How Many Starting FBS Quarterbacks Transferred This Year?

In college sports, this is the age of easy player movement. The transfer portal giveth, and the transfer portal taketh.

Perhaps no position has been more reshaped by the transfer portal than college football quarterback. Once seen as a pillar of program stability and control, free-moving college quarterbacks are now the lynchpin to assembling a good team. As such, they are often on the move.

Good quarterbacks might be on the move, in search of a strong pathway to the College Football Playoff or the NFL Draft.

Bad quarterbacks are on the move, too – in search of playing time against weaker competition.

The multi-pronged need for modern quarterback movement has led to a staggering level of turnover at the most important position in sports.

How Many Starting FBS Quarterbacks Transferred From a Different School In 2026?

Of the 138 current FBS programs, approximately 66 were playing quarterback at a different program last year.

That data is based on projected starters for every FBS program. Since some projected starters may ultimately lose their jobs this summer in camp or get hurt in the run-up to the season, that number could nudge up or down some.

But in general, about half (48%) of all FBS programs reached into the portal to solve an immediate need for a quarterback this year.

Every Single Anticipated FBS Starting Quarterback Who Transferred For 2026