Where Kentucky football’s 2025 roster stands after closing of first transfer portal window
The first phase of Kentucky football’s offseason roster makeover ended Saturday when the winter window for nongraduates to enter the transfer portal closed for most teams.
While players on teams in bowl games or the playoff will have a short window to enter the portal after their seasons end, UK at least knows which of the 2024 Wildcats will not be on campus for spring practice now.
One wrinkle to keep in mind is graduates can enter the portal at any time, so there is still a risk of players who have completed their degrees leaving before classes resume on Jan 13. Players already in the portal do not have a deadline to commit to new schools, but most will want to do so before the spring semester begins. For UK, that means any more additions to its 2024 transfer class must come by Jan. 17, the last day for enrolled students to add or drop classes for the spring semester.
Expect Mark Stoops and company to try to add at least a couple more transfers before then, but more additions might have to wait until the spring portal window opens in April when the staff has a better idea of which returning players have made progress in spring practice.
Here is a position-by-position look at where UK’s roster stands after the close of the winter portal window.
QUARTERBACK
Returning: Cutter Boley.
In the portal: Gavin Wimsatt.
Other departures: Brock Vandagriff.
Incoming transfers: Zach Calzada (Incarnate Word).
High school signees: Stone Saunders, Brennen Ward.
For the second consecutive offseason there will be massive turnover in UK’s quarterback room. Unlike a year ago when UK had to replace all the scholarship quarterbacks on its roster, the Wildcats at least return former four-star recruit Cutter Boley, who impressed off the bench against Murray State and Texas in November but struggled in his only start against Louisville. UK has added former Texas A&M, Auburn and Incarnate Word quarterback Zach Calzada from the transfer portal. While Calzada, a seventh-year senior, is the favorite to start the 2025 opener, Boley will be given the chance to win the job as well. Depth is a concern, but the two freshmen are at least enrolling for the spring semester.
RUNNING BACK
Returning: Jamarion Wilcox, Jason Patterson, Tovani Mizell.
In the portal: Chip Trayanum (Toledo).
Other departures: Demie Sumo-Karngbaye.
Incoming transfers: Dane Dowdell (Nebraska).
High school signees: None.
Perhaps the biggest win of the winter portal window for Kentucky was keeping Wilcox on the roster after he looked like the offense’s most explosive weapon in a limited role in 2024. He will enter spring practice as the favorite to be the featured back, but Dowdell at least provides more competition. Dowdell is a like-for-like replacement for Trayanum (who will face UK in Week 1 next season) but will hope for a larger impact than Trayanum made in an injury-plagued season after transferring to UK from Ohio State. UK coaches have raved about Patterson’s potential too, and Mizell will be given a chance to earn a role after shaking off rust from a knee injury suffered as a senior in high school.
WIDE RECEIVER
Returning: Ja’Mori Maclin, Fred Farrier, David Washington.
In the portal: Barion Brown (LSU), Anthony Brown-Stephens, Hardley Gilmore, Dane Key (Nebraska), Brandon White (Hawaii).
Other departures: None.
Incoming transfers: J.J. Hester (Oklahoma), Kendrick Law (Alabama).
High school signees: Preston Bowman, Cameron Miller, DJ Miller, Montavin Quisenberry, Quintin Simmons.
No position group will look more different in spring football practice than this one, which also will feature a new coach in former South Florida assistant L’Damian Washington. After three years of building around Brown and Key, UK lost both players to traditional powers for their senior seasons. Gilmore’s departure to the portal on the last day of the winter window looks like a major blow after coaches hyped him as a possible replacement for Brown and Key. There was buzz that he is could still return to UK early in the week, but on Wednesday 247Sports reported Gilmore is expected to transfer to follow Key and former wide receivers coach Daikiel Shorts to Nebraska.
Hester and Law bring much-needed SEC experience but neither has approached the type of statistics Key did at UK last season. Spring practice will be essential in the staff determining if Maclin, Hester and Law can carry the load and if either of the mid-year freshmen enrollees (Bowman and Quisenberry) can earn spots in the rotation. Otherwise, adding a go-to receiver in the spring window will be a necessity. There is at least one more option on the table in the winter window as Louisiana Tech’s Tru Edwards, who totaled 989 yards and six touchdowns last season, tweeted Wednesday he will visit UK on Sunday. Edwards is a Shreveport, Louisiana, native, like Washington and Law.
TIGHT END
Returning: Josh Kattus, Willie Rodriguez.
In the portal: Khamari Anderson (Arizona State), Jordan Dingle (South Carolina), Tanner Lemaster (Eastern Michigan).
