College Fantasy Football Sleepers - Top 10 Impact Transfers

August 20, 2021

Mike Marteny prepares you for the CFB DFS and college fantasy football season, taking a look at the top transfers to have immediate impacts for their new teams.

The mythical transfer portal had more than 2,500 players enter it in the 2021 cycle alone. Any transfer that wanted to be eligible this fall had to enter this mythical portal by July 1, so we now have a good idea of who will be playing for their new teams and who will not.

Whittling down a list of over 2,500 to just ten is damn near impossible. This task is made easier when we look at it from strictly a fantasy and DFS standpoint. Linebackers and linemen litter this list of transfers, but they can't do anything for us in fantasy. I'll enjoy watching guys like Mike Jones Jr. light up backs in the SEC this fall, but his stats wont help my fantasy team.

This transfer list is meant to highlight those who will jump into an immediate starting role and have an immediate impact in the 2021 college football season. Not all opportunities are created equal. Even though some of these guys might be in a timeshare, just being in a potent offense might be enough to vault them over a guy who stepped to a mid-major from a high major.

1. Demarkcus Bowman, RB, Florida (from Clemson)

Bowman was only in the Clemson program for about three months. He wasn't going to unseat Travis Etienne, and the Tigers are still fully-loaded in the backfield even with Etienne now getting paid (legally). This is a great situation for Bowman. We don't really know what we're going to get from him in the college game, but he ran an official sub-4.5 40. Florida will ride a back if they have one capable of being ridden. No one would take the running back job last year for the Gators, and none of them appear to be better than Bowman, at least on the surface. A strong spring and summer has Bowman at or near the top of every depth chart. He will certainly the Gators' biggest offensive threat with Kadarius Toney in the NFL.

2. Arik Gilbert, WR, Georgia (from LSU)

Gilbert played tight end for LSU last year in an offense that never really got everything put together. The Tigers are one of a handful of teams that really needed reps heading into 2020 and they got none. The offense and defense both never recovered. Georgia's offense should benefit from a full season from USC transfer JT Daniels. There are some good receivers still on this team, but none is the matchup nightmare that Gilbert is. He is essentially Kyle Pitts lined up at receiver. Gilbert should be poised for a monster season in Athens.

3: Wan'Dale Robinson, WR, Kentucky (from Nebraska)

I'll believe that Kentucky will use Wan'Dale at receiver when I see it. Nebraska also had him listed as a receiver last year and he had 46 rushing attempts. The Wildcats should use him much the same way that Nebraska did: Robinson will get some carries, some wildcat looks, and lead the team in receiving by a large margin, just like he did at Nebraska. The issue here is the SEC defenses. Robinson's diminutive stature has led to some durability concerns. Kentucky also picked up Will Levis from Penn State to quarterback this team, so Robinson should be able to put up close to the kinds of numbers that he did at Nebraska, even in the SEC.

4: Eric Gray, RB, Oklahoma (from Tennessee)

Oklahoma's offense has had very few weaknesses since Lincoln Riley took over as first the coordinator in 2015, then the head coach in 2017. The sore spot has been running back. Rhamondre Stevenson was solid enough last year as the de facto lead back once career 2,000-yard rusher Kennedy Brooks opted out. Talented freshman Seth McGowan and Marcus Major provided good yards last year, but Oklahoma lacked a really explosive back. Stevenson left for the NFL. T.J. Pledger, the second leading rusher for Oklahoma last year, transferred to Utah. McGowan was dismissed from the team for his role in an alleged robbery attempt in the offeseason. That leaves Brooks and Eric Gray, who led Tennessee's lackluster offense with 772 rushing yards last year.

Gray brought along one of his better blockers in Wanya Morris with him to Norman. On the surface this looks like a timeshare situation, but reports out of the spring and summer say that Gray has looked much better than Brooks so far and should have the RB1 tag heading into the opener against Tulane. Honestly, Gray's receiving skills better fit this offense anyway. Those receptions are great hidden points in DFS. All you need to do is look at Gray's games against Georgia and Florida last year. He caught 15 passes combined in those two games to go with his 20 rushing attempts. Gray will find less stifling defenses that force Spencer Rattler to check down in the Big 12(10), but Oklahoma doesn't just use those passes when they have no other options. The swing pass is a huge part of the offense. Oklahoma running backs caught 42 passes last season and none are as prolific as Gray at catching the ball out of the backfield.

