The transfer portal offers hope. Maybe new additions will boost a struggling position group. Maybe a few players can elevate an otherwise pedestrian offense or defense. Maybe some transfers can dramatically improve your favorite team.
Sometimes that hope can be misplaced, though, and the transfers who were celebrated during the offseason end up having little impact on the field. There have already been several high-profile cases of this scenario in 2025.
Now that we’re five weeks into the season, we can start to assess the unfortunate side of the portal: The most disappointing transfers of the college football season.
RB Jaydn Ott (Oklahoma via Cal)
Ott rushed for 1,315 yards and 12 touchdowns as a sophomore at Cal in 2023 and solidified himself as one of the more underrated players in the country. In 2024, he was hampered by an ankle injury, limiting him to 385 yards on 116 carries.
But the promise Ott displayed early in his college career made him a highly coveted player when he entered the portal this past spring. He was ninth in The Athletic’s ranking of the top 100 transfers. And the vision was clear when he transferred to Oklahoma: Ott and quarterback John Mateer would join forces to give the Sooners one of the most dynamic backfields in the country.
The vision has not come anywhere close to becoming a reality. Ott has rushed only nine times for 17 yards, though he has been slowed by a shoulder injury.
“You wish he was a little further along in every way,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said after Ott carried the ball four times for 11 yards against Temple on Sept. 13. “Whatever opportunities you have, you get in there, you’re ready, you’ve got good juice, energy, aggressiveness, you have an attack mindset, all those things. Everything adds up. Everything matters. We’d love to get him going. If all things are good in that regard that I just said. … (He) can be a real weapon.”
That was the last time we saw Ott in action. He did not record a carry in the Sooners’ SEC opener against Auburn.
Mateer, who underwent surgery for a hand injury last week, had to carry a heavy load for Oklahoma’s running attack when he was healthy. The Sooners could desperately use a talent like Ott to emerge as a gamebreaker, but he’s been a complete non-factor in a rushing attack that is among the worst in the country.
Oklahoma ranks 114th nationally in yards per rush (3.58). It has produced just two runs of 20-plus yards (115th) and only 15 of 10-plus yards (105th).
Ott ranks fourth in attempts among tailbacks, behind Tory Blaylock (42), Jovantae Barnes (19) and Xavier Robinson (13).
It will be interesting to see what Ott’s future looks like considering he’s on track for back-to-back underwhelming seasons. He has played in only three games and has not utilized a redshirt during his college career. He has one season of eligibility left if he redshirts this year.
RB Makhi Hughes (Oregon via Tulane)
Hughes’ 1,401 rushing yards ranked 10th nationally last season. That was coming off a 1,378-yard campaign in 2023. So it made sense that his transfer to Oregon generated a lot of buzz and optimism in the offseason.
But Hughes has carried the ball just 17 times for 70 yards this season and has had no real presence in Oregon’s offense. It reached the point where he did not even travel with the team for this past weekend’s game at Penn State, per The Oregonian’s James Crepea.
Among Oregon’s 74-man travel squad is 5 QBs, including 2 walk-ons. But preseason All-American and 2x 1,000-yard RB is not. At the least, this wasn’t the plan for Makhi Hughes. Ducks still more than fine at RB though.
— James Crepea (@JamesCrepea) September 27, 2025
Whereas Oklahoma’s running game has struggled, the Ducks are still plenty good enough (10th nationally at 6.27 yards per carry) even without Hughes being a major contributor. True freshman Dierre Hill Jr. displayed his talent against Penn State this past weekend with 82 yards rushing to go along with a touchdown reception. The Ducks also have veterans Noah Whittington and Jayden Limar, as well as another talented true freshman, Jordon Davison, who rushed for a touchdown in the win against the Nittany Lions.
It could be possible that the jump in competition — not on the field, but on the depth chart — might have been too much for Hughes to overcome.
One of the reasons Hughes transferred to Oregon was to play with his half-brother Na’eem Offord, a five-star cornerback signee in the Ducks’ 2025 recruiting class. What Hughes, a fourth-year junior who has already utilized his redshirt, decides to do after this season will be worth monitoring.
OL Ethan Onianwa (Ohio State via Rice)
A Power 4 offensive coordinator told The Athletic that Onianwa possesses “first-round talent.” He allowed just one sack over 341 pass-blocking snaps for Rice last season, according to TruMedia, making him one of the most popular offensive linemen in the transfer portal this offseason.
Onianwa did not win a starting job out of training camp, but he rotated at right guard during the season-opening win at Texas and played some against Grambling and Ohio. But Onianwa, a redshirt senior, did not play in the Buckeyes’ road win at Washington this past weekend.
Ohio State has allowed just two sacks this season, so the line has been fine, but this isn’t really how anyone expected Onianwa’s season to go.
