Unless I am misremembering something, Sark uses the portal to replace outgoing players, not to supplant existing starters. I'm astonished that OU pushed him out, but Gabriel clearly to land where he was largely guaranteed a starting role. Sark could not promise him a starting role, and he did not want to disrupt the culture/system/whatever. IMO, he's managing some positions (most clearly OL, QB, LB) different than others (WR).
QB recruit rankings in parens.
2021: When Sark showed up, QB room was lackluster: Card (4, dual) and Thompson (16 dual). It was a *must* to recruit over them or entertain a transfer. His transition class had Cale Lourd as QB. Who? Yup.
2022: Ewers (1), Maalik Murphy (9)
2023: Manning (1)
2024: Trey Owens (16)
2025: KJ Lacey (18)
2026: Dia Bell (4)
After Herbert, Oregon's approach has been to leverage transfers. Oregon was able to get Nix and Gabriel to transfer and become successful. That was out of necessity, as their QB room has been so-so, except for the transfers. Rosters...
2022: Bo Nix, Jay Butterfield (6'6", 202 4* RS FR - Transfer to SJ State), AJ Abbott (FR Walkon from Houston Stratford, transferred), Ty Thompson (6'4", 215, RS FR, 4*, Transferred)
2023: Bo Nix, Brock Thomas (6'0" 165 3*, FR), Ty Thompson (Soph), Austin Novasad (6'3", 205, 4* Dripping Springs, originally a Baylor commit)
2024: Dillon Gabriel, Luke Moga (6'2" 200 3*, FR), Dante Moore (UCLA transfer, #4 overall recruit - Manning was #1), Brock Thomas (Now RS FR), Austin Novosad (now RS FR), Ryder Hayes (FR from Grandview, TX - looks like a walkon)
2025 Commits: Akili Smith, Jr. (6'5", 200, 4*, #15 QB), Jaron Kawae Sagapolutele (6'2", 215, 4* from Hawaii, #8 QB)
In 2021, AJ Brown Jr was the starting QB, a transfer from Boston College.
Going into 2025, they'll have 7 QBs. Dante Moore has a fairly clear path to start. That will be the 5th consecutive season Oregon has started a recent transfer QB. That has to hurt their ability to recruit and develop. But perhaps they don't care, because (1) NIL and (2) they are getting results with that approach.
Other notes about Oregon:
Butterfield was #5 in the class that had DJU #1, Stroud #2, Beck #9 for pro-style QBs. He's did nothing at Oregon and has not played much at SJSU.
Ty Thompson was #7 in the class that had (1) Ewers, (2) Caleb Williams, (4) Vandagriff (now at KY by way of UGA), (5) JJ McCarthy (6) McCord, (9) Drake Maye, (10) Dart and (13) Milroe. He's QB2 at Tulane now.
Austin Novosad was #13 in the class with Manning, Dante Moore.