Transfer Tracker: Former 5-star USC QB J.T. Daniels enters the portal
The Transfer Portal has changed the landscape of college football. So at Rivals we bring you the Transfer Tracker, where we analyze players entering the portal and rate them on what kind of impact they could make at their new home.
Next up in the tracker: USC QB and former five-star J.T. Daniels
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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.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.
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, but was injured Week 1 and missed the rest of the season. He was replaced by Kedon Slovis, who had a terrific season. After initially looking he would return and compete with Slovis for the starting job, USC announced Daniels would be entering the portal and he officially did on Thursday.
POTENTIAL LANDING SPOTS
While a lot of schools with quarterback needs have already made moves on transfers, it wouldn't be shocking to see Daniels have a ton of opportunities. He has ties to Tennessee, thanks to former offensive coordinator Tee Martin, who is now with the Vols, but they also have several quarterbacks on the roster. LSU was expected to take a transfer quarterback and hasn't as of yet and the same goes for Purdue. Look for Daniels to find a place where he can play right away in 2020, especially if the one-time transfer rule is passed next month.
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 excellence 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." – National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell
Impact Rating: 9.2 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.