A lot of times, it isn't exactly neuroscience to figure out which transfer portal players will make significant impacts.

For instance, if you had any doubts Caleb Williams was going to show out after leaving Oklahoma for USC last year, you were in the vast minority.

This season, it would be a shocker if Sam Hartman wasn't flinging darts for Notre Dame and Travis Hunter wasn't a difference-making defender for Colorado.

Often, those who make massive impacts aren't at the top of the rankings. Those ratings, much like those in recruiting, aren't a guarantee, and sometimes, all a player needs is a change of scenery. Scouring the portal pledges proves there are a lot of guys with high upside who could do big things in 2023.

To make this list and be considered a sleeper, a player had to be ranked outside the top 50 in 247Sports' transfer portal rankings or be a quarterback outside the top 10 at that position.

Let's take a look at some guys a bit off the periphery who could star in new surroundings.

Brian Battie, Auburn Running Back

The Hugh Freeze era is about to begin on the Plains, and the Auburn Tigers will be a lot better than most people think.

The former Liberty (and Ole Miss) front man already did plenty of heavy lifting for the Tigers through exceptional last-minute recruiting and a transfer portal haul that was heavy on defense and some difference-makers on the offensive front.

But the biggest get may just be former South Florida running back Brian Battie, who is going from a terrible program to a proud one to test his skills against the SEC. He joins Auburn at an ideal time, too, as the team lost Tank Bigsby to the NFL.

The Tigers need to find an answer at quarterback among several experienced but mediocre (at least, so far) options. Until they find the right field general to lead the way, you'd better believe Freeze will be run-heavy.

Jarquez Hunter is back after piling up 668 yards a season ago, but Battie is another speed-burning potential star who, at 5'8", 170 pounds, probably isn't big enough to carry the load but can do plenty with the ball in his hands.

He was a force in the return game at Tampa, and he's coming off a season in which he ran for 1,186 yards and eight scores on a 6.7 average. Think Freeze can't use that skill set? He will put Battie in a position to make plenty of plays.

Look for him to be a game-breaking type this year for the new-look Tigers.

Omar Speights, LSU Linebacker

It's absolutely stunning that 247Sports believes there are 134 players in this year's transfer portal who are better than Omar Speights.

The LSU Tigers' portal haul is as good as anybody's, especially on the defensive side, where coach Brian Kelly hauled in potential impact players such as edge Ovie Oghoufo (Texas), cornerbacks JK Johnson (Ohio State), Duce Chestnut (Syracuse) and Denver Harris (Texas A&M), as well as linemen Jordan Jefferson (West Virginia) and Jalen Lee (Florida).

But the biggest impact player for '23 came at the Bayou Bengals' biggest position of need. That's where Kelly landed a big fish in Oregon State transfer Speights, a veteran starter who is 6'1", 227 pounds, intelligent and all over the field.

He's a sure-fire anchor in the center of that defense, and his poise and leadership will allow guys like Harold Perkins Jr. to fly around.

Speights has played since his first day in Corvallis, Oregon, and has registered at least 63 tackles in the past four seasons. For his career, he has 304 stops, including 25 tackles for loss, five sacks and three interceptions.

Is he the flashiest linebacker ever? No. And he may not be at the top of NFL teams' wish lists right now, but Speights is going to have a huge year in Baton Rouge, and that's how he'll surge up pro radars.

This is a guy who is going to play a long time on the next level because he's a steady force, and LSU got him to be one of the biggest-impact defenders in the SEC in its quest to repeat as SEC West champions.

Mason Cobb, USC Linebacker

Sticking at linebacker, there's no team that needs defensive help like the USC Trojans, and that's why coach Lincoln Riley scoured the portal.

What he found was no shortage of potential impact defenders who wanted to head out to Hollywood to try to save coordinator Alex Grinch's job.

While guys like linemen Anthony Lucas (Texas A&M) and Jack Sullivan (Purdue) and cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace (Arizona) will help right away, Mason Cobb is the one who will be a steadying presence for the Trojans on the second level of that defense.

Much like Speights and another linebacker who made this list, Cobb can post big statistical numbers, but he does all the little things, too, and he was a force in the middle of a decent Oklahoma State defense in 2022.

Cobb finished last year with 96 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, a pair of sacks and an interception. He has a couple of seasons to build off that strong beginning to his career as a starter, and the 6'0", 230-pounder could do huge things for Grinch.

