Roster management in college football can no longer be limited to the high school ranks. One class graduates and a new one comes in. It’s a quaint, old fashioned perspective but it’s no longer realistic. Today, roster management means having a handle on the transfer market: outgoing transfers, incoming transfers, graduate transfers and every transfer in between.

As impactful and predictive as recruiting classes can be, they don’t tell the full story. 247Sports has entered the transfer portal and we have begun giving the transfer market the attention it commands. With the inaugural release of the 247Sports Transfer Rankings (click HERE to see the rankings in the portal), we will attempt to measure the impact of newcomers beyond the high school and junior college ranks. In this release, a grade of 100 is the highest, but we drop off quickly into the low-90s.

It’s a tricky exercise. Transfers happen for a reason. Players transfer up for a better challenge, transfer down for more playing time, transfer out for a better environment, transfer in for personal reasons or any number of other scenarios. In some cases, we’re grading a young player with almost no experience. In others, we’re grading an experienced player that has had success but is on the decline.

We're releasing our initial Top 50 — with the caveat that the fluidity of the portal can change things by the hour. But at time of publication, the below list stands as our current rankings. There are plenty of other transfer prospects we've assigned ratings to; they just fall outside of the top-50 cutoff. Scroll through the portal for a more in-depth look.

The transfer rankings will not impact the current 2019 team recruiting rankings.

The rankings are headlined by Justin Fields. We ranked him a five-star out of high school and he’s done nothing to dampen that level of expectation. After failing to beat out an unflappable starter in Jake Fromm at Georgia, Fields has the potential to emerge as a transformational talent at Ohio State. Jalen Hurts fits in right behind Fields at No. 2 as the rare prospect with significant success transferring from one powerhouse to another. At No. 3 Jaelan Phillips, a former No. 1 player out of high school, remains a rare talent, if only he can stay healthy. Bubba Bolden at No. 4 was pacing to become the four-star level talent we thought he was out of high school before off-field issues derailed him at USC. Bolden is a great addition for Miami. Meanwhile, offensive lineman Jonah Jackson at No. 5 was perhaps the only bright spot for Rutgers offensively in 2018. More rankings notes:

A three-year starter and a first-team All-ACC offensive tackle, Georgia Tech expat Parker Braun may be the most decorated player on the list and he is also one of the highest ranked at No. 7.

Sources out of Buffalo indicate that KJ Osborn was expected to be one of the top skill players in the MAC next fall and could have an NFL future in front of him after a stop at Miami. He checks in at No. 11.

One of the more talented players on the list is Illinois offensive tackle Larry Boyd. He started as a true freshman for the Illini before non-football problems knocked him out of his sophomore season. He’s ranked No. 14.

Nowhere is the transfer trend stronger than at the quarterback position and that is evidenced in a lot of talented passers inside the Top 30. In addition to Hurts and Fields,

Tate Martell (Ohio State to Miami) and Kelly Bryant (Clemson to Missouri) made the four-star cut. Ball State transfer and likely Vanderbilt starter Riley Neal is on the cusp of a fourth star followed quickly by Shawn Robinson, Shane Buechele and Jack Tuttle.

Other names of note on the list include an All-Ivy League Harvard transfer heading to Vanderbilt in Justice Shelton-Mosley, a former five-star in USC defender Oluwole Betiku and a Pioneer League transplant out of Butler with a chance to start at Miami in Tommy Kennedy.

We did not include Bru McCoy in the rankings, because he's going to be counted toward Texas' 2019 recruiting haul.



INITIAL TOP 50

1: Justin Fields, QB (100)

Transferred to Ohio State from Georgia

2: Jalen Hurts, QB (97)

Transferred to Oklahoma from Alabama

3: Jaelan Phillips, OLB (96)

Transferring from UCLA

4: Bubba Bolden, S (95)

Transferred from USC to Miami

5: Jonah Jackson, OG (95)

Transferring from Rutgers

6: Aubrey Solomon, DT (95)

Transfer to Tennessee from Michigan

7: Parker Braun, OG (95)

Transferring from Georgia Tech

8: Luke Ford, TE (93)

Transferred from Georgia to Illinois

9: Darrion Daniels, DT (92)

Transferred from Oklahoma State to Nebraska

10: Tate Martell, QB (92)

Transferred from Ohio State to Miami

11: K.J. Osborn, WR (91)

Transferred from Buffalo to Miami

12: Jonathan Greenard, OLB (91)

Transferred from Louisville to Florida

13: Addison Gumbs, DE (90)

Transferred from Oklahoma to Oregon State

14: Larry Boyd, OT (90)

Transferring from Illinois

15: Levi Jones, LB (90)

Transferred from USC to N.C. State

16: Kelly Bryant, QB (90)

Transferred from Clemson to Missouri

17: Asa Martin, RB (90)

Transferred from Auburn to Miami

18: Manny Bowen, OLB (90)

Transferred from Penn State to Utah

19: Jalen McCleskey, WR (89)

Transferred from Oklahoma State to Tulane

20: Riley Neal, QB (89)

Transferred from Ball State to Vanderbilt

21: Shawn Robinson, QB (89)

Transferred from TCU to Missouri

22: Trevon Hill, DE (89)

Transferring from Virginia Tech

23: Jay Jay Wilson, TE (89)

Transferring from Arizona State to Auburn

24: Ykili Ross, S (89)

Transferring from USC

25: Austin Kendall, QB (88)

Transferred from Oklahoma to West Virginia

26: Jack Tuttle, QB (88)

Transferred from Utah to Indiana

27: Shane Buechele, QB (88)

Transferring from Texas

28: Juwan Johnson, WR (88)

Transferring from Penn State

29: Lawrence Cager, WR (88)

Transferring from Miami

30: Josh Jackson, QB (88)

Transferring from Virginia Tech

31: Brandon Wimbush, QB (88)

Transferred from Notre Dame to UCF

32: Eric Kumah, WR (87)

Transferring from Virginia Tech

33: Justice Shelton-Mosley, WR (87)

Transferred from Harvard to Vanderbilt

34: Keandre Jones, OLB (87)

Transferred from Ohio State to Maryland

35: Oluwole Betiku, OLB (87)

Transferring from USC

36: Shameik Blackshear, DE (87)

Transferred from South Carolina to TCU

37: Deangelo Gibbs, WR/S (87)

Transferred from Georgia to Tennessee

38: Avery Roberts, LB (87)

Transferred from Nebraska to Oregon State

39: Bennett Williams, S (87)

Transferring from Illinois

40: Tyjon Lindsey, WR (87)

Transferring from Nebraska to Oregon State

41: Nick Starkel, QB (87)

Transferring from Texas A&M

42: Harrison Hand, CB (87)

Transferred from Baylor to Temple

43: Zach Abercrumbia, DT (86)

Transferring from Rice

44: Tabari Hines, WR (86)

Transferred from Oregon to N.C. State

45: Jordan Hayes, S (86)

Transferred from Duke to UCF

46: Nathan Eldridge, OG (86)

Transferred from Arizona to Oregon State

47: James Gilbert, RB (86)

Transferred from Ball State to Kansas State

48: Cameron Rising, QB (86)

Transferred from Texas to Utah

49: Drew Richmond, OT (86)

Transferring from Tennessee

50: Tommy Kennedy, OT (86)

Transferred from Butler to Miami