2019 Is The Year of the Transfer Quarterback In College Football

In January of this year, quarterback Jalen Hurts made headlines with his decision to transfer from Alabama to Oklahoma for his final year of eligibility. Hurts was a two-year starter for the Crimson Tide before losing his job to Tua Tagovailoa in the second half of the 2017 National Championship, and, instead of spending his last season backing up Tagovailoa, Hurts decided to take his talents elsewhere. While traditionalists and die-hard fans likely expected Hurts to stay loyal to his school, it was clear even before the season began that Hurts' decision to transfer was the right call, at least from a monetary perspective. Playing in Lincoln Riley's offense would guarantee Hurts at minimum a moderate amount of success, and, more importantly, national exposure before the 2020 NFL draft. Now, after nine weeks of the season, it is clear that he made the right choice.

Hurts, now with the second-best odds to win the Heisman, has thrown for 2,469 yards and 21 touchdowns to just three interceptions. He leads the country in both passer rating and yards per attempt, and, to top it all off, has 13 rushing touchdowns. Had he stayed at Alabama, he would have been playing in garbage time against subpar opponents. Instead, he may well become the third Oklahoma quarterback in three years to win the Heisman.

But Hurts is not the only 2019 Heisman hopeful playing for his second school. In fact, three of the top four players favorited to win the Heisman are transfers, two changing schools just this year. LSU's Joe Burrow, the current frontrunner, began his career at Ohio State before transferring in 2018 and is now undefeated with a shot at the national title and Heisman. Like Hurts, Ohio State's Justin Fields transferred this spring after spending 2018 on the bench, playing behind Jake Fromm at Georgia. Fields came into college on par with Clemson's Trevor Lawrence, and though it took him longer to get there, he is now a 10/1 favorite to win the Heisman. Interestingly, the two previous winners of the trophy, Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield, were transfers as well, but having this many exceptional transfer quarterbacks this late in the season is unusual. However, it does have implications reaching far beyond just on-field success.

California recently passed the Fair Pay to Play Act, allowing student-athletes to profit off their name and likeness. While this is a major step towards the fair compensation of players, the NCAA continues to drag its feet. So, until college football players are compensated for their labor, the sport is effectively an extended job interview. Players showcase their abilities to potential employers weekly all in the hopes of landing one of the most competitive jobs in the world. For the lucky 1.6 percent that eventually do make it to the NFL, careers are remarkably short and only the best sign contracts lucrative enough to last beyond their playing days. An example: while every player in the first round of the 2019 NFL draft signed contracts upwards of $10 million, no player in the second round signed for more than $8 million.

Each snap in college, then, is incredibly valuable, especially for quarterbacks. Most teams play just one quarterback and play at most 15 games. A quarterback playing on a team that goes to the national championship every year will play in just 60 games throughout his career, and most will not see action in nearly that many. Many, like Kyler Murray, get just a season to prove themselves. While every player certainly wants to win the starting position at the school they sign with, the reality is that snaps are limited. For someone like Jalen Hurts, a legitimately great college quarterback that happened to play on a team with a generational talent in Tagovailoa, in order to maximize his exposure before entering the draft, transferring is far and away the best option.

To be clear, most players will not experience immediate success upon transferring. Not every quarterback is as talented as Burrow, Hurts, or Fields, and certainly most players will not end up in as favorable a situation as those three. But for those select few, the ability to showcase their abilities is remarkably valuable. Now, the value of this may change if the NCAA begins to compensate athletes. There may be less incentive to transfer if backups are being compensated at their current schools. However, given the vast financial implications of being drafted and playing the NFL, and, perhaps just as importantly, the success of transfers in recent years, this is a trend that is almost certain to continue.