Transfer Tracker: Former 5-star QB J.T. Daniels commits to Georgia
THE LATEST
One of the biggest names to ever hit the transfer portal has a new home as former five-star and USC quarterback J.T. Daniels announced his plans to transfer to Georgia on Thursday.
Daniels, who missed nearly the entire 2019 season after suffering a torn ACL in Week 1, elected to leave USC earlier this spring. Daniels initially looked like he would stay and compete with Kedon Slovis for the starting job, but with no spring practice that seemed unlikely.
Daniels, who has at least two years of eligibility remaining, will need a waiver to be eligible in 2020. He also joins fellow grad transfer Jamie Newman on Bulldogs roster. Newman transferred from Wake Forest earlier this year for his final year of eligibility.
Initially a member of the Class of 2019, Daniels reclassified and joined the Trojans early, walking right into the starting job in 2018. He finished that year with 2,672 yards, 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Following his commitment, Daniels is now No. 4 in the Rivals Quarterback Transfer Rankings. Newman is now No. 1 overall.
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CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
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AS A RECRUIT
Daniels had his list of offers from coast-to-coast and committed to USC over Michigan, Stanford, and Washington. Daniels was the No. 1 overall player in the Class of 2019, only to reclassify following his junior season, mainly because of the Trojans need for a quarterback.
AT USC
Daniels won the starting job as a freshman and stepped right into the lineup, having an up-and-down freshman year finishing with 2,672 yards, 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. With a new offense in place for the 2019 season, Daniels was expected to have a breakout year. He again won the starting job last August and completed 25 of 34 passes for 215 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT in the opener last season against Fresno State before sustaining a season-ending torn ACL and meniscus in his knee. He was replaced by Kedon Slovis, who had a terrific season.
FARRELL'S TAKE
"Daniels was a five star out of high school for a reason and ranked third behind Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields in his class even though he accelerated a grade. He throws one of the best deep balls you’ll see and has amazing touch on his passes. But he can also zip it in tight windows when needed as well. He showed flashes of excellent at USC and lost his job to injury so this transfer has little to do with talent. He’s a high impact player, one of the highest in recent transfer memory, but the problem is he’s headed to Georgia where a guy named Jamie Newman from Wake Forest is also going. If Daniels has to wait a year that’s okay, his impact is still very high but less so at Georgia in comparison to other places where he would be the man from day one." – National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell
Impact Rating: 8.8 out of 10
IMPACT METER
The Transfer Portal continues to change the way college football programs recruit and mange their rosters so we here at Rivals.com continue to evolve our coverage. Each time a player of note enters the portal, we will examine their potential impact on the college football landscape and assign an impact rating, both when they enter the portal and when they choose a destination. The scale is from 1-10 and the description below explains the scoring scale.
1.1-4.0 — Not a big impact expected, likely a non-starter and down the bench depth player.
4.1- 6.0 — A solid impact can be expected in the right scenario and has the potential to battle for a starting job.
6.1-9.0. — A high impact player who won’t change a program but will certainly be a very good contributor and starter.
9.1- 9.9 — A very high impact player who should start the moment he steps on the field and will change the outlook of a program immediately.
10 — A franchise transfer who has a chance to be an All American and one of the elite players in college football.