Thomas Castellanos has been a starting quarterback at three different Power 4 programs, and now he's headed to a fourth as a backup. Pete Thamel reported the veteran of Boston College, UCF and Florida State is committing to Texas Tech, closing out one of the stranger portal sagas of the offseason.
NEWS: Thomas Castellanos has committed to Texas Tech, he tells ESPN. He's a former quarterback at Florida State, BC and UCF. He has 6,449 career passing yards and 48 passing touchdowns. He's also rushed for 24 touchdowns.
The numbers Thamel cites are absurd for a guy who's basically been homeless in college football's musical chairs: 6,449 career passing yards, 48 touchdown throws and 24 more scores on the ground. He was a legit dual-threat problem at Boston College before transferring to UCF and then Florida State, where he completed 58.3% of his passes for 2,760 yards with 15 touchdowns last season while also running for 557 yards and 9 scores, per CBS Sports.
How he even got here is the wild part. Castellanos declared for the NFL Draft in December, only to watch Texas Tech pivot to Cincinnati transfer Brendan Sorsby in early January. Then Sorsby got tangled up in a gambling investigation the school was notified about in April, he was granted an injunction of his own in June, and Castellanos dropped a related eligibility lawsuit and quit that same month. It wasn't until a Kentucky judge granted Castellanos his own temporary injunction protecting a fifth year of eligibility that the pieces fell into place for him to hit the portal on August 24 and land at Texas Tech two days later.
The wild chain of events that landed Thomas Castellanos at Texas Tech: 12/23: Castellanos declares for NFL Draft 1/4: Sorsby commits 4/14: TTU notified of Sorsby gambling investigation 6/8: Sorsby granted injunction 6/15: Castellanos drops lawsuit/quits 8/24: Castellanos enters portal 8/26: Castellanos commits to TTU
So what's the actual role? Pete Nakos reports Castellanos arrives in Lubbock as Will Hammond's backup, not QB1. Hammond is working back from a torn ACL and is the presumptive starter, with Castellanos providing experienced insurance behind him on a Texas Tech roster that's being talked about in College Football Playoff terms.
There's also a wrinkle worth watching: Nakos reports Castellanos' agency told On3 he's open to playing wide receiver, and that he ran WR drills at the end of his pro day. Given his track record making plays with his legs, it wouldn't be shocking if Texas Tech finds ways to get him on the field even when he's not throwing the ball.
Florida State QB Thomas Castellanos has committed to Texas Tech, per @PeteThamel 🤯 Castellanos was recently granted a fifth year of eligibility after winning a legal temporary injunction.
For a guy who's been a starter everywhere he's played, landing as QB2 is a change of scenery in more ways than one. But after a spring and summer spent in courtrooms just to keep playing college football at all, Castellanos taking a backup job on a playoff-caliber roster looks like a pretty good landing spot.