Like any program across the country, Temple is losing and gaining players to and from the NCAA’s transfer portal as it moves past the early signing period and into the new year. Players are still able to enter the portal in this current window through Tuesday, Jan. 2, with another 15-day window to come following spring ball.

The Owls, who have gone 6-18 and failed to win a road game in the first two seasons of Stan Drayton’s Temple tenure, signed seven players from the transfer portal on National Signing Day on Dec. 20, and also lost their star quarterback, E.J. Warner, who signed with Rice.

The hope for Temple, of course, is that the incoming transfers will fill some holes throughout the team, with an obvious focus on Rutgers transfer Evan Simon, who will compete for the starting quarterback spot vacated by Warner.

Below is a look at how Temple has been affected by the transfer portal thus far.

INCOMING

Andreas Keaton

Position: Safety

Previous school: Western Carolina

Keaton was named the 2021 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year and to the 2021 Southern Conference freshman all-defense and 2022 second-team all-Southern Conference teams. After three seasons at Western Carolina, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Powder Springs, Georgia native will have one season of eligibility left at Temple. He led the Catamounts with 67 tackles this past season, including 43 solo stops.

Jaylen Lewis

Position: Defensive back

Previous school: Arkansas

The former 3-star recruit had a number of high-major offers coming out of Tennessee’s Haywood High School, including Auburn and Michigan State. After registering a tackle in three games in 2022, he took a redshirt that season. The only game in which he recorded a stat (two tackles) this season came against Keaton’s Western Carolina squad. Stan Drayton referred to Lewis as a safety during his Dec. 20 National Signing Day press conference.

Adrian Maddox

Position: Defensive back

Previous school: Alabama State

Maddox was named a finalist for the 2022 Jerry Rice Award, which is given to the most outstanding FCS freshman. At 6-3, 200 pounds, he’ll bring good size and experience to a Temple secondary that needs it. He recorded 70 total tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles and two interceptions in his two collegiate seasons.

Torey Richardson

Position: Cornerback

Previous school: UTEP

Richardson spent three seasons at UETP after previously attending Blinn Junior College, the JUCO alma mater of fellow Temple cornerback Ben Osueke, and Houston. He had 33 tackles and one interception last season at UTEP.

Evan Simon

Position: Quarterback

Previous school: Rutgers

In 15 appearances at Rutgers, including a start at Temple last season, Simon completed 97 passes for 952 yards, five touchdowns and seven interceptions. He would be considered the early favorite to start for the Owls in 2024, but Drayton and his staff could still add another player at that position to compete with Simon, redshirt freshman Tyler Douglas and redshirt junior Forrest Brock.

Maddux Trujillo

Position: Kicker

Previous school: Austin Peay

Trujillo made 38-of-53 (71.7%) field goals and 128-of-133 (96.2%) extra points in three collegiate seasons. He was named to the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer Team, 2021 Second-Team All-Ohio Valley Conference, 2022 All-Atlantic Sun Conference and 2023 Second-Team All-United Athletic Conference. The incoming senior would appear to be the leading candidate to replace Camden Price as Temple’s placekicker.

Torren Wright

Position: Linebacker

Previous school: NC State

Wright was a 2022 4-star recruit out of A.L. Brown High School in Kannapolis, North Carolina. Coming out of high school, he had Power 5 offers from Kentucky, West Virginia, Duke, Michigan and NC State. He Redshirted in 2022 and made seven special teams appearances in 2023.

OUTGOING

E.J. Warner

Position: Quarterback

Now at: Rice

After entering his freshman season as a 2-star recruit, Warner quickly became one of the best quarterbacks in Temple history after he took over Mathis in Week 2 of 2022. He was named the 2022 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, a season in which he set a single-game program record for passing yards (527) and passing touchdowns (five) in the same game, and he was also the only quarterback in the nation with multiple 450-plus-yard passing games. His new program, Rice, became a member of the American Athletic Conference in 2023, but will not play the Owls next season. Warner was Temple’s selling point when recruiting weapons and was also their best player on the field, so his absence will surely be felt.

