On Monday, Michigan State WR Nick Marsh announced that he was hitting the transfer portal with hopes to play for a contender in what is likely his last year of college football. Marsh becomes the first “major” player to enter the transfer portal as the Spartans’ season ended with another disappointing 4-8 campaign. Michigan State fired its head coach, Jonathan Smith, and elected to hire former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald, which seemed to be the final straw for Marsh.
In the 2024 recruiting class, Marsh was a top-100 prospect with a four-star grade, widely known as one of the nation’s top reciever prospects. He chose to stay home and commit to Michigan State, whose campus was just an hour and a half from his hometown. He found an immediate role and had a connection with young former five-star quarterback Aidan Chiles. Marsh was clearly the best reciever on the roster, and the expectation was improvement from the Spartians in 2025.
Unfortunately, they actually got worse, going from 5-7 in 2024 to 4-8 in 2025. Marsh had more total catches but struggled to find a significant increase over the years, which ultimately led to his decision to hit the portal. He will be a highly coveted transfer this offseason, and he becomes just the first domino to fall in a long line of talented receivers who we may see in the portal this offseason.
We are in the golden age of college football pass catchers, and the 2027 class appears to be absolutely loaded with reciever talent. This follows a 2026 class that also looks strong from top to bottom. With several players potentially returning to school and the depth of talent in the class, some may look to transfer to boost their stock in 2027 or 2028.
The top potential option is Cam Coleman, who has been dominant throughout his career at Auburn. This season, Coleman looked like one of the most dominant pass catchers in college football and has a knack for making incredible contested catches. He is a high-quality athlete with elite physicality to make impact blocks and reliable hands to make contested catches. Auburn just finished 5-7 for the second year in a row and fired coach Hugh Freeze, making it their top priority to retain Coleman this offseason.
Other potential examples come from Clemson, like TJ Moore and Bryant Wesco, who have impressed in their young careers, but with Clemson struggling yet again, they may look for a stronger contender. The same goes for two Tennessee receivers, Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley. The last name I wanted to mention was former 5-star Brandon Inniss, who was supposed to be the next up reciever before Jeremiah Smith, but has struggled to find his footing so far in Columbus.
Marsh is just the first domino to fall in what will likely be an incredibly entertaining transfer portal period this offseason. The receivers across college football are incredible, and we will almost certainly see several top names hit the portal. Recievers are not the only talented players that will be a portal, and I expect we will see several big names get a payday this offseason.
