Kelly Bryant's Top 5 Transfer Destinations: Where Will Former Clemson QB Land?
The college football world got a big dose of transfer news Wednesday morning when Manie Robinson of the Greenville News first reported that Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant plans to transfer out of the program after starting the last 18 games for the Tigers—including the first four of this season.
One year ago, you never would have seen this kind of move this late into the campaign. But the NCAA updated its redshirt rule this spring, allowing players to appear in up to four games in a season while still preserving the ability to redshirt and save a year of eligibility.
On Monday, Oklahoma State wide receiver Jalen McCleskey took advantage of this new rule, leaving the Cowboys as a graduate transfer. And that's precisely what Bryant plans to do after Clemson announced Monday that Trevor Lawrence would assume the role of starter beginning this coming week against Syracuse.
Now the big question is: Where will Bryant be playing in 2019?
Based on current/future roster situations and offensive schemes, these are the five programs where he might best fit.
5. Ole Miss Rebels
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If it matters in the slightest who was originally recruiting Bryant out of high school in South Carolina, Ole Miss would appear to have a bit of a leg up on most of the competition. The Rebels were one of 11 teams to extend an offer to Bryant during the 2015 recruiting cycle.
Then again, the coach primarily in charge of recruiting him to Ole Miss, Dan Werner, is now with South Carolina, so maybe the Gamecocks have that edge now?
Regardless of what transpired four years ago, Ole Miss appears to be a good landing spot for any quarterback looking to capitalize on the graduate transfer option in 2019.
Senior QB Jordan Ta'amu will be out of the picture, and true freshman Matt Corral—though highly touted after throwing for more than 10,000 yards and 100 touchdowns in high school—might benefit from one more year of seasoning before becoming the full-time leader of this offense.
The potentially fatal flaw here is the unknowns in the receiving department.
Ole Miss has an incredible trio of wideouts right now. However, DaMarkus Lodge is a senior, junior A.J. Brown is a mortal lock to declare for the draft, and redshirt sophomore D.K. Metcalf will have that option as well. And given how far the Rebels' recruiting has fallen in the aftermath of the Hugh Freeze scandal, there's not much else in terms of talent primed for a breakout.
Still, Ole Miss would give Bryant the opportunity to immediately start and play in a fair number of high-profile games in the loaded SEC West.
4. Syracuse Orange
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Oh, this would be amazing, wouldn't it?
Bryant suffered an injury against Syracuse last year, and the Orange subsequently handed Clemson its only loss of the regular season.
Syracuse is also the team Clemson is facing this weekend, so, in a way, Swinney's switch to Lawrence at this point in time was his way of saying he didn't trust Bryant to beat the Orange.
Wouldn't it be something if he went up to New York, became the starter and beat Clemson in 2019?
Vengeance isn't the only reason for making this move, though. Syracuse has one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the country in Eric Dungey, and Bryant would figure to be a great fit in that offense after the senior graduates.
In the long run, this will be redshirt freshman Tommy DeVito's job. He was the top get in Syracuse's 2017 recruiting class by a wide margin. And given how well he fared Week 3 against Florida State in relief of an injured Dungey, the Orange appear to be in good hands.
But if Dino Babers would rather have one more year of a more mobile (and more veteran) quarterback before handing the reins to DeVito for 2020-21, Bryant might be the answer.
3. Penn State Nittany Lions
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The rationale for Penn State is the same as it is for Syracuse: a senior dual-threat QB with a redshirt freshman, pro-style backup who may or may not be ready to be the man in 2019.
But Penn State is a more enticing option for Bryant because—with all due respect to Syracuse's 4-0 start to this season—the Nittany Lions are much closer to the Tigers in terms of their place in the national conversation.
Trace McSorley has averaged better than 10 rushes per game in each of the past two-plus seasons, which falls right into Bryant's wheelhouse. Both Bryant and McSorley rushed for 11 touchdowns in 2017, and the Nittany Lion has already scored with his legs six times this year.
