Indiana QB Peyton Ramsey Enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Peyton Ramsey is graduating from Indiana in May, so he has decided to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal and look for a different school to play for in 2020.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Quarterback Peyton Ramsey won a lot of games and even more hearts at Indiana University, but it looks like he will conclude his college career somewhere else in 2020.

Sports Illustrated Indiana confirmed late Monday night that Ramsey — the popular senior quarterback from Cincinnati — has entered his name into the NCAA Transfer Portal. And because he is graduating in May, he will be eligible to play for any other college team next fall.

He will likely have plenty of suitors, including some teams with conference or national championship aspirations.

Ramsey has played in 32 games for Indiana the past three seasons, starting 24 of them. During his career, he has passed for 6,581 yards and 42 touchdowns, and is one of the most accurate passers in school history.

He lost his starting job to redshirt freshman Michael Penix Jr., in fall camp last season, but still wound up starting seven games and playing in 11 because Penix suffered three different injuries. He was invaluable off the bench, leading the Hoosiers to key road wins at Maryland and Nebraska in October and beating Purdue with with a game-winning touchdown in double-overtime in the Old Oaken Bucket game in November. The Hoosiers went to their first Florida bowl game and finished the season 8-5 after a loss to Tennessee.

In 2019, Ramsey completed 204 of his 300 passes (68.0 percent) for 2,454 yards with 13 touchdowns and five interceptions. His  completion percentage ranked second in program history, second in the conference and ninth nationally.

There was some speculation that Ramsey would transfer at the start of the 2019 season once he lost his starting job, but he said in September that when he looked around the Indiana locker room, "there was no way I could leave my guys.'' And he didn't.

Ramsey was praised as a great team leader even when he wasn't playing, and the Hoosiers never missed a beat when he had to play.

"That quarterback room was pretty special,'' former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kalen DeBoer said last week from Fresno, Calif., where he is the new head coach at Fresno State. "Peyton was tremendous in staying prepared and helping Michael when he was playing, and that was a two-way street, too. Michael was all for Peyton's success as well and they both worked together very hard all year.''

Penix, a hard-throwing left-hander from Tampa, Fla., has all the tools to be an NFL quarterback, but he hasn't been able to stay healthy so far in his two years in Bloomington. In just his third game as a freshman in 2018, he tore his ACL against Penn State.

Then, in 2019, he left the second game of the season against Eastern Illinois with a shoulder strain, suffered a concussion in the Maryland game and then had a clavicle injury on Nov. 2 against Northwestern that required season-ending surgery.

Penix is expected to be 100 percent by spring practice. Jack Tuttle will be his likely backup. Indiana also recruited a quarterback this cycle, Dexter Williams of Macon, Ga. 

By entering the transfer portal, Ramsey is free to be contacted by other schools and take visits as necessary. The portal has been used by thousands of players in the past few years, and there have been plenty of notable transfers in the past couple of years.

LSU, which just won a national championship, benefited from the transfer of quarterback Joe Burrow from Ohio State. He also won the Heisman Trophy. The Buckeyes filled his chair with Justin Fields, who transferred from Georgia. There have been dozens of other quarterbacks transfer to high-profile programs as well.

Ramsey should garner plenty of interest because he is a cerebral quarterback who would be able to catch on to a new system quickly. He doesn't have the strongest arm in the world, but it is much better than a year ago, thanks to a full season of extensive conditioning.

Indiana did not comment on Ramsey's decision. Entering his name in the portal doesn't mean he can't return, but some schools often cut ties with a player once he enters the portal. It's doubtful Indiana will do that, because Indiana coach Tom Allen wanted him to return for his fifth and final season.

Indiana left tackle Coy Cronk took a similar path. He entered the transfer portal a few weeks ago and has decided to transfer to Iowa.