We are only a couple of weeks removed from the end of the 2025 season, but it is already time for the Illinois football team to start jockeying for position in 2026.
The new transfer portal rules go into effect this season, with the transfer portal opening on January 2 for two weeks. There is no more April portal window, which means that the two-week period in January is going to be crucial for the Illini.
Bret Bielema has done a great job adapting. He has taken the transfer portal head-on, and he has molded Illinois into a contender due to the transfer portal.
The success Illinois has had over the last four seasons – three eight-win seasons or more, one of which was a 10-win campaign – has been one of the most lucrative runs the program has ever seen. Behind center for all of those seasons has been a transfer portal quarterback.
Illinois landed Tommy DeVito, and he helped guide us to that first eight-win season. Luke Altmyer then stepped in and has had a combined 18 wins, and counting, over the last two years.
With that being said, I am currently looking at the transfer portal, and that trend of starting a transfer portal quarterback might be coming to an end. The market is pretty dry right now, but that doesn’t mean it won’t get crazy. Bowl games have barely started, and there are always quarterbacks looking for a new home.
Illinois football quarterback scenario heading into the 2026 season
Now, when I say the trend might come to an end of Illinois having a transfer portal quarterback behind center, there is a chance that trend does continue.
Illinois landed Ethan Hampton from the transfer portal last season. He was our backup in 2026, but at the end of the day, does the former Northern Illinois quarterback have it in him to lead Illinois to the College Football Playoff? The last time he was a starter, he threw for 1,600 yards, 12 touchdowns, and six interceptions. That doesn’t give me confidence that he can improve those numbers in the Big Ten.
So, this brings me back to my original point. Illinois’ successful run the last four years has been with transfer portal quarterbacks. There is a legitimate chance that, if the transfer portal doesn’t bear more fruit, Illinois rides into 2026 with a quarterback we recruited and developed from the ground up.
Illinois already lost Trey Petty to the transfer portal. That leaves two other options on the roster. Jershaun Newton, brother of former Illini great Jer’Zhan Newton, was a former three-star recruit and a top 800 guy coming out of the class of 2025. He redshirted his freshman season.
If the Illini don’t look to the transfer portal, my favorite to land the starting quarterback job would be Carson Boyd. The electric former three-star recruit out of Cardinal Ritter College Prep in St. Louis has all of the talent in the world. I believe he can outgun all of the other Illinois quarterbacks.
In his final three seasons at the high school level, Boyd threw for 6,646 yards, 78 touchdowns, and just 10 interceptions, which includes a senior year of 3,261 yards, 27 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.
The dual-threat ability is something Barry Lunney Jr. dabbled in with Altmyer, too. Boyd brings that type of energy and more to the table. He is an electric runner, as he also had 1,162 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground as a senior.
It would be a risk not going into the transfer portal and getting another quarterback who could potentially start, but Illinois shouldn’t go get a name just for the sake of getting a name. There is a chance we buck the trend of a transfer portal quarterback and ride with someone like Boyd. The success will still surely follow.