While transfer portal details are rare and hard to verify, the overall trend is that defensive standouts might be the bargain play over a top offense. Quarterbacks have already made deals like Darrian Mensah’s $4 million reported payday a year ago, with some speculating the market might drive over $5 million now.

But when On3sports provided a recent peak behind the curtain at the values and costs of recruiting portal talent, it was clear that defense remains the value play. On3 provided a few fascinating details.

Defensive linemen can be relatively high priced. For instance, On3 cited the reported deal of David Bailey (which some have valued at over $3 million) as the potential high side of defensive paydays. Elite pass-rushers aren’t cheap, and the $1.5 million high end value quoted by On3 is clearly contemplating that possibility.

Penn State edge Chaz Coleman is one of the players already indicated to be entering the portal who might command the type of value On3 notes. With three years of eligibility, the 6’4″, nearly 250 pound Coleman is an elite prospect. Another name nearly on that level is Oklahoma State transfer Wendell Gregory.

But defensive tackles, despite the relative scarcity of players with the physical attributes to provide lane-clogging snaps, tend to lag a bit lower than pass rushers on the college football food chain. If pass-rushing ends are still a bargain compared to quarterbacks, then defensive tackies will generally land cheaper still, with few likely to break the $1 million barrier by On3’s projection. One name that could be in that company, though, is Wake Forest transfer Mateen Ibirogba.

The massive value of the entire recruiting world, as documented by On3, lies in the secondary. Ranking defensive backs lowest of all the position groups profiled, On3 noted that vast number of defensive backs who join the portal. On3 indicates that an elite safety is probably a slightly higher value than a cornerback.

At the moment, Iowa State’s Jontez Williams is a top corner transfer, while Tennessee’s Boo Carter leads a slightly underwhelming safety class.

But at a projected value of $300,000-$850,000, a school could afford an entire secondary cheaper than an elite quarterback, at least according to the valuation reported by On3. Whatever path to the Playoff the next portal-playing team chooses, defense is clearly the economic option.

The transfer portal has radically challenged the college football landscape.

What was once a way for a few players to plead their case for a chance to switch schools has now become one of the most active free agency periods in all of sports.

Instead of needing to recruit high school students and hope the development turns them into future stars, programs can now change their entire outlook in one offseason by signing already-developed talent in the transfer portal.

For many teams like the Indianas and Vanderbilts of the world, backed by strong NIL foundations and donors, it’s been a godsend.

For the James Madison Dukes, the loveable, scrappy underdog story of the 2025 season, making it all the way to the College Football Playoff, the transfer portal is a monster that they can’t fight off.

A week after their loss to the Oregon Ducks on the road in the first round of the CFP, their fearless leader, Bob Chesney, is already drinking mimosas in Los Angeles in his new job at UCLA.

More news: Transfer Portal Prediction: CFP Team Lands 8,000-Yard QB Brendan Sorsby

More news: Transfer Portal Prediction: 5-Star Florida QB DJ Lagway Lands at SEC Rival

Beyond that, their quarterback and on-field captain, Alonza Barnett III, is transferring to join a bigger, more well-funded program in the new year.

He isn’t the only offensive player to leave the Dukes. In fact, all 11 of their starters from the College Football Playoff are either graduating or have entered the transfer portal, leaving James Madison barren.

North Texas finished 11–2 (7–1 AAC) and reached the American Athletic Conference title game before falling 34–21 to Tulane, which clinched its first-ever College Football Playoff berth.

Even so, the Mean Green closed the regular season as one of college football’s highest-scoring offenses and earned a New Mexico Bowl berth.

The team’s starting quarterback, Drew Mestemaker, led the FBS in passing yards in 2025 with 4,129 yards, throwing 31 touchdowns against seven interceptions while completing 70.2% of his passes and recording multiple 300-yard performances, including a 608-yard school and AAC single-game record against Charlotte.

With the January transfer window approaching, Mestemaker is expected to enter the portal, a move that would remove North Texas’ most productive player from its roster.

With Mestemaker set to test the transfer market after a breakout year, several potential landing spots have quickly emerged. Here are the top three:

1. Oklahoma State

Eric Morris, who coached Mestemaker at North Texas in 2025, was hired by Oklahoma State on November 25; that continuity, system fit, and Morris’s direct knowledge make OSU the most natural landing spot.

