University of Florida Transfer Quarterback Not Named Cam Newton

A tall, athletic quarterback that started his collegiate career off at the University of Florida only to transfer to another school twice; No I’m not referring to Cam Newton, I’m talking about Josh Portis. Josh Portis is a name that not many people have ever heard of, but I consider him one of my sleepers at this year’s NFL Combine.

Here is a little background information on Josh Portis:

Portis is a 6’3, 211 pound, dual threat quarterback out of California University of Pennsylvania. Coming out of Taft High School in Los Angeles, California, Portis chose to attend the University of Florida. He was ranked by Rivals.com as the 4^th best dual-threat QB coming out of high school, and the 13^th best player in the state of California in 2005. After one year at the University of Florida due deep depth at quarterback, he decided to transfer. He ended up at the University of Maryland where he played sparingly in the 2008 season after having to sit out his 2007 season due to the transfer. After the 2008 season, Portis transferred to the Division II school, California University of Pennsylvania which is located just south of Pittsburgh, PA. Being from the Pittsburgh area, many students from my high school attend Cal U, but it’s not really known as an athletic powerhouse although their football team has been bery good in recent years. Portis dominated the Division II competition in 2010 when he set school records with 3421 passing yards and 36 total touchdowns. His domination continued into 2011 where he put up another set of impressive stats. And now he has received an invite to the 2011 NFL Combine.

Similarities to Cam Newton:

His collegiate football career resembles that of Cam Newton. They both started off at the University of Florida playing quarterback, and both saw limited action. Newton and Portis both ended up transferring to two more universities after Florida. Newton was a five star prospect coming out of high school according to Rivals.com and Portis was a four star. Portis was also involved in an academic cheating scandal while he was at the University of Maryland, just like Newton was at Florida. The similarities are there.

Portis at the NFL Combine:

This Sunday I am excited to see what Portis does at the NFL Combine. It was reported that he ran a 4.57 second 40 yard dash coming out of high school. If he could run under a 4.6 second 40 yard dash at the Combine, he would definitely turn heads. He has a strong arm, and the build to go along with it. He could gain some more weight but once he gets into a NFL weight training program, the pounds will come. He does have some off-the-field character issues, which most recently stem from a theft charge in 2010. But with time, maturity, and proper mentorship that could be cured. It also doesn’t hurt that Portis is the cousin of Washington Redskins runningback, Clinton Portis. So when watching the combine this weekend or hearing about it on ESPN, and you see that a quarterback from a small southwestern PA school puts up impressive numbers, you won’t be surprised if you took time to read this blog.