With spring football having come and gone, the college football calendar has shifted to the player-led portion of its offseason development curve. Across the country, youngsters and veterans alike are hitting the weight room and organizing private workouts to push themselves toward the 2026 campaign. By the time players return to organized practices later this summer, they'll already have an idea of where things stand on the depth chart.
They'll have seen which incoming freshmen are capable of contributing right away and which star transfers should be viewed as plug-and-play starters. Plenty can change during fall camp, but there's no question that leaders emerge over the summer. So with that in mind, here's the second part in our series examining the most important transfer portal addition for each Big Ten team.
This story explores the second half of the league in alphabetical order: Here is Part 1 of our two-part story examining the Big Ten's most impactful portal additions. * Recruiting rankings and historical data courtesy of 247Sports Class: SeniorMeasurables: 6-foot-2, 314 poundsPast schools: Alabama (2023-25)Portal ranking: No. 25 transfer, No. 3 DL Last season: 28 tackles (6.5 for loss), 2.5 sacks, 11 pressures, 1 PD in 12 games The departure of star nose tackle Kayden McDonald, who was drafted in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans, leaves a sizable hole in the center of Ohio State’s defense.
McDonald played so well under new defensive coordinator Matt Patricia that he bypassed his final year of eligibility to turn pro. His list of accolades included first-team All-Big Ten recognition, the conference’s Defensive Lineman of the Year award and consensus All-American honors en route to becoming the second defensive tackle chosen in this year’s draft. As a response, the Buckeyes added two high-profile interior linemen via the transfer portal in Smith and former UCF standout John Walker, both of whom were top-100 recruits coming out of high school.
They are expected to compete with returners Eddrick Houston and Will Smith Jr. for starting spots this fall. For the purposes of this list, Smith gets the edge based on pedigree and potential upside. He was a five-star prospect and the No.
27 overall recruit in the country ahead of his freshman season at Alabama and should bring plenty of tools for defensive line coach Larry Johnson to work with at Ohio State. Class: JuniorMeasurables: 6-foot-1, 200 poundsPast schools: Minnesota (2024-25)Portal ranking: No. 15 transfer, No.
1 S Last season: 82 tackles (3 for loss), 1 sack, 1 INT, 1 FF, 1 TD in 13 games Once again, Oregon flashed its ruthless approach to player acquisition by signing one of the best portal classes in the Big Ten. It marked the second consecutive offseason in which the Ducks snagged the highest-rated safety in the transfer portal as an immediate plug-and-play leader for a team with legitimate national championship aspirations. And it marked the second consecutive offseason in which accomplishing that feat meant prying an elite talent away from another Big Ten program.
A year ago, the Ducks added former Purdue standout Dillon Thieneman and developed him into both a first-team All-American and first-round draft pick. This time around, head coach Dan Lanning succeeded in the hotly contested race to sign Perich, a second-team All-American in 2024 and a second-team All-Big Ten performer for the Gophers last fall. In addition to the pedigree that Perich brings as one of the nation’s best safeties, he’ll also provide Oregon with another option in the return game.
Perich ranked among the top 25 nationally in punt return average (9.4 yards per attempt) as a freshman and finished 12th in kickoff return average (26.3 yards per attempt) during the 2025 campaign. Class: Redshirt seniorMeasurables: 6-foot-1, 208 poundsPast schools: Iowa State (2022-25)Portal ranking: No. 48 transfer, No.
7 QB Last season: 205-of-339 (60.5%) for 2,584 yards, 16 TD, 9 INT in 12 games For however long new head coach Matt Campbell remains at Penn State, which made the shocking decision to fire James Franklin last October, he’ll have to deal with intense scrutiny surrounding the quarterback position. Franklin’s inability to find or develop a legitimate difference maker across more than 11 seasons with the Nittany Lions was arguably the biggest constraint for a program always on the cusp of reaching the College Football Playoff. And even when he finally got Penn State over that hurdle during his penultimate season, it was a late-game interception from Drew Allar — the highest-rated quarterback Franklin ever signed — that ultimately sealed the team’s fate.
