If the past couple years are proper indicators, some of the Big Ten’s biggest stars in 2023 will be players who have never played a game for their current teams. And we don’t mean freshmen.

Transfers are consistently making major impacts for Big Ten programs, even though in many cases it ends up being the lone season they play for that program.

In 2021, running back Kenneth Walker III stamped his place as one of the top players in Michigan State history after transferring from Wake Forest.

Last season, high-impact transfers popped up everywhere. Some of them even came from within the Big Ten — like Purdue wide receiver Charlie Jones, who was named first team all-B1G after transferring from Iowa.

Michigan center Olu Oluwatimi won the Outland Trophy in his lone season as a Wolverine after arriving from Virginia.

The following transfers could provide a similar impact for Big Ten offenses in the coming season.

1. Dante Cephas, WR, Penn State

Cephas follows in the footsteps of Mitchel Tinsley, who transferred from Western Kentucky and led Penn State in receptions and touchdown catches in his lone season as a Nittany Lion.

The Nittany Lions are going to need Cephas to do even more, though. He is a veteran presence who will be depended on to make Drew Allar’s transition to starting quarterback as smooth as possible. With Parker Washington and Brenton Strange also gone, Cephas will be in position to make a huge impact.

The Pittsburgh native should be capable. Cephas was a first team all-MAC receiver at Kent State, and he showed up against the toughest competition. He had 6 catches for 105 yards at Washington and 4 catches for 50 yards at Oklahoma.

2. Drake Nugent, C, Michigan

Assembly lines are a big deal in Michigan. So are guys named Nugent. So, Drake Nugent looks like a good fit to plug and play in the middle of Michigan’s offensive line.

Nugent replaces Oluwatimi, who turned out to be an impressive upgrade over prior second team all-conference center Andrew Vastardis. And Vastardis left big shoes to fill.

Nugent started each of the past 2 seasons at Stanford, where he was an honorable mention all-Pac 12 selection.

3. LaDarius Henderson, OG, Michigan

If Michigan’s offensive line is to win the Joe Moore Award for the 3rd straight season, Henderson will need to be a high-impact transfer. He’ll take the place of Trevor Keegan, a 2-year starter who was a first team all-B1G player in 2022.

Henderson is a versatile lineman with 19 starts at left guard and 10 at left tackle in his time at Arizona State. In that time, he allowed 2 sacks.

Henderson’s 2022 season ended with a hip injury at the exact midpoint. He was draft eligible and invited to the East-West Shrine Bowl, but decided to exercise his extra year of eligibility with a program that could improve that draft status.

And if you’re an interior offensive lineman, few programs better suit that purpose than Michigan.

4. Tanner Mordecai, QB, Wisconsin

Mordecai is clearly Wisconsin’s highest-impact transfer at quarterback since Russell Wilson. And if he comes anywhere close to producing the same results, that’s a win for the Badgers.

In 2 seasons at SMU, Mordecai passed for 74 touchdowns and 7,152 yards.

To put that in perspective, only 3 quarterbacks in Wisconsin history have passed for more than 7,000 yards in their careers, and each started for at least 3 seasons. And no Badgers quarterback has surpassed Darrell Bevell’s 59 career touchdown passes.

However, Mordecai will not encounter AAC-caliber defense in the Big Ten West. That much was made clear in his interception-filled performance in Wisconsin’s spring game, which was mildly alarming even by the standards of a spring game. Mordecai is potentially the most impactful transfer in the B1G this year, but he enters the season under the yellow caution flag.

5. AJ Barner, TE, Michigan

We close with a hot take: after Erick All transferred to Iowa, Michigan actually upgraded at tight end with the addition of AJ Barner.

Don’t at all take that as a swipe at All. If this list was a 6-pack, he’d be positioned at the No. 6 spot. He’s a good fit to continue Iowa’s strong tight end tradition.

However, Barner is a man liberated from the design and ineptitude of Indiana’s passing offense. He is significantly better than his 2022 stat line of 28 catches for 199 yards would indicate.

Playing in Michigan’s offense with JJ McCarthy will likely double his chances of making high-impact plays. And even if that doesn’t happen, the presence of Barner will prove beneficial to fellow tight end Colston Loveland. The Wolverines should have the best tight end pairing in the B1G — a crowning piece of a successful offseason in the portal for Michigan.