Cincinnati Bearcats Focusing On Transfer Portal QB

OSU QB2 Lincoln Kienholz has entered the portal and I expect him to be the focus for Cincinnati’s recruiting staff at the QB spot. Other QBs are being monitored as well, but the goal is to land Kienholz. Cincinnati Bearcats GM Zach Grant, HC Scott Satterfield and QB coach Pete Thomas have shown in the past that they like to lock up a QB quickly and that will be the aim again in this portal. Georgia Tech is also involved with a big offer as the Yellow Jackets are trying to replace stud QB Haynes King. It’s no surprise that Cincinnati and GT are shopping around for the same QB as Kienholz play-style fits both programs perfectly.

Kienholz is the highest rated recruit in the history of South Dakota — the top 200 4⃣ ⭐ QB chose Ohio State out of high school in 2023. Kienholz was in competition for the starting QB job in 2026 but narrowly lost out to Heisman contender Julian Sayin.

Kienholz will be a RS Junior in 2026 and have two years of eligibility.

247’s Allen Trieu wrote a scouting report on Kienholz out of HS and he certainly fits the mold of a dual threat Scott Satterfield QB ⬇

Zach Grant came to Cincinnati from Ohio State and this isn’t his first time sniffing around OSU transfer portal players as Cincy has landed RB Evan Pryor, TE Joe Royer, DB Kye Stokes and TE Patrick Gurd from the Buckeyes.

Kienholz would be paid less than Brendan Sorsby was in Cincinnati so it will be very interesting to see how the staff allocates their budget with this roster. All of the highly paid players from 2025’s team are now gone to the NFL & portal so there can be a full reset from a roster strategy standpoint.

Not much tape out there on Kienholz because he was a backup, but here is a video of all of his snaps from Ohio State’s spring game last year ⬇

Background: Transferred to Cincinnati as a part of the 2024 class. Performed very well for the Bearcats as a RB2 amassing 940yds and 9TD over his 2 seasons in Clifton.

Analysis: Pryor will likely be transferring up a level or laterally for more NIL in a similar role. This is a unique situation as Pryor isn’t your prototypical RB1 but does have very high value as a complimentary piece to a bell cow RB. This is just a guess, but I think Pryor will end up at a SEC or B10 school as a RB2.