College Football: A Look at the Top NCAAF ACC Transfers

Louisville Bringing in Three Top-100 Rated Transfers

This much is known, when it came to working the transfer portal, College Football ACC Conference programs were a little behind teams from the NCAA’s other Power-5 conferences. The top NCAAF ACC transfers might not be as highly ranked as some newcomers across the country, but there are some intriguing players.

There were some prominent departures led by Pittsburgh receiver Jordan Addison and Georgia Tech running back Jahmyr Gibbs. However, when it comes to incoming transfers, the numbers aren’t pretty. According to the 247sports.com recruiting database, 10 of the top 20 rated transfers ended up in the SEC, three went to the Big Ten and Pac-12 and two ended up at Big 12 schools. Brigham Young and Notre Dame picked up one top-20 transfer each but none of them landed in the ACC.

Here’s a look at the top NCAAF ACC transfers.

Jared Verse, DE (Albany to Florida State)

Players who move from Football Championship Subdivision programs into Power-5 conference teams have found success in the past. Florida State is hoping that the former Albany star follows that path. He had 11.5 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks and 13 quarterback hurries in 11 games last season.

He was pretty quiet in his lone game a season ago against an ACC team with three solo tackles against Syracuse.

With Jermaine Johnson, who led FSU with 11.5 sacks, off to the NFL, there is a need for an impact edge rusher.

Akheem Mesidor, DL (West Virginia to Miami)

In two seasons at West Virginia, the native of Ottawa had 14.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks.

Seven of the nine Miami players with multiple sacks in 2021 were either freshmen or sophomores, so Mesidor should fit right into the rotation as he looks to help Miami to a division title after West Virginia was 12-1 in the games played by Mesidor over the last two seasons.

Trey Benson, RB (Oregon to Florida State)

Rather than follow his former coach Mario Cristobal from Oregon to Miami, the 215-pound Mississippi State opted to head to Miami’s most bitter rival.

Benson didn’t see the ball much as a freshman as he had three carries for 11 yards in wins over Stony Brook and Colorado but didn’t carry the ball in the other eight games that he played in.

Benson was among the top 30-rated running backs in his recruiting class. FSU’s top rusher Jashaun Corbin is now trying to make the New York Giants roster after not being drafted so there is an opportunity for somebody to move into the lead-back role.

Jermayne Lole, DL (Arizona State to Louisville)

The 300-pound California native did not play in 2021 but he did show off his potential in 2019 when he had 72 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and three quarterback hurries.

Lole had a career-best 1.5 sacks in a bowl game against Florida State during his breakout season. That tape likely came into play in the scouting process.

Kedon Slovis, QB (Southern California to Pittsburgh)

When Slovis threw for 3502 yards, completed 72% of his passes, and had 30 touchdown passes as a freshman, he seemed destined to be the next USC quarterback to make the jump to the NFL. He had his moments in the next two seasons, but never repeated the success of his debut season.

When former Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams decided to join his former head coach Lincoln Riley at USC, Slovis’ days were numbered with the Trojans.

Tiyon Evans, RB (Tennessee to Louisville)

Evans burst onto the scene with 120 yards in a season-opening win over Bowling Green. He had two other 100-yard games during the 2021 season. However, he had 39 yards on eight carries over the last seven games.
He will be joining a Louisville program where four of the six running backs to have carries in 2021 were freshmen, so it could be a bit of a challenge to earn carries.

Jadan Blue, WR (Temple to Virginia Tech)

Blue had a huge season as a sophomore at Temple with 95 catches for 1067 yards. He had four games with at least 10 catches in 2019 and recorded five receptions or more on 10 occasions. Other than two games against Memphis, his numbers tailed over the last two seasons, so maybe a move to Virginia Tech is just what he needs to resurrect his career.

Blue had 17 catches for 198 yards in his last three games against ACC opponents during his time at Temple.

Kameron Butler, DL (Miami-Ohio to Virginia)

Butler found his way into the opposing backfield to the tune of 31 tackles for loss and 16 sacks over the last three seasons playing in the pass-happy MAC. Now he joins another conference that has teams willing to air it out.

Virginia was last in the NCAAF ACC standings with 52 tackles for loss and 18 sacks so Butler should be able to help change that.

Tyler Hudson, WR (Central Arkansas to Louisville)

Another transfer from a lower level of football, Hudson averaged 20 yards on his 62 receptions a season ago at Central Arkansas. Nobody is expecting him to put up 62 catches and 1242 yards like he did at Central Arkansas but he will provide the big-play ability to dynamic Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham.

On the Way Out

Pittsburgh’s Jordan Addison won the Biletnikoff Award in 2021 as the top receiver in college football. He’s one of many highly-touted transfers who landed at Southern California.

Not only is the top-rated receiver transferring a former ACC product, but so is the top running back as Jahmyr Gibbs moves from Georgia Tech to Alabama. He will be joined by former Louisville receiver Tyler Harrell.

Virginia’s Victor Oluwatimi, one of the nation’s top centers, is now at Michigan.

Former Syracuse receiver Taj Harris headed home to play at Rutgers. Harris was limited to three games in 2021. However, one of them came against Rutgers when he had eight receptions for 122 yards.

Rounding out the top NCAAF ACC transfers is Georgia Tech edge rusher Jared Ivey, who transferred to Ole Miss– while Miami lost defensive lineman Nesta Jade Silvera to Arizona State.

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