Cobb's leadership looks like it might be a blessing, as well, as the Trojans have begun spring drills.

"Mason Cobb comes to mind as a guy that's starting to assert himself in that way a lot like Shane [Lee] certainly has for us," said Riley, who also noted Sullivan and Roland-Wallace in an interview with USCFootball.com's R.J. Abeytia.

If he can lead the unit and post big numbers, there may not be many defenders who provide the impact Cobb will in L.A., even though he was considered the No. 67 overall transfer prospect.

JoJo Earle, TCU Wide Receiver

When you recruit the way Alabama does at every position, you simply can't keep all the budding stars happy. The Crimson Tide found that out the hard way this offseason when they lost a pair of receivers to the portal whose futures were bright.

Aaron Anderson (LSU) headed to major rival, while JoJo Earle returned to his home state of Texas, where he will play for the national runner-up TCU Horned Frogs.

With star receiver Quentin Johnston off to the NFL, the Frogs have a need for catches, and coach Sonny Dykes has to find a quarterback after Max Duggan left, but Chandler Morris should fill that gap. You'd better believe Earle will be high on the list of potential playmakers.

The 5'10", 170-pound dynamo from Aledo, Texas, flipped from LSU to the Tide in the recruiting process, but he never could get consistent playing time in two seasons in Tuscaloosa, catching 24 passes for 303 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

So, he saw an opportunity in Fort Worth to play on a big stage and perhaps head into a situation that wasn't quite so crowded.

With wideout Cordale Russell coming in as a top-shelf recruit and receivers Jaylon Robinson (Ole Miss) and John Paul Richardson (Oklahoma State) and tight end Jack Bech (LSU) now Frogs via the portal, Earle will have some company.

But he has a couple of seasons to do huge things closer to home, and he will make a splash. He's a better prospect than the No. 84 transfer player.

Arik Gilbert, Nebraska Tight End

At some point, either Arik Gilbert's incredible athleticism and potential will be realized, or he'll wind up as one of the biggest busts in recent memory.

Whatever happens is up to him.

In 2020, Gilbert was one of the best freshmen in the nation, showing lots of potential at LSU with 35 catches for 368 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

For whatever reason, though, following a transfer, he wasn't part of Georgia's plans the past couple of seasons while he battled injuries. He had a pair of catches for 16 yards in 2022 and then left for this third program.

Now, the 6'6", 260-pound tight end is with Matt Rhule's Nebraska Cornhuskers, and if he's healthy and buys into the Big Red Machine in Lincoln, he is a potential All-Big Ten tight end who could be a mismatch nightmare and surge onto NFL teams' wish lists.

Gilbert is that talented. He may be one of the 10 most talented players who entered the transfer portal this year, but he's ranked 60th because he's simply fallen off the radar for two seasons.

This is a dude who is going through spring drills and seems to have a new lease on life with the Cornhuskers. Rhule knows how to squeeze the most out of his players, so the juice is definitely worth the squeeze here. This is one of the biggest "boom" prospects on the list.

Look for a huge season.

Tayven Jackson, Indiana Quarterback

Tennessee had every reason to be thrilled about getting 4-star quarterback Tayven Jackson to sign with Rocky Top last year.

But between Hendon Hooker's resurgence, Joe Milton III's ultratalent and the signing of 5-star top quarterback Nico Iamaleava in the 2023 class, Jackson had to see the potential for playing time to get very murky. So, he left and headed home.

Now, the 6'3", 212-pound signal-caller hopes to be the man to turn around a dormant offense in Bloomington for coach Tom Allen's Indiana Hoosiers.

Jackson's brother, Trayce Jackson-Davis, is already a superstar for the Hoosiers basketball team, and now, he'll get to watch his little brother star on the gridiron.

Last year, the younger Jackson battled injuries but still absorbed plenty of Josh Heupel's high-octane offense to make him a prospect who can step into any situation and be a veteran presence; he simply needs game reps.

"We recruited him hard," Allen told reporters, according to 247Sports. "So, you felt like it happened pretty quickly when he made the decision to go in the portal and reached out to us. The bottom line was we already had that relationship built.

"What we liked about him was his athleticism, he's a long athlete, multisport guy ... and just felt like he could create with his legs, with his arm. He's a tremendous leader."

Considering just how atrocious the Hoosiers have been in the post-Michael Penix Jr. era, Jackson will be the odds-on favorite to win the starting job this spring. If he gets the gig, he is far and away the most talented prospect on Indiana's offense.

