The transfer portal can be a gift and a curse. FSU football has used the portal to its benefit over the past couple of years, obtaining key players like Devontay Love-Taylor, Dillan Gibbons, Jermaine Johnson, Fabien Lovett, Keir Thomas, Jammie Robinson, and a few others.
However, we’ve seen a fair share of former FSU players hit the portal in the same time frame. Most of them have either not found homes or chose to play at smaller non-Power Five schools. A few like Jaiden Lars-Woodbey, Cyrus Fagan, and Cory Durden have found homes at other ACC schools.
James Blackman is the other quarterback to hit the transfer portal from FSU that I can recall and he found a home at Arkansas State. The news of Chubba Purdy entering the portal Wednesday afternoon caught me by surprise a bit.
I guess the timing of it more than anything since there are four games left in the season, but it does give him time to find a new home.
In these types of situations, players usually have an idea of where they want to go, so it’ll be interesting to see where that will be for Purdy.
He’s originally from Arizona, so anywhere out west would make sense, but if he decides to stay on the east coast, I think we can assume he didn’t think he was going to start next year at FSU.
Jordan Travis, Tate Rodemaker, and incoming freshman blue-chip freshman AJ Duffy will likely be the three quarterbacks on the roster. The question is, what are the options for Mike Norvell?
Transfer Portal
One option would be to get a player from the transfer portal. The Noles brought in McKenzie Milton from the transfer portal to compete for the job against Jordan Travis.
Milton will be gone after this year, which leaves three quarterbacks on the roster if Duffy signs and enrolls in the spring as planned. Jordan Travis and the others were going to have to compete for the starting job if Purdy remained on the roster in 2022.
Would Travis take offense to Mike Norvell hitting the transfer portal again? It’s possible, but Tate Rodemaker has no college experience to rely on, and, the same for Duffy.
Jordan Travis has a history of getting injured since arriving at FSU, so it would be irresponsible to not do due diligence in the transfer portal with little to no experience on the roster after Milton leaves.
There isn’t a lot to choose from at the moment, but that will change once the season ends. Should Norvell entertain a guy with one year of eligibility left or multiple years of eligibility? The latter could affect what AJ Duffy thinks too.
High School
What if Mike Norvell opted to sign another high school quarterback in the class other than AJ Duffy? Duffy committed when Nicco Marchiol was committed, so I don’t think we can say he’s afraid of competition.
Whoever FSU signed would not have a higher ranking than Duffy. I know FSU has been kicking the tires on a former target, current UCF commit Thomas Castellanos, who visited during the Louisville game. Castellanos ranks as an athlete but wants to play quarterback in college.
He’s more in the mold of Jordan Travis than a drop-passer like AJ Duffy, which would be a good compliment to one another.
The only thing about taking another high school quarterback is that it likely means Jordan Travis will be the starter in 2022, and there will be little to no experience on the roster should he get injured again.
Travis has done a better job of late in taking care of his body during games and avoiding large hits while running.
He’s also showing some growth as a passer, but the offense remains limited in the passing aspect behind an offensive line that’s playing a lot of injured guys.
Final Thoughts
I don’t think the coaches got caught by surprise by the Purdy news since they have been in contact with Thomas Castellanos.
However, the direction they choose to go will be telling. If they sign another high school quarterback, that likely means they feel confident in Jordan Travis’s growth as a quarterback.
If they target someone from the transfer portal, then that could signal they value competition for Jordan Travis and likely experience since I doubt they’d sign someone with little to no experience from the portal.
The only problem is there could be some potential targets that haven’t entered the portal yet. The key will be to get whoever they sign in for the spring so they can go camp and learn the offense.
If they can’t enroll until the summer or fall, that likely does FSU little good in terms of value for the 2022 season.
Here’s to hoping Jordan Travis can remain healthy in the next four games. McKenzie Milton hasn’t played since the Louisville game, and Tate Rodemaker probably isn’t ready to lead this team to victory against anyone left on the schedule.