A fourth player off Northwestern's 2025 roster is set to enter the transfer portal. Evan Smith, a corner who was buried a bit on the depth chart this season, announced his intentions via X yesterday evening.

In 2024, Smith started four games for the Wildcats and was considered a player on an upward trajectory for the program. This year, though, he fell behind Josh Fussell, Fred Davis II and Ore Adeyi in the starting lineup.

He finished this season with just six total tackles and one pass defended in limited playing time. Now, as a grad-transfer, Smith is prepared to test the market, likely in search of a more consistent role to finish out his college football career.

Two seasons ago, Smith had 28 total tackles, three passes defended and a pick -- this is a player who has contributed to a Big Ten team, not a career bench-warmer. There will likely be a decent group of teams vying for his services once the portal is officially open for business.

For the Wildcats, nothing that has happened so far this transfer season should be too worrisome. Northwestern is losing some players, but that's a given these days. So far, none of them were consistent starters on last year's team or even young guys that showcased a potential bright future.

Instead, it's been players buried deep on the depth chart, or players like Smith who are veterans in search of more playing time. None of these exits will be debilitating, but it is important for the Wildcats to maintain their depth.

The good news on that front? The transfer portal is a two-way street. Northwestern may have lost a couple players from its secondary in the past two days in Smith and Dillon Tatum, but more talent will likely be on the way to take their place.

This probably isn't the end of the road for Braun and his staff when it comes to losing players. Despite their evident high level of confidence in their player retention capabilities, four transfers would be a shockingly low number.

The important thing is that standouts like Robert Fitzgerald, Griffin Wilde and Ezomo Oratokhai don't decide to depart. Getting a good quarterback is the most important thing this offseason, but it helps to keep existing talent -- both on the field and in the budget.

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