5: Ty Chandler, RB, North Carolina (from Tennessee)

The mass exodus from Knoxville has really helped a handful of teams. The Tarheels ran the ball a ton last year and will again this year. Michael Carter and Javonte Williams ran for a combined 2,385 yards last year and both are now in the NFL. Quarterback Sam Howell was the third-leading rusher on the team last year. Chandler is a burner who will see the lion's share of the carries until someone else steps up alongside him. So far no one else has. Chandler is a 1,000-yard season waiting to happen in Chapel Hill.

 
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6: Jameson Williams, WR, Alabama (from Ohio State)

Williams might be the fastest player in the entire country. He is a constant home run threat. Alabama is not afraid to send a receiver deep on every play (just ask Henry Ruggs and Jaylen Waddle). Williams will be that guy this year. The Alabama QB situation is still a bit up in the air, but Mac Jones was a relative unknown before he took over. I'm not worried about who's under center for the Tide and you shouldn't be either. All you need to know is that John Metchie is the only one of the top five receivers for the Tide last year that returns. Bryce Young will be fine. Williams wont catch the 100+ balls that DeVonta Smith did, but if he catches 40 slant routes, he might wind up with 1,000 yards anyway.

7: McKenzie Milton, QB, Florida State (from Central Florida)

The Seminoles were much-improved last year and it had almost nothing to do with the quarterback. Milton is a proven quarterback that owns a fan-claimed National Championship. The issue here is that Milton hasn't played a down of college football since 2018. Dillon Gabriel took his job and ran with it, so Milton gets a Florida State team with a ton of playmakers at receiver, much like his UCF teams had. Tamorrion Terry is in the NFL, but Ontaria Wilson and Kansas transfer Andrew Parchment are good and capable receivers. There is enough talent around Milton for the Seminoles to make a lot of noise in the ACC.

8: Charleston Rambo, WR, Miami(FL) (from Oklahoma)

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Rambo was supposed to succeed Kenny Stills the way that Stills succeeded Sterling Shepard. Instead, freshman sensation Marvin Mims stole his job and Rambo's injury (and COVID) ravaged 2020 had people wondering if he still had it. I believe he does. D'Eriq King, the prize of the 2020 transfer portal, struggled to find someone to throw to until Mike Harley stepped up. Tight end Brevin Jordan and his 38 receptions are now in the NFL. Rambo is currently two or three on the depth chart, but he has the ability to at least match Harley, if not overtake him. And come on.....the guy's name is Rambo for Jimmy Johnson's sake.....

9: David Bailey, RB, Colorado State (from Boston College)

Bailey followed former Eagles coach Steve Addazio west to Fort Collins as a graduate transfer. He was the heir-apparent to AJ Dillon, but bad line play and the regime change really didn't suit Bailey. He ran for 16 touchdowns backing up Dillon on Chestnut Hill. As the lead back in Addazio's system, one in which he thrived in as a backup, Bailey is poised to have a very good year running against Mountain West defenses

10: Samori Toure, WR, Nebraska (from Montana)

Toure, who racked up 1,495 receiving yards last year, is a welcome sight on a Nebraska team that is in desperate need of playmakers now that Wan'Dale Robinson and Luke McCaffrey have moved on. The Cornhuskers have a lot of unproven talent at WR, but Toure is the guy that Adrian Martinez is going to look for first. Nebraska doesn't have the offensive line or running backs to run the kind of offense they did when head coach Scott Frost played there. This team would have thrown the ball much more last season if someone had stepped up to catch it. Many in Lincoln believe that Toure can lead the team in receiving. I'm buying into that as well.

Honorable Mention: Jaylen Warren, RB, Oklahoma State (from Utah State); Grant Calcaterra, TE, SMU (from Oklahoma); Puka Nacua, WR, BYU (from Washington); Markese Stepp, RB, Nebraska (from USC); Ryan Hilinski, QB, Northwestern (from South Carolina)

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