Three Predictions: Heisman Trophy, Tennessee’s slow start, Dylan Raiola
Rivals rankings director/transfer portal analyst Adam Friedman has three predictions on next season’s Heisman winner, Tennessee‘s sluggish portal season and Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola.
1. A TRANSFER WON’T WIN THE HEISMAN TROPHY IN 2025.
The Heisman win by Travis Hunter in December marked three consecutive years a transfer prospect had taken home college football’s highest honor. Hunter transferred to Colorado from Jackson State two seasons ago. Jayden Daniels, who began his career at Arizona State, turned into a star at LSU during his final season. Caleb Williams famously followed Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma to USC prior to the 2022 season.
Seven of the top nine favorites according to BetMGM are players who signed with their team out of high school. Arch Manning is the betting favorite at this early stage, followed by Garrett Nussmeier, Cade Klubnik, Jeremiah Smith, Drew Allar and Nico Iamaleava. LaNorris Sellers currently has the same odds as Dante Moore and Julian Sayin. If one of those seven do win the Heisman, they’d be the first non-transfer to win the Heisman since Bryce Young in 2021.
2. TENNESSEE’S SLUGGISH APPROACH TO THE PORTAL WON’T LAST.
Roster retention turned out to be a bigger part of Tennessee’s offseason plan than the program’s staff originally planned but the Vols were still able to keep key players such as Mike Matthews and Boo Carter from entering the portal. Normally, Tennessee is quite a bit more active in the transfer portal but this cycle it only signed four transfers – Sam Pendleton, Wendell Moe Jr., Star Thomas and Amari Jefferson.
In the past two cycles, the Vols signed at least eight transfers and each year they were able to bring in multiple impact players. The 2023 transfer class included Dont’e Thornton Jr., John Campbell Jr., Omarr Norman-Lott and Keenan Pili. Tennessee followed that group with players such as Lance Heard, Jermod McCoy and Chris Brazzell in the 2024 transfer class.
Look for the Vols to make their move during the spring transfer window and address a few key positions.
3. NEBRASKA’S TRANSFERS WILL TURN DYLAN RAIOLA INTO A BREAKOUT STAR.
Nebraska went to work during the winter transfer window bringing in multiple highly ranked prospects on both sides of the ball. On offense, Matt Rhule and company signed three top-40 transfer prospects in former Alabama starting offensive tackle Elijah Pritchett and receivers Dane Key and Nyziah Hunter. The trio of new receivers in Key, Hunter and four-star Hardley Gilmore could prove to be the best class of receivers in this transfer cycle.
After a year in which he showed flashes of brilliance, Dylan Raiola will be a breakout star next season thanks to this transfer haul. Help on the offensive line in the form of Pritchett should make things easier for Raiola but it’s really these three receivers that will make a huge difference and jumpstart this Nebraska offense.
Raiola has the ability to make the throws and now he’ll have a loaded receiving corps. The 2025 season is setting up to be a huge year for Raiola.
