The transfer portal has changed the way college football teams construct their rosters, and the SEC is no stranger to that. Most teams were able to better their rosters using the transfer portal, but let’s have a look at five of the transfers who I think will have the most impact in the SEC in 2022.

*Disclaimer: in order to prevent this list to be nothing but Alabama and Ole Miss players, I restricted it to one player per team.

1. Jaxson Dart QB – Ole Miss

After an eventful freshman campaign at USC, Jaxson Dart was expected to be the starter for the Trojans in 2022 before Lincoln Riley came to town and brought fellow 5-star QB Caleb Williams with him. With the departure of Matt Corral to the NFL, Ole Miss was looking for his replacement as well, and a match made in heaven occurred. Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has a long history of developing quarterbacks, and he is getting one that is more polished and talented than Corral was when Kiffin was hired in 2019. If Dart can develop as well as Corral did under Kiffin, he may be exactly what the Rebels need to finally conquer the SEC West and reach the SEC Championship Game. 

2. Spencer Rattler QB – South Carolina 

It’s fair to say that Spencer Rattler being at South Carolina to begin 2022 was on no one’s radar at the beginning of last season. The former consensus Heisman favorite had a tumultuous season at Oklahoma last year, where he saw his backup take his job and run away with it. South Carolina may have been an under the radar choice for Rattler, but he reunites with Shane Beamer, who was the associate head coach at Oklahoma during Rattler’s freshman year. With Rattler at the helm and with other SEC East programs having question marks after spring ball, South Carolina is poised to make some noise and at least make things interesting for the defending champion Georgia Bulldogs. 

3. Eli Ricks CB – Alabama 

Sigh, the evil empire is at it again. Coming off of an incredible freshman season at LSU where he picked off four passes and ran two back for touchdowns, Eli Ricks was limited to just six games in 2021 before opting for shoulder surgery that ended his season. Taking his talents to Alabama, Ricks will be an immediate impact for a secondary that battled injuries at the back end of last year. Ricks will be asked to cover the opposing team’s best receiver and can even step into the box in run situations. Following the successes of transfers Jameson Williams and Henry To’oTo’o in Tuscaloosa, Ricks is looking to continue the trend of transfers making an impact for the Crimson Tide on their way to another national championship run.

4. Jadon Haselwood WR – Arkansas 

The former No. 1 WR recruit back in 2019, Jadon Haselwood had an up and down couple of seasons at Oklahoma and never could live up to the WR1 status he had as a recruit. Following the turnover at Oklahoma, Haselwood decided to reconnect with his high school head coach, Jimmy Smith, who is now the running backs coach at Arkansas. Although he didn’t show his full potential at Oklahoma, Haselwood chose the perfect place where he can rebound and take over the reins as WR1 left by star receiver Treylon Burks and boost this offense that showed flashes of greatness last season. 

5. Max Johnson QB – Texas A&M

Although he may not be one of the biggest names to transfer in the SEC, Max Johnson has a chance to make one of the biggest impacts in the conference for his new team. After starting all 12 regular season games for a talent-lacking LSU team, Johnson takes his talents to College Station where he will have the chance to play under offensive-minded head coach Jimbo Fisher. Following the historic recruiting class at Texas A&M, there will be no shortage of talent for the Aggies, who have already shown they can beat Alabama. Johnson is a clear upgrade over what they had last season, and there’s no reason to believe the Aggies can’t compete with Alabama and Ole Miss on top of the SEC West.