If Dave Campbell’s Texas Football’s All-Texas team was selected after the season’s first quarter, a good chunk of the honorees wouldn’t have played college football in-state last year. It’s a sign of the changing times, but also a nod to how well these Texas teams are utilizing the Transfer Portal. According to our summer magazine, all Texas FBS programs except Rice took double-digit transfers. 

Here is a ranking of the top five transfers in Texas college football through the season’s first quarter.

5. Texas Longhorns wide receiver Isaiah Bond (Alabama)

Bond is not only the leader of Texas’ loaded wide receiver room, he also has its best touchdown celebration. His routes are smoother than 007, and his top-end speed has stretched the defense like Xavier Worthy did last season. Frankly, the fact that Texas’ receiver room is obnoxiously deep (four players have double-digit receptions) is the only thing holding back Bond’s stats and keeping him from the top slot in this ranking.

4. Baylor Bears linebacker Keaton Thomas (Northeast Mississippi CC)

Baylor is competing with Oklahoma State’s Trey Rucker and Nick Martin for the Big 12’s best linebacker tandem. Matt Jones has played for Baylor since 2019, but his running mate, Keaton Thomas, has added a new dynamic in the middle of Dave Aranda’s defense this year.

Thomas, who ranked second in the NJCAA with 107 tackles at Northeast Community College, joined Baylor in January and immediately cemented himself as a defensive leader, attending the 2024 Big 12 Media Days. He and Jones both rank among the conference’s top five tacklers, and Thomas is the Big 12’s third-highest-graded linebacker, per PFF.

3. Sam Houston Bearkats quarterback Hunter Watson (Iowa Western CC)

When KC Keeler worked for NFL Films in 2013, he used to argue with Hall of Famer Ron Jaworski that quarterbacks did indeed have the ‘It’ Factor. Keeler coached NFL First Round Draft pick Joe Flacco in college, and once asked Flacco why he was special?

“I’m not afraid to fail,” Flacco responded.

Watson, a transfer from Iowa Western Community College, has thrown five interceptions through four games, but his moxie has given Sam Houston’s offense a new edge this season. Watson leads the Bearkats in both passing and rushing yards and is piloting the team to 27.5 points per game. Keeler compares his demeanor to Eric Schmid, who led Sam Houston to an FCS National Championship.

2. Texas Tech Red Raiders wide receiver Josh Kelly

Kelly was the headliner of Texas Tech’s platoon change at wide receiver via the Transfer Portal and has performed like it through the first quarter of the season. The sixth-year senior is leading all transfers in the nation with 31 receptions and 376 receiving yards, per Scarlet and Black Insider’s Jacob Harris. He also has a receiving touchdown in three out of four games.

1. SMU Mustangs running back Brashard Smith

SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee watched Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco last season and did the Leonardo DiCaprio pose from “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” pointing to the TV and saying, ‘That’s Brashard Smith.’

While Smith may not have as violent of a running form as Pacheco, he’s just as explosive. A slot receiver and kick returner at Miami, Smith is proving Lashlee correct for moving him to running back. Smith has 380 rushing yards on 7.2 yards per carry this season and just earned ACC Running Back of the Week honors for his four-touchdown performance in the Iron Skillet. He leads all transfers in all-purpose yards so far this season.