Will he post huge numbers? Maybe not right away. But he has four seasons of eligibility to perform for his home-state school, and he has the dual-threat abilities to be a much better option for Allen in a must-win season.

Dillon Johnson, Washington Running Back

As part of the late coach Mike Leach's offense in Starkville the past couple of seasons, Dillon Johnson got to showcase his ability to catch the football out of the backfield. But he didn't get to be a running back in the traditional sense.

Now, he is heading to the Pacific Northwest where his pass-catching ability should be a major benefit in Kalen DeBoer's Washington offense. But getting a few more handoffs is probably going to be an exciting deal for Johnson, too.

The 6'0", 215-pound runner has the size and ability to be an every-down back in the Pac-12. But look at these numbers with the Bulldogs: In three seasons, he has 1,198 yards, 11 touchdowns and a 5.2 average. He also has 149 catches for 864 yards and a score.

So, Johnson's resume is diversified, and those traits will be big for the Huskies, who should be one of the favorites to win the Pac-12 this year coming off an 11-2 season with Michael Penix Jr. back.

With Wayne Taulapapa off to the NFL after rushing for 887 yards and 11 touchdowns while catching 24 passes for 225 yards, it's obvious DeBoer wanted an all-around back to fill his shoes.

This is a match made in skill-set heaven, and there's something poetic about the Greenville, Mississippi, junior making the cross-country trip to Leach's old Washington stomping grounds to finish his career, even if it is for Leach's former Washington State Cougars' rivals.

The Huskies could have a big year, and Johnson has the potential to be at the epicenter.

Cade McNamara, Iowa Quarterback

The different direction Michigan went with its quarterback battle benefited the program, which moved on from its two-quarterback system in 2021 and gave the reins to J.J. McCarthy a season ago.

The result was another trip to the College Football Playoff, and McCarthy's development surged.

But the move led Cade McNamara to a backup role. While coach Jim Harbaugh obviously made the right choice, McNamara is too talented to be a second-string quarterback through his entire career.

That's why the No. 26-rated quarterback transfer is heading to Iowa City, where he will try to inject a little life into an Iowa Hawkeyes offense that would have to be a couple of ticks better this year to even be considered mediocre. A season ago, it was downright embarrassing under offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz.

Iowa was 130th out of 131 teams in total offense, 123rd in passing, 124th in rushing and 123rd in scoring. That's across-the-board atrocious.

While McNamara isn't going to do anything spectacular, when's the last time you saw a Ferentz offense attempt to be that? All he has to do is take care of the ball and stretch the field a little, and McNamara can.

The 6'1", 206-pound graduate transfer has a couple of remaining seasons of eligibility, and he completed 63 percent of his passes for 3,181 yards, 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions over three seasons in Ann Arbor.

That's worlds better than anything the Hawkeyes have trotted out there the past few years, so look for McNamara's leadership, experience and basically his ability to just drop back and chew gum at the same time to be major assets for an offense needing an injection of competence.

Jack Plummer, Louisville Quarterback

Let's keep the run on quarterbacks going, shall we?

The next signal-caller stop lands us at Louisville, where it's time for Jack Plummer to be reunited with Jeff Brohm from their Purdue days. The duo could steady the Cardinals, who are needing some stability after senior Malik Cunningham.

The new head coach loves to throw the ball around all over the place, and while Pierce Clarkson may be the future at Louisville, he isn't going to be ready in 2023 as a true freshman.

That's where a veteran like Plummer comes in. He isn't a star, and he left West Lafayette after Aidan O'Connell emerged as Brohm's top option a couple of seasons ago. But despite playing for an awful California team in 2022, Plummer posted quality numbers.

The Gilbert, Arizona, native has been all over the country, and back West a year ago, he completed 63 percent of his passes for 3,095 yards, 21 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Now, he's going to get a shot in the ACC during his final collegiate season and help his old coach bridge a gap, fend off a possible first-year disaster and help get the young guys ready to usher in the new era of Cardinals football.

"Jack obviously knows us and knows our system and has played a lot of football, so we feel good about him," Brohm said, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal's Alexis Cubit.

Even so, it's going to be an open competition this spring, according to Brohm. Don't buy it. This is Plummer's program for a year, and he is going to be a nice stopgap, ease the strain of a coaching transition and play much better than the No. 33-ranked transfer quarterback.