Becht brings plenty of experience after three years as the Cyclones' starter, but he’s also entering his final season of eligibility and doesn’t represent the program’s lasting solution at quarterback. How well Becht performs this season in one of the sport’s premier conferences could certainly influence how appealing Penn State’s new regime is to high-end recruits. It’s also worth noting that Becht had offseason surgery on his non-throwing shoulder and missed most of the spring.
Class: SeniorMeasurables: 6-foot-4, 215 poundsPast schools: Penn (2022-25)Portal ranking: No. 595 transfer, No. 117 WR Last season: 66 catches for 696 yards and 5 TD in 10 games There wasn’t much that went right for head coach Barry Odom during his inaugural campaign last fall — especially on offense.
The Boilermakers ranked 102nd nationally in yards per game (343.6) and finished tied for 122nd in scoring at 18.8 points per game, edging only UCLA and Wisconsin among Big Ten teams. Starting quarterback Ryan Browne, a former three-star prospect, ranked at or near the bottom of the league in seemingly every major passing category: he was 16th in completion rate (58.9%), 17th in passing touchdowns (9) and tied for 14th in interceptions (10) as Purdue failed to win a conference game for the second consecutive year. Rather than make a change at quarterback ahead of the 2026 season, Odom has vocally backed Browne at every turn, bypassing the chance to recruit over him in the transfer portal.
That decision now places Purdue’s receiving corps, which lost its top three pass catchers from last year, squarely in the crosshairs entering fall camp. Owens is one of four wideouts the Boilermakers added via the transfer portal. He has excellent size for the position and could become Browne’s primary target from the outset, pending his adjustment to Big Ten competition after four years in the Ivy League.
Class: SeniorMeasurables: 6-foot-4, 250 poundsPast schools: Toledo (2022-25)Portal ranking: No. 762 transfer, No. 83 edge rusher Last season: 36 tackles (9.5 for loss), 5.5 sacks, 36 pressures, 1 FF in 12 games Rutgers needed an injection of talent along the defensive line after ranking second-to-last nationally and 17th in the Big Ten in sacks with 11, as well as 129th nationally and 17th in the Big Ten in tackles for loss with 47.
Of the 305 players in college football who tallied more than 20 quarterback pressures, only one of them — edge rusher Eric O’Neill — played for Rutgers. Those are the type of statistics that will send a coaching staff to the transfer portal in search of talent. Predictably, head coach Greg Schiano addressed the issue by adding four defensive linemen from the portal: two along the interior; two on the edge.
The pick of the litter might be Davis, who amassed 36 pressures in a leading role for Toledo last season. Davis registered standout performances against Western Michigan and Washington State by racking up eight pressures in each game. He should step into an immediate starting role for first-year defensive coordinator Travis Johansen.
Class: Redshirt seniorMeasurables: 5-foot-7, 193 poundsPast schools: James Madison (2022-25)Portal ranking: No. 419 transfer, No. 38 RB Last season: 207 carries for 1,373 yards and 9 TD in 14 games On paper, the Bruins made arguably the savviest hire of the coaching cycle by plucking Bob Chesney away from James Madison, a school he had just taken to the College Football Playoff.
Chesney, 48, is viewed by many as one of the sport’s rising stars thanks to a résumé that includes 15 winning seasons at JMU (2024-25), Holy Cross (2018-23), Assumption (2013-17) and Salve Regine (2010-12). He began his rebuild at UCLA by adding 41 players from the transfer portal, including 10 former Dukes who followed Chesney for an opportunity to join the Big Ten. None of the JMU additions are likely to play a larger role for the Bruins than Knight, who was a first-team All-Sun Belt performer in 2025 and also earned second-team All-America honors thanks to his wide-ranging versatility.