Clearly, they have figured out how to win games with a mobile quarterback.
After losing Saquon Barkley, DaeSean Hamilton, Mike Gesicki and offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead from last season, does Penn State really want to go through another offseason overhaul on offense by transitioning to current redshirt freshman Sean Clifford at quarterback? Or would James Franklin and Co. rather plug in Bryant as a one-year replacement for McSorley?
The X-factor in all this is Tommy Stevens. The redshirt junior hasn't appeared in a game yet this season due to a foot injury, but he could be the in-house, dual-threat option in 2019 if PSU doesn't want to break in a new one for one season.
2. Florida Atlantic Owls
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At this point, Lane Kiffin pretty much has to be considered the favorite to snare any transfer. Florida Atlantic has signed a bunch of Last Chance U stars from East Mississippi Community College and gotten more than its fair share of FBS transfers over the past two years.
Starting quarterback Chris Robison originally committed to Oklahoma. Backup Rafe Peavey is now on his third FBS school. Top wide receiver Jovon Durante made 60 receptions at West Virginia before landing at FAU. Auburn transfer Kyle Davis is expected to be a key contributor in the receiving game after sitting out this year.
So why not Bryant?
Thus far, Robison isn't exactly working out. He had one great game against Air Force, but he failed to top 171 passing yards in any of the other three games—despite attempting at least 26 passes in each one. Even though Robison's only a freshman and still has plenty of eligibility remaining, Bryant could absolutely transfer in and steal the job.
And if he does, he would be inheriting a ready-made situation.
Perhaps running back Devin Singletary skips his senior year and enters the 2019 draft, but the most noteworthy senior among the offensive weapons is third-string rusher Gerald Hearns, who has all of 10 touches this season. Factor in Davis as an incoming transfer, and the Owls would have even more talent on offense next year if Singletary stays.
But if Singletary goes, heck, that might be even better for Bryant, since it would mean FAU needs its QB to get more involved in the run game.
Bryant would probably prefer a Power Five conference program that can guarantee him a starting job. But if he's willing to expand his search to the Group of Five schools, get ready for Kiffin to pounce.
1. North Carolina State Wolfpack
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How good is Bailey Hockman?
The answer to that question may well be the biggest factor in Bryant's decision.
Fifth-year senior Ryan Finley will be gone after this season, and the Wolfpack doesn't appear to have much of a succession plan in place. True freshman Devin Leary is arguably the next-most talented option on the roster, but Finley is the only quarterback Dave Doeren has trusted to attempt a pass this season—even though the Wolfpack have won all three games by a double-digit margin and could have given some garbage time to a backup.
However, Hockman—who signed with Florida State in 2017 and redshirted last year before transferring—committed to NC State a little over a week ago and figures to be the top candidate for the job in the long term.
But in 2019, is Doeren seriously going to bank on having both a starter and a primary backup who have yet to attempt a pass in college?
With that looming as NC State's QB situation, it would be nothing short of reckless to not at least give Bryant a call.
And heaven knows Doeren loves his transfer quarterbacks with experience. Finley originally played at Boise State before transferring to Raleigh. Before Finley, Doeren got two solid years out of Florida transfer Jacoby Brissett. (Finley doesn't run much, but Brissett is proof that Doeren can work well with a mobile QB.) And the year before Brissett—Doeren's first with the Wolfpack—Colorado State transfer Pete Thomas got the lion's share of the snaps at signal-caller.
Bryant would fit well in that long line of guys who were given second chances.
NC State also offers the vengeance factor for Bryant, but it would keep him much closer to home than Syracuse would. Plus, the roster situation for next season is looking nice. Each of the five members of the Wolfpack with at least 10 receptions this season has at least one season of eligibility remaining.
As long as Clemson doesn't try to block Bryant from transferring to a conference foe, NC State is his most logical destination.
Kerry Miller covers college football and men's college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @kerrancejames.
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