Jalen McMurray

Position: Cornerback

Still in the portal

McMurray became the first Temple freshman to earn a single digit since 2014 and did so by carving out a reputation as a hard worker and solid teammate off the field, but his production on the field never matched the output of past single-digit players. In 2022, McMurray had 49 total tackles, seven passes defended, two forced fumbles and one interception, but he took a step back in 2023 – as did the Owls’ defense as a whole around him – with 38 total tackles, four passes defended, no forced fumbles and no interceptions. With numerous injuries at the positions ahead of him at defensive line and linebacker and various communication issues players and coaches often spoke about this past season, McMurray got beat more in coverage in 2023.

Richard Dandridge

Position: Wide receiver

Still in the portal

The speedy Dandridge arrived at Temple with some promise out of Florida’s Homestead High School and landed some high-major offers during his recruitment before signing with Temple. He likely would have seen some snaps on offense and certainly on special teams in the return game, but a leg injury forced him to miss the entire 2023 season, so his potential will be realized elsewhere.

D’Wan Mathis

Position: Quarterback, wide receiver

Now at: Delaware State

Mathis, who started his career at Georgia, was ranked as the number three quarterback in the 2019 class when he graduated from Oak Park High School in Oak Park, Michigan. He received a medical redshirt in 2019 and then was the starting quarterback in the season opener in 2020. After being benched for Stetson Bennett, he transferred to Temple in 2021 and was benched for E.J. Warner in 2022. Mathis decided to transition to wide receiver for the remainder of the 2022 season. After sparse playing time early in the season, Mathis entered the transfer portal in October and will give college football one last try, this time at the FCS level.

Christian Bell

Position: Cornerback

Still in the portal

Attended Hudson Valley Community College before transferring to Temple in 2023 to join the program as a walk-on. He did not play in 2023 and redshirted.

Zymir Cobbs

Position: Defensive lineman

Still in the portal

Cobbs attended Lackawanna College and Penn State before transferring to Temple in 2022 as a walk-on. He recorded 13 total tackles in 10 games as an Owl and will likely be remembered as the player who drew a late personal foul penalty that helped USF beat Temple this season.

Jon Fagley

Position: Offensive guard

Still in the portal

Fagley attended Neumann-Goretti High School in South Philadelphia, where was named first-team all-Catholic League as a junior and senior. He earned more playing time this season, finishing out the second halves of Temple’s games against Norfolk State and Miami, and he made his first career start on the road at Tulsa at left guard. The 6-foot-3, 290-pounder spent the last three seasons at Temple and currently has an offer from FCS-level Eastern Kentucky.

Davion Hood

Position: Defensive lineman

Still in the portal

Hood played two seasons at FCS program East Tennessee State before transferring to Temple in 2023. He played in all 12 games for the Owls, racking up 21 total tackles and one sack.

Jelon Johnson

Position: Wide receiver, running back

Still in the portal

Johnson came to Temple as a preferred walk-on out of Battlefield High School in Haymarket, Virginia, and took a redshirt year after making no appearances. He has four years of eligibility remaining.

Edward Saydee

Position: Running back

Still in the portal

Saydee was a standout at Philadelphia’s Penn Charter, where he was a three-time first-team all-league selection on both offense and defense. He held a single-digit the entire 2023 season, but tallied just 230 rushing yards on 68 carries, and his two touchdowns this season came on receptions. The highlight of his Temple career came last season when he set career-highs of 265 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns and 69 receiving yards in a win over USF.

Lancine Turay

Position: Defensive lineman

Still in the portal

Turay was a 2018 three-star recruit out of North Jersey’s Irvington High School and had offers from 14 programs, including Power 5 schools like Boston College, Louisville, Maryland, Minnesota, NC State, Rutgers, Syracuse and North Carolina, where he played three seasons before transferring to Temple in 2021. He missed the 2021 season due to an injury sustained in fall camp, but he had 14 total tackles, five tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks and one forced fumble in 21 games combined between 2022 and 2023.

TO BE DETERMINED

Former single-digit safety Alex Odom, kicker Chris Van Eekeren and safeties Kamar Wilcoxson, Muheem McCargo and Brenyen Scott are no longer on Temple's roster and have not publicly announced their next moves.