WR Nic Anderson (LSU via Oklahoma)
Anderson caught 38 passes for 798 yards and 10 touchdowns as a redshirt freshman at Oklahoma in 2023 but was limited to one game in 2024 due to injury. LSU clearly thought it was getting a player who would add big-play ability to a receiving corps that returned Aaron Anderson and also added Barion Brown from Kentucky.
But Nic Anderson ranks fifth among LSU’s receivers in both catches (eight) and receiving yards (72), and he wasn’t even the intended target on his most meaningful play of the season — a 7-yard touchdown reception off a deflection at Ole Miss this past weekend.
Ricochet TOUCHDOWN
📺 ABC | @nicanderson04 pic.twitter.com/KJ1Euz9N7h
— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) September 27, 2025
The Tigers are really struggling on offense and are searching for playmakers. They haven’t scored more than 23 points against an FBS opponent and rank 71st nationally in pass plays of 20-plus yards, with just 13 — and only one belongs to Anderson.
LB Elo Modozie (Georgia via Army)
Modozie was a very intriguing transfer in the spring window after he notched 6.5 sacks for Army in 2024. At SEC media days, Georgia coach Kirby Smart said, “People are going to know that name before the year is over.”
But it’s been a slow start for Modozie. He played just eight defensive snaps against Alabama this week, per TruMedia, and only 13 in the Bulldogs’ previous game against Tennessee. He has generated just one pressure in his 49 defensive snaps through four games.
Georgia could really use some juice on the edge right now, too, because its pass rush is lacking. The Bulldogs have recorded just five sacks this season, which is tied for 121st nationally, and they have allowed a combined 651 passing yards in their last two games.
OL Xavier Chaplin (Auburn via Virginia Tech)
Auburn coach Hugh Freeze talked about Chaplin as a potential All-SEC performer this offseason. But Chaplin allowed a combined eight pressures in the Tigers’ first two SEC games (against Oklahoma and Texas A&M), per TruMedia. Overall, he’s allowed 10 pressures through five games after allowing 13 in 12 games last season at Virginia Tech.
Auburn attempted to remake its tackle spots through the portal with the additions of Chaplin and USC transfer Mason Murphy, but it’s been a real struggle. The Tigers have allowed 21 sacks this season, which ranks last nationally.
Chaplin has had issues with penalties, too. During the Auburn-Texas A&M broadcast on Saturday, ESPN sideline reporter Katie George said Freeze considered benching Chaplin after Chaplin told his coach that he couldn’t hear the cadence because of the noise at Kyle Field. Chaplin was called for a costly holding penalty late in the third quarter as well and was beaten for a sack in the fourth.
Quarterbacks who went to shaky offensive situations
It’s been a while since Iowa has had a good offense. UCLA lacked the skill group and offensive line for any quarterback to be truly successful. And North Carolina was a complete wild card after so much roster turnover.
Those circumstances were difficult for any quarterback to walk into, but Mark Gronowski (Iowa), Nico Iamaleava (UCLA) and Gio Lopez (North Carolina) haven’t really elevated things.
Gronowski has thrown three touchdown passes and two interceptions this season. His statistics have improved over the past few weeks, but the Iowa offense scored just 13 points in a loss to Indiana last week. Gronowski is also averaging just 6.0 yards per attempt, which doesn’t rank in the top 100 nationally. He’s scored seven rushing touchdowns but is averaging only 2.8 yards per attempt (sacks included) on a team-high 54 carries. So it’s been tough sledding for the South Dakota State transfer who was expected to breathe life into Iowa’s offense.
Everyone who followed the sport closely knew how difficult the transition from Tennessee to UCLA would be for Iamaleava. The Bruins offensive line has allowed pressures on 40.8 percent of dropbacks this season, per TruMedia, ranking 132nd nationally. Iamaleava has not received much time to throw. He’s also had to play a large role in the running game, leading the team in carries (44) and yards (204). No UCLA running back has produced more than 150 rushing yards this season. The Bruins don’t have much to support Iamaleava at receiver either.
Iamaleava, who has thrown four touchdowns and three interceptions, is still raw and developing as a passer, too. Playing in Tennessee’s QB-friendly offense can mask that a bit. UCLA’s cannot.
Lopez was injured in a loss to UCF two weeks ago, but neither he nor the Tar Heels offense had performed well before the injury. North Carolina ranks 106th in scoring offense (21.0 ppg) and 121st in yards per play (4.90). Lopez didn’t top 155 passing yards in the three full games before the injury and has thrown for as many touchdowns as interceptions (three).
Lopez was one of the headlining additions during Bill Belichick’s first offseason at North Carolina, but it’s clear the Tar Heels have more work to do in terms of talent acquisition to improve this offense.
(Photo of Makhi Hughes: Ben Lonergan / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