Drew Pyne, Arizona State Quarterback

Drew Pyne has to feel like he's getting a new lease on his collegiate career.

Not only is the former Notre Dame starting quarterback leaving the Midwest for the sunny desert and Arizona State, he's stepping into a situation where he gets to play quarterback for new Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham.

The coach is a quarterback developer who throws it around all over the place and has guys post big numbers. Even though the cupboard is full of potential at the position in Tempe, Pyne has the experience.

So, look for him to play Jack Plummer's role for the Sun Devils and bridge the gap to the Jaden Rashada era.

In a rebuilding year for the Sun Devils, it's not out of the question Rashada finds his way onto the field. You also can't forget about Trenton Bourguet, who finished the year as Arizona State's starter and did some big things.

But it's hard to envision Dillingham not breaking in his era with an experienced quarterback. After all, the Oregon Ducks (where he was offensive coordinator in 2022) had redshirt freshman Ty Thompson's elite skill set and chose to go with senior transfer Bo Nix as the starter, and it paid off.

Pyne could post those same type of numbers. For the Irish a season ago, he took over when Tyler Buchner was lost to injury and completed 65 percent of his passes for 2,021 yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions. Those are better numbers than Nix ever had at Auburn before he busted out in Eugene.

With a couple of seasons left, Pyne could actually start multiple years for Arizona State, but do you risk losing a player of Rashada's ilk to the portal if that happens? Dillingham has to get his career jump-started now, though, and Pyne is the best best to be QB1 right away.

Dont'e Thornton, Tennessee Wide Receiver

The Tennessee Volunteers could have placed a couple of representatives on this list. After all, getting experienced BYU linebacker Keenan Pili to anchor the middle of the defense for the Vols was a huge pull that will pay off right away.

But you can't look away from the offensive impact of receivers in coach Josh Huepel's system, and the big portal win this year was getting receiver Dont'e Thornton from Oregon.

Thornton hasn't even begin to tap his massive potential yet, which is why the Baltimore native is going to navigate over to Rocky Top where he should slot in with Squirrel White, Bru McCoy, Ramel Keyton and Co. to help Tennessee move on from Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman.

Big-armed Joe Milton III (or Nico Iamaleava) under center isn't going to change the way Heupel throws it around, and Thornton is a fast, big-bodied receiver who can stretch the field and make huge plays.

A year ago, McCoy wasn't even one of the top two options in Knoxville at the start of the season and he finished his first year on Rocky Top with 52 catches for 667 yards and four scores. Numbers like that would far surpass Thornton's top year of 17 catches for 366 yards and a score.

Thornton is the No. 56-rated overall player in the transfer portal and was a 4-star prospect, but he could have a far greater impact on Tennessee's offense than that. He could put up better numbers than any other receiver who entered the portal and is a perfect fit for what UT wants to do.

Treshaun Ward, Kansas State Running Back

When opportunity meets ability, it's a beautiful thing, and that is the situation in the Little Apple of Manhattan, Kansas, in 2023.

While it's going to be a huge task for the Wildcats replacing do-it-all Deuce Vaughn from the Big 12 champions from a season ago, fourth-year coach Chris Klieman has built a strong program at Kansas State and is beginning to quietly do big things.

That shouldn't be a surprise for a man who won four FCS championships while at North Dakota State.

So, while Vaughn is gone, the Wildcats have to feel good about quarterback Will Howard's ability to make the offense more of a threat with the passing game and freshman Avery Johnson waiting in the wings. At running back, replacing Vaughn will be Florida State transfer Treshaun Ward.

You'd better learn the name.

The former walk-on from Plant City, Florida, bet on himself and spurned offers from other programs across the country to go scholarship-less for a season with the Seminoles. The 5'10", 194-pound runner backed up a 515-yard 2021 season with getting 628 last year.

In both years, he averaged more than six yards a carry, so not only is he productive when he gets his hands on the ball, but he's explosive.

Now, he has a couple of seasons left to be the No. 1 option for a team that's going to contend for a conference title. It's a perfect situation, and it was a shrewd move by Ward to get out of a crowded backfield in Tallahassee and to a place where he can be the man.

All stats courtesy of CFBStats and Sports Reference unless otherwise noted. Recruit rankings courtesy of 247Sports unless otherwise noted.

Follow Brad Shepard on Twitter, @Brad_Shepard.