How Cutter Boley plays vs. U of L could help UK land best WRs for him to throw to in 2025

All eyes will be on freshman quarterback Cutter Boley when he makes his first college start Saturday for Kentucky versus Louisville.

To be sure, Boley’s performance will say much about fans’ confidence level in the offense’s ability to take a significant step forward in 2025, but it will be difficult for Boley to shine without more help around him than Brock Vandagriff got as starter for most of this season.

UK coaches have already been clear they plan to pursue multiple tackles and a center in the transfer portal. The roster appears to have multiple young running backs to build around, led by redshirt freshman Jamarion Wilcox, if coaches can convince them to stay in Lexington. The emergence of freshman Willie Rodriguez has added more depth to a tight end room with multiple intriguing options.

But no position on the roster may face more uncertainty than wide receiver heading into the offseason. While others are either clear areas of need or strength, the strategy at wide receiver could vary widely based on roster decisions over the next month.

“When you evaluate those guys, you’re evaluating them as, OK, at the one slot, or this guy is the two slot,” offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said. “How has Hardley Gilmore done in his role, if you will? How’s Fred Farrier done, Barion (Brown) and Dane (Key) and really all these guys? And so I think those are the biggest decisions that you’re ultimately making.

“What did the production look like this year when they were given opportunities? What kind of step can they take in a six-to-eight-month span, and where can they fit in your depth chart?”

All of Kentucky’s eight scholarship wide receivers have eligibility remaining after this season, but it is no certainty that any of the starters will be back.

Brown and Key are both eligible for the NFL draft for the first time. Brown has done little to prove he is ready to contribute as a receiver at the NFL level, but he might still elicit draft interest as a kickoff return specialist. Key has enjoyed a breakout season that could put him on draft boards. If either player turns down the draft, they could still receive back channel transfer portal interest from powerhouse programs.

Senior Ja’Mori Maclin, a former 1,000-yard receiver at North Texas who can use his 2020 pandemic waiver to return for one more year, has shined in recent weeks as his role in the offense has grown, but he might not be eager to return to UK after being an afterthought in the offensive game plan for much of the year. Backups Anthony Brown-Stephens and Fred Farrier are important depth pieces, but Kentucky has struggled to keep those type of receivers on campus and out of the portal in recent years.

After missing the first half of the season with an injury, freshman Hardley Glimore has begun to show why coaches and teammates were so high on him during spring practice and preseason camp. Gilmore appears to have star potential, but might not be ready to be the No. 1 option next year, assuming he remains at UK.

The other two scholarship wide receivers, junior Brandon White and freshman David Washington, have played only a handful of snaps on offense this season.

“I think we have a great receiver room with the young guys, old guys,” Boley said. “Every guy in that room is really good. I’m really excited about what the future of that room holds.”

Kentucky holds commitments from four high school receivers in the 2025 class, including Missouri prep receiver Dejerrian Miller, a four-star prospect according to Rivals who picked UK over Ole Miss on Tuesday. The Wildcats will almost certainly need at least one of those players to contribute as freshmen, but transfer portal help may be needed as well if there are any defections from the current roster.

Since the advent of the transfer portal, Kentucky has had a stellar success rate in keeping its best players, but Stoops acknowledged this week it is not a guarantee that trend continues this offseason. Keeping Key, who has 47 catches for 715 yards entering the finale, looks like priority No. 1, but if Key receives positive draft reviews there may not be much coaches can do to persuade him to stay.

It has been no secret that Kentucky had to fend off transfer interest to keep Brown each of the last two offseasons, but his yards and catches per game have decreased in each year as a Wildcat. His performance at Texas offered a glimpse at the frustration around his game as he missed multiple big-play opportunities, failing again to turn his considerable athletic gifts into consistent production.

“We all can do a better job of that, of getting that balance between getting excited to play a game but also play within ourselves and operate within what we are all capable of doing,” Stoops said when asked about Brown’s season this week. “That is something that I truly need to look at and reassess and make sure we are prepared. I think our guys get very excited. You have always heard me talk about playing with an edge and an attitude, but it comes down to disciplined execution all the time.

“I think we always need to be prepared and ready to play at a high level. It’s just how disciplined can we execute? That’s not just on him. That’s on everybody, myself and the whole group. We just need to do a better job of that.”

The reality of the current college football landscape is programs have to decide how to best allocate their available NIL collective funds. Few players in the country have as high a ceiling as Brown, but there is an argument to be made that NIL money might be better used for a more consistent player regardless of his draft decision.

But attracting top transfer receivers might not be easy after Kentucky ranked 109th nationally in passing yards per game this season. Boley shining against Louisville would at least give coaches an exciting young quarterback to point to in pursuing any transfer playmakers.

It might help convince the current Wildcats to return as well.

“The reality is, in this league, I think everybody’s evaluating every position, and you got to make every position as good as you can on all levels,” Hamdan said. “And so, I think we’ll take a look at all that. Again, there’s the evaluation process, taking a deep breath, see where you are at before we come to any conclusions on that stuff.”

Next game

Louisville at Kentucky

When: Noon Saturday

TV: SEC Network

Records: Kentucky 4-7 (1-7 SEC); Louisville 7-4 (5-3 ACC)

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Series: Kentucky leads 20-15

Last meeting: Kentucky won 38-31 on Nov. 25, 2023, in Louisville

This story was originally published November 27, 2024 at 7:10 AM.

Jon Hale

Lexington Herald-Leader

(859) 414-6776

Jon Hale is the University of Kentucky football beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He joined the Herald-Leader in 2022 but has covered UK athletics for more than 10 years. Hale was named the 2021 Kentucky Sportswriter of the Year. Support my work with a digital subscription