From Notre Dame to NIU, the 4 most important college football transfer portal additions
Plenty of teams dipped into the transfer portal to fill needs and deepen rosters this offseason. That's the norm in college football.
Here are the most important transfer portal additions for Illinois, Notre Dame, Northwestern and Northern Illinois from this past offseason as the 2026 season approaches.
Northwestern - Linebacker Kobie McKinzie
Northwestern is coming off a successful 2025 season, where the team finished above .500, won a bowl game and came away with key Big Ten wins.
The ‘Cats transfer portal additions reflect the desire to win more in 2026, specifically the addition of linebacker Kobie McKinzie.
Coming from Oklahoma, McKinzie was a piece of arguably the SEC’s best defense last season, and he steps into a role vacated by the graduated Mac Uihlein.
NU added a group of veteran defensive players like Brenden Deasfernandes and Jamaal Johnson in the transfer portal, among others. That adds to players already in place like Robert Fitzgerald, Braydon Brus and Braden Turner.
The scouting report says McKinzie has some work to do to improve his skills in pass coverage, but the intangible traits he brings already rivals some of the top linebacker leaders Northwestern has had in the past, like Paddy Fisher, Blake Gallagher and Anthony Walker, Jr.
That will go a long way with a team that needs to mesh its transfer portal additions with its incumbent starters.
By the numbers:
McKinzie was a captain during his time in Norman. He also had the numbers to go with that accolade.
In his 42 career games at Oklahoma, McKinzie recorded 84 total tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and four pass break ups.
Notre Dame – Defensive tackle Francis Brewu
Elijah Hughes was very productive last year for Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish saw him and Jason Onye lock down the interior of the defensive line in the second half of the season.
Those two are backups now. It’s a good problem to have.
The Irish added Pitt transfer Francis Brewu and Oregon Transfer Tionne Gray in the offseason. Brewu may be the key to the defense as a whole.
Notre Dame has a deep edge rusher core of Keon Keeley, Bryce Young and Boboucar Traore. Brewu has a reputation for being a run stuffer who can force pressure in the middle of the defense that can also provide pressure up the middle.
Even at 6-foot-1 and 285 pounds, Brewu seems undersized for an interior defender but he possess a combination of strength and power with few technical weaknesses that makes him an immediate impact player for a team that has national championship aspirations.
If Brewu can provide that consistently, it’ll benefit the pass rush and force errant throws or bad decisions. Notre Dame’s secondary – arguably the best secondary in the nation with Leonard Moore, Christian Gray, DJ McKinney, Adon Shuler and Tae Johnson – could benefit the most from that.
By the numbers:
Brewu’s stats don’t accurately measure how impactful he can be on the field. In 2025, he recorded 7.0 tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and 20 total pressures for Pitt.
Six of those seven tackles for loss came in Pitt’s final seven games of the regular season.
Illinois – Quarterback Katin Houser
Replacing Luke Altmeyer won’t be an easy task. The Illini reached new heights as Altmeyer got better. With Houser, the Illini get a different style of quarterback but can pick up right where they left off with Houser.
Altmeyer had a dual-threat capability, scoring 12 rushing touchdowns and rushing for 741 yards in his time with the Illini. Houser has the same type of ability, as he’s rushed for 15 scores in his college career.
Both Houser and Altmeyer are similar in terms of quarterback style, meaning he should fit in nearly seamlessly for an Illini team that tailored its offense around Altmeyer as he took over as QB1. Houser isn’t a stranger to the Big Ten, either. He started his career at Michigan State.
Houser’s presence is two-fold, giving Illinois a plug-and-play quarterback while also giving the Illini a bridge to Carson Boyd, who gets to sit behind and learn from Houser while he prepares to take a run at the starting quarterback job in 2027.
By the numbers:
Houser comes to Illinois as one of the most productive quarterbacks in the transfer portal. He threw for 3,300 yards ,19 touchdowns and six interceptions last season with a completion percentage of 65.9 percent.
Through four seasons of college football, Houser has amassed 6,438 passing yards and 43 passing touchdowns.
Northern Illinois - Quarterback Taron Dickens
Northern Illinois is in one of the most unique positions in college football.
So long, Mid-American Conference. Hello, Mountain West. The Huskies will take on the MWC in football only this year. They have interim head coach Rob Harley, who moved from defensive coordinator to interim head coach after Thomas Hammock departed for the NFL.
Now, with co-offensive coordinators Tony Peterson and Quinn Sanders, the Huskies have a chance to make a great first impression on their new conference.
The best way to do that is with a productive quarterback. NIU got one in Taron Dickens.
Dickens entered the transfer portal from Western Carolina and signed with NIU in July. This all came after he originally signed with North Carolina during the 2026 offseason, but de-committed from the Tar Heel program and re-entered the transfer portal.
Now, Dickens comes to NIU after a stellar year at the FCS level. He took over as the full-time starter in 2025 and threw a Western Carolina single-season school record and Southern Conference record 38 touchdowns. He showed dynamic playmaking ability as a scrambler, too.
Dickens will have to compete for the starting job with sophomore Brady Davidson, who saw playing time as a true freshman. But, whoever wins that quarterback battle will thoroughly earn it.
By the numbers:
Dickens caught the eyes of Power 4 teams in the portal after he threw for 3,508 yards, 38 touchdowns and just two interceptions in 2025. Against Mercer in the 2025 season, Dickens finished that game with an eye-popping stat line of 551 yards passing, seven touchdowns and 11.2 average yards per attempt. That was his second 500-yard game of the season, as he opened the 2025 season throwing for 582 and six scores against Samford.
Going deeper, Dickens’ success is more than just a one-year flash in the pan. In his two seasons at Western Carolina, he had a 74 percent completion percentage while throwing for 5,063 yards, 51 touchdowns and five interceptions for Western Carolina.