2. Indiana

Media reports and portal analysts indicate Indiana has shown “significant interest,” with the Hoosiers’ offensive profile, recent success with transfer quarterbacks, and need for a proven starter aligning as Fernando Mendoza prepares to move on to the NFL.

3. Texas Tech

A Texas product who thrives in high-volume, high-tempo passing schemes similar to what Texas Tech runs, Mestemaker feels like a logical fit. With senior Behren Morton set to move on after the CFP, Mestemaker could step in as an immediate starter for the Red Raiders.

An Austin, Texas, native and program walk-on, Mestemaker did not have a conventional high-school QB resume, but developed rapidly under the North Texas staff.

His breakout redshirt-freshman season brought national recognition, including The American Offensive Player of the Year award, First Team All-American honors, and the Burlsworth Trophy, which is given annually to the nation’s top former walk-on.

For competing college football programs, Mestemaker offers a low-risk, high-reward option at quarterback, while for Mestemaker, the decision centers on staying within a familiar system or pursuing a bigger stage.

Read More at College Football HQ

• $2.4 million QB emerges as transfer portal candidate for SEC program

• Major college football program ‘expected to hire’ 66-year-old head coach

• College Football Playoff team loses player to transfer portal

• College Football Playoff team loses starting QB to transfer portal

The Rose Bowl will feature the top-seeded Indiana Hoosiers taking on the Alabama Crimson Tide. Still, the consensus seems to be that Indiana is the darling of many fans going into the game, with underdog Alabama still seen as the traditional power.

It goes beyond that, however, for many within the Alabama program. After all, there was some debate nationally on whether this team even belonged in the College Football Playoff field. For Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard, that doubt may not be the focus, but it does motivate the Crimson Tide.

“Not necessarily,” Germie Bernard said. “We’re always just focused on us and playing our best game, but obviously, it adds an extra fuel to our fire knowing that everybody is doubting us. Nobody wants to see Bama win. We put that on our shoulder, and we just work harder.”

The narrative surrounding Alabama had been that they finished the season struggling, with a notable loss in the SEC Championship Game. The Crimson Tide even found itself in a debate with Notre Dame and Miami for the last two at-large bids. In the end, Alabama made the field but there were still questions and doubts following the team.

A win over Oklahoma in the opening round of the CFP silenced some doubt about Alabama. In particular, the way Alabama won, coming back from down 17-0. With rumors swirling around head coach Kalen DeBoer at the time, there was a growing narrative surrounding the Crimson Tide that something was wrong. So, finding a way to come from behind and win, which included a Bernard catch for the ages, helped solidify that the Crimson Tide belonged there.

Kalen DeBoer knows he now needs to get the best he possibly can out of his team. So, in a recent appearance on The Triple Option, he broke down how to get the best out of his team in the College Football Playoff.

“Well, yeah, and, again, we started out slow, but I thought, really, the last two and a half to three quarters, we really played well, we really played team football. And that’s where it starts. I think that’s one thing we have, is we have a real team. And, you know, again, the SEC Championship was something that, you know, really was frustrating for our guys. (We) know we didn’t play our best, but, you keep working back, there’s just been these moments where the team just always rises to the top and guys are playing for each other. And, I think our guys truly believe that, you know, when you play great competition, there are going to be plays, there are going to be times and moments where it doesn’t go perfect,” DeBoer said.

“But, the other side of the ball, the other phase of the game is going to figure it out. They’re going to make an adjustment. They’re going to get back on a roll. Once we really settled in, I thought both coordinators made some good adjustments. I thought our coordinators, and our players, did as good of a job in this game as we have all season long of just staying the course but also adjusting to the moment.”

Alabama will meet Indiana in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. EST.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Sunday morning, three days ahead of the Michigan football team’s Citrus Bowl matchup against Texas and hours before Kyle Whittingham was introduced as the Wolverines’ head coach of the future, defensive coordinator Wink Martindale met with reporters in Orlando. He discussed Michigan’s defense, the challenges Texas presents, Michigan’s upcoming coaching changes, the sustainability of college football and more.

Opening statement

How is everybody doing? Hope you had good holidays and continue to have them. Happy New Year. We have been preparing for this for a while now and it is all coming together. We are excited about playing this game.

Q. What’s one thing you want fans to know about this team?

I can’t speak for the team but — I guess I can. (Laughter). Defensively, we take great pride in how hard we play, and to show the joy of the game. I think that that is why this game will be entertaining to watch. You have some really good players on the field, both sides.

