels, Ward transferring to Miami increased the talent surrounding him.
Transferring doesn’t affect being drafted because the people making the picks are expected to get the best player possible regardless of if they have transferred before. When the people making the selection get it wrong, it usually ends up costing them their jobs. It’s why they only care about a player’s ability to play the game. If you appear to play the game at a highest level, then your name will be called in the first 64 picks. That is unless your father is Deion Sanders.
