Andrew Luck-managed Stanford releases top cornerback Julian Neal

NCAA Football: Fresno State at UCLA - Source: Imagn

Cornerback Julian Neal is back in the transfer portal. Neal, who played the 2024 season for the Fresno State Bulldogs, entered the transfer portal in the winter window. He committed to Stanford, which is managed by former NFL star QB Andrew Luck, after entering the portal.

However, it turns out Neal had a short stay with Stanford as Luck finalized releasing him from his paperwork on Friday. Insider Pete Nakos reported this on Friday morning.

"Stanford has officially released Fresno State cornerback Julian Neal from his paperwork, On3 Sports has learned. Will be a top cornerback this spring. Posted 35 tackles, 5 TFLs and 2 INTs in 2024," he tweeted.

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While the winter window is typically highly active and features some of the top players in the nation moving schools, the spring window is usually much less exciting. Most of the top players committed to their schools in the winter, and as a result, there are fewer stars in the spring window.

So, while Neal is not a superstar, he is now expected to be among the top cornerbacks available to teams in the transfer portal. He spent the previous three seasons at Fresno State but did not get significant playing time until this past season. Stanford or Luck did not give a reason for releasing Neal.

Neal decided to enter the portal after the team fired head coach Troy Tetty. Although the spring window does not open until Wednesday, players are given a 30-day window to enter the portal after a head coaching change. So, he was able to enter the portal a few days early.

What is the scouting report on former Stanford CB Julian Neal?

Julian Neal is expected to be among the more popular players in the spring portal window. Cooper Petagna, a 247 Sports analyst, provided a scouting report on Neal:

"One of the top corners to hit the portal during the December window, Neal's pure size, length and physicality helped propel him up our board as his flashes of high level play last season for the Bulldogs make us believe he can be a high-level starter at the Power Four level.

Although he only started four games in 2024, there's plenty enough on-filed context to suggest that the 6-foot-2 defensive back from San Francisco can make an immediate impact at his next spot."

Neal was a three-star recruit when he was signed by Fresno State in 2021.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Abhimanyu Gupta