Our guys love to compete, and they have been doing it all during Bowl prep. It is nothing new to us. We don’t have to ramp up because it is a game, and that is just how we are and how we do it.

Q. I don’t believe any of your defensive captains from the beginning of the season are active in this game. Who stepped up? Jimmy is one. Can you speak to the leadership you’ve seen from different players stepping up?

I think a bunch of different guys, Ray, Benny, Jimmy, which I knew that. I called that shot two years ago. Just each position group has somebody stepping up. I mean, Dom Nichols, young guy that is really prepared and has gotten better the last two weeks, even. Excited to see him play. The secondary, Shug, Jyaire Hill, he is a natural leader. TJ Metcalf.

Q. What have you seen from the Texas offense? What stands out?

You want me to go first? I mean, obviously, you look at the quarterback. I mean, he is a very talented young man. Respect to that entire family for — with his two uncles and his dad, which they said Coop was the better athlete out of all three of them.

Their offense is explosive. It is one of those things, though. It is like — remember — well, maybe — well, yeah, there’s some people my age (Laughter) — when you had that box of cereal and you didn’t know what the surprise was? It is the same thing going against that offense. You are not sure who is going to be there, but they are going to be very talented.

It is going to be a great challenge for us. Jim put it the best way you could. There is talent in each position group. There are playmakers. Respect to the quarterback and what they have, because they are a great team. We respect them. That is pretty much it.

Q. Coach … you’ve seen a lot of NFL talent. How does Jimmy (Rolder) stack up?

He is going to be a draft choice, a high draft choice. He is an excellent football player.

Q. How many starters will you be missing because of NFL opt-outs? And does that show how Michigan feels about any football game, whether it’s a playoff or not?

Well, I mean, that is a good analogy to it, about how the kids love playing football. That is a great analogy to it.

But every year is different. I think we are going to be missing three guys off the defense, and other guys have stepped right up. Guys that everybody has seen, the Michigan people here that have seen us play all year. That is one thing is that we have played a lot of different individuals.

It’s going to be fun to watch.

Q. Players describe you as someone who does tell it like it is often. How have you handled the last three weeks in terms of becoming a leader on a team without a head coach?

Well, I don’t know if you handle it is the right word. It is a tough situation. It is a tough situation. First of all, I know what we signed up for, in coaching, in the profession itself.

Moving — my wife has moved enough. It is hard because of not only the relationships we have. We have become family, because we spend more time — the coaches themselves, the assistants — together than we do with our families. I am to the point where I want to look out for them. I want to get them a job. However, whatever else comes from it — but they are professionals. They prepared the same way for this game as they have every other game.

But it is, like I was talking to Jimmy about it, with Twitter and everything else, it is entertainment for people to see all this. I am getting emotional talking about it. It is real life. There are little ones that have to be uprooted from school and things like that. So, it sucks.

But you can see how I handled it (Laughter).

Q. If you’d elaborate on that, just how you see college football now, where it is, is it sustainable?

I have no idea if it’s sustainable or not. You look at it as a fan and you say, Oh, there really was money there, you know what I mean? It has become so transactional now. The transactional part, everybody understands — when I say everybody, the parents and the kids, they understand it.

But they still have their — I don’t want to say high school mentality but younger mentality – now, there are kids getting NIL deals in high school, too. It’s crazy.

It is going to be a challenge, it really is. It is going to be a challenge. I think it is good for the game. I do think it is good for the game.

I think one of the challenges are that the kids that sign these NIL deals, they are going to be treated like pros. I mean, before long, you will see their NIL deals in the paper. You will see all the details — just like the NFL.

I think they have to have a salary cap at some time, at one point, they have to do it. They have to cap it, I would think. We will have to see, to follow it.

I know it is a great game, the game of football, and I reflect back now instead of looking forward. I love this game, and I hope that it keeps trending in the right direction. You are worried about the money part of it.

Q. I know we’ve seen Cam Brandt and Dom Nichols all season but can you speak to the edge position? You’ll be missing a couple starters.

You have TJ. Lu (Edokpayi) has come on, don’t you think? There are other young guys that we are going to get to see live in action, and I am looking forward to it. But the edge, they are going to be — we missed J-Stew last year, but it is a fun group to watch.