The transfer portal is a very real thing and while attrition has always been part of the sport of college football there has never been more attention paid to movement before.

Often times the news would go underreported, in the first game of the season you might look up and down the sideline for a player and just assume that they have left to go elsewhere.

That is different today as portal news is very real. Even the top teams like Ohio State have dipped into the portal to pick up a key piece. Last season it was the addition of offensive guard Jonah Jackson and this year it is the addition of running back Trey Sermon.

Ohio State has also been on the other end of things, losing players like Keandre Jones a couple of years ago and this season in losing guys like Brendon White, Alex Williams and Jaelen Gill.

The portal is a place where a struggling team can reshape itself, look at Rutgers as the Scarlet Knights under Greg Schiano have been just about as active as anyone in the portal, getting players who have been within other programs for one, two or more years.

The Big Ten on the whole has been busy with the portal and we are going to focus mostly on the players that are coming in rather than the players who are coming out. Some will be names that people are already aware of, others will be players that could emerge this season or just move from being depth in one program to being depth at a new program.

We start this out by looking at players on the offensive side of the ball.

If there is one position that seems to get the most attention in the portal, it is the quarterbacks. And why not? Only one can play at a time, you generally are not swapping them out series-by-series and for whatever reason, this is the position that seems to be the least patient in waiting for their turn.

One of the biggest names of the offseason to move is Taulia Tagovailoa, the younger brother of Tua and fellow member of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Taulia will now call Maryland home, but he has not received any sort of waiver at this point, so his 2020 status is up in the air.

Taulia played in three games last season for the Tide, was 9-12 passing for 100 yards and a score. Mac Jones is the next man up however and with Tua off to the pros, the younger Tagovailoa made the move to play under familiar coach Mike Locksley. And with the Terps losing a pair of quarterbacks to the portal, the starting position may not be that far out of reach with only fellow transfer (from Virginia Tech) Josh Jackson standing in his way. Of course, the NCAA has to clear him first, and we are never quite sure what is going to happen on that front.

A quarterback move that is not being reported on as much is the move of Peyton Ramsey from Indiana to Northwestern. The move of Ramsey really clears the way for Michael Penix, Jr. to lead the way for the Hoosiers and now the Wildcats get a three-year QB in Ramsey. Ramsey was 204-300 last season in throwing for 2,454 yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions on the year. Northwestern went to the portal a couple of years ago and landed Hunter Johnson out of Clemson and to say that 2019 did not work out would be an understatement. Johnson only played in six games and was a dismal 50-108 for 432 yards with one touchdown and four picks.

Ramsey on the other hand has a career completion percentage of 66-percent, has thrown for 42 scores and is a veteran of the Big Ten. Northwestern was 126th out of 130 teams in passing offense last year, help is needed in a big way.

Other moves: Peyton Powell from Baylor to Rutgers, Austin Burton from UCLA to Purdue, Noah Verdal from Nebraska to Rutgers

Not as much movement here as at other positions and of note to Ohio State fans is obviously the move of Trey Sermon into the program. Ohio State obviously is looking to help fill some of the production that left town when JK Dobbins opted to enter the NFL early. Master Teague suffered a knee injury on the first day of spring practice, on the heels of Marcus Crowley getting hurt during the 2019 season and at that point, the Buckeyes were left with one scholarship back with Steele Chambers. Now the Buckeyes have a five-headed monster when you put in freshman Miyan Williams and the season should start out with a bit of a committee approach as Ohio State figures out who is the hot-hand.

As for the rest of the Big Ten, Penn State’s Ricky Slade and Nebraska’s Maurice Washington are both in the portal but have not found homes as of yet while Indiana dodged a bullet as Sampson James entered the portal and then withdrew, opting to stay with the Hoosiers.

Slade played for two seasons with the Nittany Lions and averaged 46 carries over those two seasons. He has just shy of 500 career rushing yards and eight touchdowns, with six of those coming in 2018. Journey Brown emerged as the main running back last season and Slade has decided to explore other options.

As for Washington, his career in Lincoln (Neb.) had been slowed with legal issues and his future always seemed to be up in the air. He only played through the first seven games of last season before leaving the team. His 298 yards and one score were well below what he did in his first season where he ran for 455 yards and three scores.

As for anyone who has already announced that they will be playing in the Big Ten last year, that would only include the move of Jordan Castleberry who is moving from Michigan to Maryland. Castleberry did not play in the 2019 season for the Wolverines, so that will be considered his redshirt season, but no waiver has been granted at this point, so it may take a year for Castleberry to be able to play for the Terps with three years to play three.

A couple of big names have left or are leaving the Big Ten from the past season, most notably Tarik Black leaving Michigan to go to Texas and the recent announcement of JD Spielman leaving Nebraska.

Black has had little luck in terms of health and had seen his first two seasons cut short in Ann Arbor (Mich.) with a combined 15 receptions over the first two years. 2019 allowed him to play a more complete season but for whatever reason, the Wolverines never really got him the ball as he was held to 25 receptions for just 323 yards and one score. A fresh start in Austin (Texas) may be just what he needs.

Spielman is another player in what feels like a mass exodus out of Lincoln (Neb.) this offseason. Spielman has put up 800-plus yards in all three of his seasons with the Huskers and is coming off of a 49-catch season, his lowest output in receptions during his career, but his 898 receiving yards is a career high.

There are two names that really catch eyes when it comes to receivers who are coming into the league and the first one is Brian Hightower, making the move from Miami (Fla.) to Illinois.

The former Rivals250 receiver out of IMG Academy never really put up big numbers at Miami but at 6-foot-3, 200-pounds, he will be a big target in the Illinois offense. Hightower only played in two games last season and has played in a grand total of six during his career. He will have to sit out this upcoming season per transfer rules unless a waiver is filed for and approved.

The other move is an internal move within the Big Ten as Aron Cruickshank leaves Wisconsin and heads to Rutgers. Known more for what he has done in the special teams game, Cruickshank is able to go back closer to home as a Brooklyn native. It is surprising to see that he only has four career receptions but also has been more active in terms of “rushes” on jet sweeps and plays of that nature.

Other moves: DeJuan Ellis from Virginia Tech to Maryland, Corey Rau (TE) from SMU to Ohio State (walk-on), Jared Bubak (TE) from Arizona State to Nebraska

Only a couple of moves here with one taking place inside the league with Coy Cronk making a graduate transfer move from Indiana to Iowa. Cronk was a four-year starter and is not going to Iowa just to hang out, look for him to get into the mix of things as Cronk was a left tackle with the Hoosiers and a team captain. Cronk will have the one year of eligibility left due to only playing in four games last season and meeting redshirt requirements.

Not many football fans know a lot about Wofford football but Blake Jeresaty was impressive and reached All-American status on the Division I-FCS level. Now he will be playing at Illinois this upcoming season. Jeresaty had 127 knockdowns last season for the Terriers.

Dylan Powell is transferring from Stanford to Indiana and has experience throughout the interior line. He is coming off of an injury season and will attempt to get the rare 6th-year waiver, and if successful, will have two years with the Hoosiers.

Other moves: Breyn Jones from Mississippi State to Illinois, Nouredin Nouili from Colorado State to Nebraska (walk-on)