We are not 2 weeks out of the National Championship game and it doesn’t feel like the season is over yet. The beginning to the off-season has been one of the craziest in over a decade and has had extremely talented players moving from one blueblood to another and creating this “Free Agency” like feel. Two of the biggest players have made their decision within the past 24 hours and let’s just say, College Football has turned upside down with these decisions. And oh boy how the College Football world has reacted to these moves:
Tate Martell, Miami (Fl.)
TBoth sides of the fanbases and fans of CFB have been vocal and had their opinion on the decision and whether Martell will last the rest of his career there. Tate has been apart of 3 College Football programs before he even played a snap at Ohio State. Miami will be the 4th team that’s he’s been apart/committed too. He even transferred High Schools when he moved from California to Prep School Powerhouse, Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas.
Martell got offered by Washington all the way back in 2012, when Tate wasn’t even a HS athlete yet. In 2014, Tate would transfer from Cali to Bishop Gorman in hope that he would garner some more attention and collect some offers. 3 Years after that first offer, he decommitted to UW and committed to Texas A&M. After a dozen more P5 offers and some more time, Martell would decommit from Texas A&M in May. After a few more offers and 2 unofficial visits to Ohio State, He would sign his LOI to Ohio State.
With Dwayne Haskins declaring for the pros, it looked like Martell was destined for the starting job this year. Until Justin Fields made the biggest move in years with the decision to transfer from Georgia and let Jake Fromm have the keys to the Ferrari that is the Georgia Offense. Even though their were rumors of Fields heading to Ohio State, Martell wasn’t fazed by the rumors and took it as a bit of a challenge: “word of advice, don’t swing and miss. Especially your second time”. With him ending up transferring, Tate wanted no part of Justin as he put himself on the transfer portal. He visited West Virginia and Miami over the weekend and similar to his past, wasn’t too hesitant in his decision.
Playing as a backup at Ohio State, Tate would throw for 268 Yards and 1 Touchdown. He would also rush for 128 Yards and 2 Touchdowns. Tate will have to sit out this year, but will be ready to take the keys in 2020.
Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma
The story of Jalen Hurts has been up and down with a ton of upside to start his career. With him leading Alabama to a national championship game back to back seasons, it all went downhill during last year’s National Championship. The story of Tua happened and had College Football buzzing about the 2018 season and who would start. It would end up being Tua’s job and Jalen would have to sit in the backseat and watch Tua lead Alabama to another perfect regular season.
Tua struggled mightily in the SEC Championship game and was pulled. It was Jalen’s time to shine and he did as he lead Alabama from a 2 touchdown deficit against Georgia and sent Bama to the CFP for the 5th year in a row. Tua would end up starting in the National Championship game and struggled once again as Clemson hammered Alabama, 44-16. Jalen has been nothing but professional through this entire process and made the decision to transfer away from Alabama.
Rumors surfaced around as he would stay south, but move a bit closer to home. Jalen made the decision to Transfer to Transfer U which has been Oklahoma. Oklahoma hasn’t had a QB committed back in HS start a whole season since 2014 with Trevor Knight. And they more than likely wont have one start until 2020. Jalen is a Grad Transfer, so he will be eligible immediately to play. Jalen threw for 5,626 yards and 48 touchdowns in his 2 years starting at Bama. He also rushed for 1,976 yards and 23 touchdowns.
Image Credit: https://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/jalen_hurts_reportedly_enters_name_in_ncaa_transfer_portal/s1_127_28180871
