QB transfer market in full swing

If you were excited when your favorite college team signed a touted high school quarterback this offseason, don't be. Chances are good he will someday be throwing passes for someone else's favorite team. Quarterbacks often don't end up where they start, and more than 40 scholarship QBs from four-year schools have hit the transfer market since the end of the season. And that's only the first wave. It could turn into a transfer tsunami after spring practice. Let's go back to the 2014 recruiting class. Of the seven quarterbacks among the top 100 prospects in the 247Sports composite rankings, five ended up leaving their original school -- Kyle Allen (Texas A&M), Will Grier (Florida), Keller Chryst (Stanford), Brandon Harris (LSU) and David Cornwell (Alabama). Another, Jerrod Heard of Texas, was moved to receiver. The only top 100 quarterback from that class to truly finish what he started at the same place was national-title-winning Deshaun Watson at Clemson. So, be careful what you celebrate on Signing Day. Having a wild quarterback carousel has been the trend. Three quarterbacks from teams that finished in the national top 10 last season started their college careers somewhere else -- Heisman Trophy-winner Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma, Auburn's Jarrett Stidham and TCU's Kenny Hill. The 2018 quarterback transfer season is well underway. Who will help change the landscape of college football next season and beyond? Here is a look at 10 intriguing quarterback transfers, with his original team in parentheses: 1. Shea Patterson (Ole Miss) -- The former No. 1 QB recruit in the nation and Rebels' starter has two seasons of eligibility left and is already enrolled at quarterback-hungry Michigan. Question is: Will the NCAA grant him immediate eligibility because of sanctions against Ole Miss? 2. Jacob Eason (Georgia) -- Eason looked good as a true freshman in 2016 but was pushed out last season by true freshman Jake Fromm. Eason is transferring to Washington, where he will have to sit out 2018 while fourth-year starter Jake Browning finishes his eligibility. 3. Wilton Speight (Michigan) -- He threw for almost 3,200 yards at Michigan, although his 2017 season was cut short by a vertebrae injury. The graduate is expected to announce a destination this summer, and he might even consider a return to Michigan, according to the Detroit Free Press, if Patterson is ruled ineligible in 2018. 4. Dru Brown (Hawaii) -- He passed for 5,273 yards, with 37 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, in two seasons as the starter in Hawaii. His jump to Oklahoma State is a huge shift in competition and geography, but Brown will have every chance to win the starting job as a graduate transfer in the post-Mason Rudolph era. 5. K.J. Carta-Samuels (Washington) -- The former four-star recruit, tired of being Browning's backup with the Huskies, enrolled at UCLA as a grad transfer, jumping into an open competition to replace Josh Rosen. 6. Gardner Minshew (East Carolina) -- Minshew, who passed for 2,140 yards, with 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions last season, left school because of what he called a "family emergency," aiming to transfer closer to his Mississippi home. Among the schools interested: Alabama, which needs its own hedge against a potential quarterback transfer. 7. Keller Chryst (Stanford) -- The big, pro-style quarterback lost his starting job to K.J. Costello during the 2017 season and is looking around as a graduate transfer, including Tennessee, according to reports, where he would compete with sophomore Jarrett Guarantano. 8. Jalan McClendon (North Carolina State) -- He waited behind Jacoby Brissett and Ryan Finley, but with one season of eligibility left -- and Finley still around -- he can't wait any more. The former 2014 four-star recruit is pursuing a graduate transfer. 9. Brady White (Arizona State) -- The former four-star recruit was sidetracked by a 2016 ankle injury, but he'll get a fresh start as a grad transfer at Memphis, reuniting with Tigers head coach Mike Norvell, who recruited White when he was a Sun Devils assistant. Memphis has to replace NFL prospect Riley Ferguson. 10. Alex Thomson (Wagner) -- Should be an interesting leap from the FCS to Marshall after he missed most of last season because of a shoulder injury. Thomas, a 6-foot-5 graduate transfer, had interest from Tennessee before he picked Marshall, which has to replace NFL Draft early-entry Chase Litton. Several high-profile decisions are likely to come after spring ball. Among the quarterbacks to watch for transfers are Joe Burrow (Ohio State), Jalen Hurts (Alabama), Shane Buechele (Texas) and Brandon Dawkins (Arizona).