Five Former BYU Players Will Start at FBS Programs in Week One

Checking in on the 20 players that transferred out of the BYU football program

After the 2022 season, 20 BYU players left the program and entered the transfer portal. Of those 20 transfers, 10 of them landed at FBS programs. Five (now six as of Tuesday evening) of those 10 players were named starters at their new schools on Monday. Today, we'll check in on all 10 of those FBS transfers and where they ended up on the depth charts at their new schools.

Gabe Jeudy-Lally - Tennessee

Former starting BYU cornerback Gabe Jeudy-Lally transferred to Tennessee after the 2022 season. Jeudy-Lally was named a co-starter at cornerback for the Vols.

Keenan Pili - Tennessee

Former BYU starting linebacker Keenan Pili will start for the Vols at linebacker in 2023.

Clark Barrington - Baylor

Longtime starting BYU offensive lineman Clark Barrington will start for Baylor at center in 2023.

Campbell Barrington - Baylor

Former BYU tackle Campbell Barrington will start for the Bears at left tackle. Barrington was a backup at right tackle for the Cougars in 2022.

Dallin Holker - Colorado State

Former BYU tight end Dallin Holker was named the outright starter at tight end for Colorado State.

Logan Fano - Utah

Logan Fano is listed as a backup defensive end for the Utes.

Tate Romney - Arizona State

Tate Romney is listed as a starting linebacker at ASU.

Jacob Conover - Arizona State

Former BYU quarterback Jacob Conover  will be the third-string quarterback for Arizona State this season.

George Udo - Cincinnati

Former BYU defensive back George Udo transferred to Cincinnati. Six safeties were listed on Cincinnati's depth chart and Udo wasn't one of them. It appears he is no higher than fourth string at Cincinnati.

Logan Pili - Utah State

Logan Pili was listed as a third-string linebacker for Utah State.

Did BYU Win or Lose in the Transfer Portal in 2023?

While 20 players left the program and entered the transfer portal, BYU brought in more than 20 transfers to replace them. Now that the dust has settled, did BYU win or lose in the transfer portal?

BYU lost five FBS-caliber starters to the transfer portal: Clark Barrington, Campbell Barrington, Keenan Pili, Gabe Jeudy-Lally, and Dallin Holker. On Monday, BYU released the depth chart for Sam Houston State and eight transfers were listed as outright starters: Kedon Slovis, Aidan Robbins, Paul Maile, Eddie Heckard, Kamden Garrett, AJ Vongphachanh, Isaiah Bagnah, and Jackson Cravens. Another five transfers were listed as co-starters: Caleb Etienne, Weylin Lapuaho, Ian Fitzgerald, Keelan Marion, and Darius Lassiter.

Lapuaho and Fitzgerald are competing against each other for the final starting spot, so anywhere from 9-12 transfers will start for BYU against Sam Houston State.

In the transfer portal era, every team in college football is losing talent to the portal. The key to transfer portal success is gaining more starting-caliber players than you lose. BYU did just exactly that, gaining 4-7 more starters than it lost.

The Cougars lost linebacker Keenan Pili to Tennessee - they found a veteran linebacker to replace Pili in AJ Vongphachanh. The Barrington brothers were replaced by the likes of Paul Maile and Caleb Etienne, both of which started for their respective Power Five schools. Gabe Jeudy-Lally was replaced with Kamden Garrett and Eddie Heckard.

On paper, it looks like BYU was a definitive winner in the transfer portal in 2023. Time will tell whether those acquisitions look as good in practice as they do on paper.

BYU linebacker AJ Vongphachanh / Credit: BYU Photo

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