Syracuse football is among numerous college programs that have reached out to West Florida redshirt sophomore quarterback Marcus Stokes, who entered the transfer portal on December 3.
Per a post on X from On3's Pete Nakos, teams such as the Orange, Florida State, Iowa and Northwestern, among others, have been in contact with the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Stokes, who hails from St. Augustine, Fla.
Among the schools that have been in contact with West Florida transfer QB Marcus Stokes are Syracuse, Florida State, Iowa, Northwestern, Old Dominion, UTEP, Buffalo, Liberty and App State, among others, per his rep @bnm_nil.
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos) December 5, 2025
Former 4-star prev. committed to Florida. He totaled… pic.twitter.com/U0u2oaUZqh
The transfer portal in Division I will be open from January 2 to January 16. However, West Florida is a Division II team. In Division II, there isn't a specific transfer portal window.
Officially in the NCAA Transfer Portal. pic.twitter.com/flILrV1CnI
— Marcus Stokes (@marcusstokes06) December 3, 2025
West Florida went 10-2 overall during the 2025 season, with the Argonauts in late November losing in an NCAA Division II Super Region 2 semifinal game to Newberry College from Newberry, S.C., by a final score of 24-17.
When I wrote this article on Saturday, in its national transfer rankings, 247Sports placed Stokes as three stars, No. 20 overall and No. 1 at quarterback.
Syracuse football's QB room will likely look a lot different next season.
In the recently completed 2025 campaign, Stokes completed 60.6 percent of his passes for 3,297 yards with 30 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He also rushed 82 times for 367 yards and 10 more scores. Stokes is one of eight finalists for the Harlon Hill Trophy, which is doled out annually to the top Division II player.
Before joining West Florida, Stokes was previously committed to Florida. As a member of the 2023 class, he was a four-star prospect out of Nease High School in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
In 2025, the Orange went just 3-9 overall, and the team lost its final eight contests. A huge issue for Syracuse football was its quarterback room. In September, redshirt junior quarterback Steve Angeli was leading the country in total passing yards. However, he suffered a season-ending injury when the 'Cuse won at Clemson, and other SU quarterbacks didn't perform well for the rest of the 2025 term.
Not too long ago, head coach Fran Brown said that he expected his 2026 QB room to include Angeli, two transfer quarterbacks and 2026 three-star quarterback Zaid Lott out of the Providence Day School in Charlotte, N.C. What that means for other current 'Cuse signal-callers remains to be seen, as the portal for FBS and FCS squads will open in early January of 2026.