4 Transfer Portal QBs the UW Might Consider
Kedon Slovis and Spencer Rattler are perfect examples for how quickly things can go south for a headliner Power 5 quarterback. They entered the season for USC and Oklahoma as serious Heisman Trophy candidates and have felt compelled to turn to the transfer portal to rekindle their careers.
Both players left celebrity coach Lincoln Riley behind and Rattler, a Phoenix product, on Monday found a new team in South Carolina hours after Slovis first turned up on the college free-agent market.
It should be noted that new University of Washington coach Kalen DeBoer could use another quarterback on his roster to go with returnees Dylan Morris and Sam Huard, preferably someone with game experience, certainly a guy who can make the situation a lot more competitive.
The following are QBs the Huskies, who can hold up DeBoer's high-powered offense from Fresno State as reason to come to Seattle, might consider pursuing:
Kedon Slovis, USC
The Huskies never recruited the 3-star Slovis, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound junior from Scottsdale, Arizona, nor did they face him. In 2019, he played in every game as a USC true freshman except a 28-14 loss to the UW in Seattle. He sat out with a concussion suffered the week before. He has career passing totals of 459 completions in 656 attempts for 5,423 yards and 47 touchdowns with 16 interceptions. His presence forced quarterback J.T. Daniels to transfer to Georgia. The arrival of freshman quarterback Jaxson Dart this season, plus the coaching change, sent him looking for a new place to play. He would look good standing in the pocket of DeBoer's attack.
Michael Penix Jr., Indiana
This 6-foot-3, 218-pound senior from Tampa, Florida, started as a redshirt freshman at Indiana in 2019 for DeBoer, who was the Hoosiers offensive coordinator for that year only. His downside is he is injury prone. The elusive left-hander tore up knees in 2018 and 2020, and separated his throwing shoulder in 2019 and this past fall, all season-ending ailments. He's never played more than 6 games in a season, even with DeBoer. Penix, who is 12-5 as a starter, has career passing totals of 342 completions in 576 attempts for 4,197 yards and 29 scores, with 15 interceptions. Dawgman.com says Penix recently might have visited the UW.
Adrian Martinez, Nebraska
If it counts for anything, Martinez hails from Fresno, California, DeBoer's previous city. The dual-threat quarterback committed to California out of high school as a 4-star recruit until a coaching change made him decommit from the Pac-12 school and sent him to Nebraska. A 6-foot-2, 212-pound senior, he was a 38-game starter and a three-year team captain for the Cornhuskers before deciding he'd had enough of Lincoln, Nebraska. He has career passing totals of 670 completions in 1,055 attempts for 8,491 yards and 45 touchdowns with 30 interceptions, plus 2,301 yards rushing and 35 scores on 508 carries. He is thought to be considering Cal once more. He's probably not a perfect fit for DeBoer's offense, but he might want to try it.
Jack Plummer
Another Arizonan, the 6-foot-5, 215-pound junior from Gilbert (southeast of Phoenix) started three games for Purdue at the end of 2019 and three more again at the beginning of the current season. He led the Boilermakers to a 30-21 victory over Oregon State in the opener, completing 29 of 41 attempts for 313 yards and 2 scores, showing he can beat a Pac-12 opponent. Inconsistency sat him down. He has career passing stats of hitting 319 of 492 attempts for 3,405 yards and 26 TDs, with 10 interceptions. The Huskies weren't in on his recruitment when he came out of high school as a 3-star prospect. He's a long shot to come to Seattle.
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