Washington expected to land high-profile quarterback from transfer portal
Washington is the likely landing spot for Mississippi State transfer quarterback Will Rogers, according to 247Sports’ Chris Hummer.
The national portal analyst for 247 logged a crystal ball prediction on Monday for Rogers to transfer to Washington. On the outlet’s transfer portal reaction show, Hummer said Washington is the “heavy favorite.”
Washington also has a connection to Rogers already on the team; Dillon Johnson transferred from MSU last offseason and has been crucial to UW’s 13-0 season.
UW has been linked to several portaling quarterbacks in recent weeks, and a move for the former Air Rad disciple makes a ton of sense on paper. UW is preparing for the College Football Playoff, led by Heisman Trophy candidate Michael Penix Jr. But that doesn’t mean the staff isn’t also preparing for the post-Penix era.
When Penix departs after the season, UW will return Dylan Morris and Austin Mack. Morris will be moving into his fifth year, Mack his second. The 2024 class features a verbal commitment from 3-star California passer Dermaricus Davis.
Mack was a 4-star, top-250 signee in the 2023 cycle, but he also reclassified to join the program a year early. Morris was a 4-star signee in the 2019 cycle.
Should Rogers join the room, he’d likely be the favorite to win the starting job ahead of the 2024 season in what could very well be a bridge year between Penix and Mack.
Rogers is a 6-foot-2 Mississippi native. He was a Manning Award finalist in 2021 and 2022 playing in Mike Leach’s Air Raid system at Mississippi State.
Following Leach’s passing, Mississippi State switched gears offensively and Rogers didn’t enjoy the same kind of success in the new system in 2023. Injuries also played a role, limiting him to eight games. He finished the year with 1,626 yards passing, 12 touchdowns, and four interceptions while completing 60% of his passes.
But Rogers is still one of the top quarterbacks on the market. He started 40 games in his MSU career — including 38 consecutive starts at one point. He’s the only quarterback in SEC history with more than 1,000 career completions, and he holds MSU program records with 12,315 career passing yards and 94 career passing touchdowns.
He currently ranks fourth on the SEC’s career passing touchdowns list and second on the all-time passing yardage list.
Rogers has one year of eligibility remaining.