Texas quarterback Maalik Murphy has entered the transfer portal, and there are two landing spots that stand out
With the 2023 college football regular season coming to an end, the transfer portal is the center of attention. Approximately 3,000 players—including several well-known players—have used the transfer portal. Most of those well-known figures have been quarterbacks, and several of those players have already decided where they want to play college football. Riley Leonard of Duke has chosen to continue his football career after logging into the transfer site. Dillon Gabriel of Oklahoma has already declared his plan to attend the University of Oregon. Grayson McCall of Coastal Carolina will transfer to North Carolina State.
While those three quarterbacks have selected their new residences, there are still many quarterbacks who are still undecided, like Cameron Ward of Washington State, Dante Moore of UCLA, and Kyle McCord of Ohio State. Now, Maalik Murphy of Texas has also stepped through the gate as a quarterback.
In terms of the quarterback room at the University of Texas, something has to give. In 2022, Maalik Murphy was ranked among the ESPN Top-300 recruits; however, due to Quinn Ewers’ transfer from Ohio State, Murphy had to wait his time. Once Arch Manning, the fifth overall prospect from the 2023 recruiting class, committed to the Longhorns, waiting for his time became more difficult. Murphy is now at the portal, hoping to get a chance to start. He’ll find a way to do that. Where would be the ideal place for him to be that guy, is the question.
After a difficult freshman season, Dante Moore—the second-ranked talent in the 2023 recruiting class—announced his intention to transfer from UCLA football, the world now knows that the team needs a quarterback. In the games that Moore did not start for UCLA football, Ethan Garbers started and played well most of the time. With five starts, the majority of his 984 yards and nine touchdowns were gained by passing, with just three interceptions. That’s all well and good, but 664 of those yards and seven of those touchdowns were gained against USC, Colorado, and Stanford, three of the worst college football defenses.
UCLA needs a quarterback, but they also need a player that can be their starting quarterback for the upcoming few campaigns. Maalik Murphy may fit the bill. Murphy has starter experience and is still eligible to play in three seasons of college. Murphy started both of Texas’s games this season—against BYU and Kansas State—and helped the Longhorns win both to advance to the College Football Playoff, despite the team’s lack of extensive starting experience. Although the loss of Dante Moore was painful for UCLA, the Bruins would have a strong consolation prize in Maalik Murphy, a native of Inglewood, California.