In addition to rushing for nearly 1,400 yards and nine scores, Knight added value in the passing game (40 receptions, 397 yards, 1 TD) and on special teams (20 punt returns for 180 yards) to set a new school record for all-purpose yards with 2,039. There will be questions around whether his diminutive frame can withstand playing in the Big Ten, but it seems thoroughly unwise to doubt him. Class: Redshirt seniorMeasurables: 5-foot-10, 195 poundsPast schools: Iowa State (2022-25)Portal ranking: No.
50 transfer, No. 2 CB Last season: 15 tackles (1.5 TFL), 3 PD, 1 INT in 5 games It’s hard to make a splashier coordinator hire than what USC did in late January by convincing former TCU head coach Gary Patterson to take over the Trojans’ defense. Patterson, 66, manned the sideline for the Horned Frogs from 2000-2021 before ultimately resigning.
He recorded 181 victories during that span and won at least 10 games in a season 11 times, headlined by a 13-0 finish in 2010. Since then, he’s worked as an off-field analyst for Texas in 2022 and a consultant at Baylor ahead of the 2024 campaign. His task at USC will be to raise the level of a unit that hasn’t finished among the top 40 nationally in yards per game since 2020, an ever-present thorn in the side of head coach Lincoln Riley’s national championship aspirations.
Six of the Trojans’ eight position-player additions via the transfer portal were on the defensive side of the ball. Williams might be the most important addition if he can return to full health following an ACL tear last September. He was a second-team All-Big 12 selection for the Cyclones in 2024.
Class: SeniorMeasurables: 5-foot-10, 205 poundsPast schools: Oregon (2023-25)Portal ranking: No. 373 transfer, No. 34 RB Last season: 46 carries for 262 yards and 3 TD in 8 games Washington’s backfield will need to be reimagined in 2026 after losing both of their lead tailbacks from last year’s nine-win team.
Starter Jonah Coleman, who had followed head coach Jedd Fisch from Arizona to Washington, was a fourth-round pick by the Denver Broncos after racking up more than 1,800 yards and 25 rushing touchdowns the last two seasons. Adam Mohammed, the primary backup, transferred to Cal after rushing for 523 yards and five touchdowns a year ago. That leaves quarterback Demond Williams Jr. (611 yards, 6 TDs) as the only returner to rush for more than 235 yards last season.
The question for Washington is whether Limar, who missed spring practice to recover from ankle surgery, can blossom into a leading option after transferring from Oregon. He was part of a crowded Ducks backfield in 2025 that featured six players with at least 40 rushing attempts. Limar was a highly coveted four-star prospect coming out of high school with scholarship offers from Notre Dame, Miami, Michigan, Texas A&M and USC, among others.
The opportunity to take on a starring role at Washington is there for the taking. Class: Redshirt juniorMeasurables: 6-foot-2, 212 poundsPast schools: Old Dominion (2023-25)Portal ranking: No. 185 transfer, No.
21 QB Last season: 173-of-290 (59.7%) for 2,624 yards, 21 TD, 10 INT in 12 games After three consecutive subpar years, there is immense pressure on head coach Luke Fickell to demonstrate significant progress during the 2026 campaign. Not only has Wisconsin finished below .500 each of the last two seasons, including an ugly 5-13 mark in conference play, but the school is also in the process of replacing former athletic director Chris McIntosh, the man who originally hired Fickell in 2022. For Wisconsin to find success this fall, Fickell needs to finally hit on a transfer quarterback after several high-profile misses and debilitating injuries.
He whiffed on former SMU standout Tanner Mordecai in 2023 and saw former Miami starter Tyler Van Dyke suffer a torn ACL in the first month of the 2024 campaign. Then, in 2025, the Badgers rotated through four signal-callers after former Maryland transfer Billy Edwards Jr. injured his knee. Joseph could bring a new dynamic as a legitimate dual-threat option.
In addition to throwing for more than 2,600 yards and 21 touchdowns last fall, he also carried the ball 158 times for 1,007 yards and 13 additional scores.
