Recruiting services can sometimes be accurate, often interesting, and occasionally completely off the mark. This is also true for transfer portal rankings.
One might assume that transfer portal rankings would be more precise since they typically involve players with known performance history, at least for those who have had a chance to play. However, that’s not always the case.
Players choose to transfer for various reasons, including:
• Less playing time than anticipated.
• Better NIL opportunities elsewhere.
• Graduate students looking for an extra season.
• A desire for a change, often referred to as the grass-is-greener syndrome.
If a player decides to transfer due to limited playing time at their previous school, their value can sometimes be perceived as lower in transfer portal rankings than at the time they signed out of high school. This seems to apply to linebacker Xavian Sorey Jr., who transferred to Arkansas after a limited role at Georgia.
As a redshirt sophomore at Georgia, Sorey participated in 11 games but only started twice. After transferring to Arkansas, he led the team with 99 tackles and shared the lead in tackles for loss with 9.5. Fortunately for Arkansas, coach Sam Pittman expressed relief that Sorey will return for his senior year. Despite concerns from fans and analysts about the exodus of 30 players into the transfer portal, Pittman and his staff made solid improvements through transfers in December.
It’s important to note that rankings and recruiting services evaluate transfers differently, often focusing on quantity rather than quality.
Here’s how three different services ranked Arkansas:
• 247Sports – 26th overall with three 4-star transfers and 17 3-star transfers.
• On3.com – 44th but noted a slight improvement for Arkansas compared to what they lost.
• Rivals – 10th overall and fourth among SEC teams.
I’m not a recruiting expert and have never claimed to be one. Like with many issues, I believe the truth lies somewhere in the middle, and I would say 247Sports has a reasonable assessment. You can review these rankings and form your own opinions.
Pittman was pleased with how the team managed to strengthen their offensive line and bolster their receiving and running back positions and hopes to add more standout players like Sorey in the future.