Other departures: None.
Incoming transfers: Henry Boyer (Illinois).
High school signees: Mikkel Skinner.
A year after Dingle entered the portal before ultimately electing to return to UK, he stuck with his decision to leave this winter, signing with SEC rival South Carolina. Anderson, a young tight end the staff was high on, also landed at a Power Four program. Part of the reason for those departures can be attributed to Rodriguez carving out a featured role as a freshman, but it is also impossible to ignore how little the tight ends were used in the passing attack last season because they were needed as extra blockers to help a struggling offensive line. The 6-foot-6, 270-pound Boyer, who did not catch a pass at Illinois last season, should help provide a physical blocking presence, but any hope for the tight ends becoming consistent targets for UK’s quarterbacks will rest on Kattus and Rodriguez. Depth will be an issue in spring practice too with Skinner, a four-star recruit, not enrolling until the summer.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Returning: Jager Burton, Anfernee Crease, Jalen Farmer, Hayes Johnson, Daniel Mincey, Marc Nave, Aba Selm, Malachi Wood.
In the portal: Koby Keenum (Mississippi State), Dylan Ray (Minnesota), Ben Christman (UNLV), Courtland Ford (UCLA).
Other departures: Eli Cox, Marques Cox, Gerald Mincey.
Incoming transfers: Joshua Braun (Arkansas), Wallace Unamba (New Mexico), Evan Wibberley (WKU), Alex Wollschlaeger (Bowling Green).
High school signees: Jermiel Atkins, Bryan Auguste, Jayden Clark, Darrin Strey.
The bulk of Kentucky’s transfer NIL budget needed to be directed toward the offensive line, where the staff appears to have found three new starters already. Braun is a former All-SEC guard. Wollschlaeger was an All-MAC right tackle last season. Wibberley is a two-year starter at center. Unamba might not start next season, but he should at least replace Ray’s role as a valuable depth option at guard and tackle.
There is still a glaring hole at left tackle though after Kentucky missed on its top targets at the position in the winter window. UK is in the running for New Mexico State tackle transfer Shiyazh Pete, but he is scheduled to visit Vanderbilt, where the former New Mexico State offensive staff currently coaches former New Mexico State QB Diego Pavia, after the holiday dead period ends. If Kentucky cannot add a left tackle transfer before the spring semester, Wood, Crease and Unamba will compete for the job in hopes of proving another addition isn’t needed in April, but it will be hard to sell that as a favorable outcome to fans given the obvious emphasis on rebuilding the line through the transfer portal.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Returning: Tavion Gadson, Kendrick Gilbert, Josaih Hayes, Darrion Henry-Young, Dennious Jackson, Brian Robinson, Kahlil Saunders, Jerod Smith.
In the portal: Tommy Ziesmer (EKU), Keeshawn Silver (USC).
Other departures: Octavious Oxendine, Tre’vonn Rybka, Deone Walker.
Incoming transfers: Jaden Williams (Wyoming).
High school signees: Javeon Campbell, Kalen Edwards, Nicholas Smith.
Kentucky must replace its top four defensive linemen after losing Rybka and Oxendine to graduation, Walker to the NFL draft and Silver to the transfer portal. There is at least returning experience with Hayes, who missed most of the 2024 season due to injury, and Saunders poised to step into starting roles. Gadson, Gilbert and Henry-Young have also flashed promise at times. Robinson and Smith, two of the most-hyped signees in UK’s 2024 high school class, could move into the rotation for the first time after redshirt seasons.
At 6-foot-4, 290 pounds, Williams should at least provide a physical presence as part of the rotation but could earn a starting job in spring practice. Kentucky is scheduled to host Washington State defensive lineman David Gusta for a visit this weekend but faces competition from Texas A&M and Tennessee for his commitment. If UK can’t land Gusta, spring practice will bring more opportunity for the returning Wildcats to prove ready for larger roles. From the high school class, only Edwards plans to enroll in January.
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER
Returning: Steven Soles, Jacob Smith.
In the portal: Tyreese Fearbry (Wisconsin), Noah Matthews, Caleb Redd (Kansas).
Other departures: J.J. Weaver.
Incoming transfers: Sam Greene (USC), Kameron Olds (Kent State).
High school signees: Cedric Works.
Weaver is finished playing at Kentucky after six seasons of college football, leaving the door open for a new featured edge rusher in the Wildcats defense. Fearbry and Matthews had been groomed as Weaver’s possible replacement the last two years, but failed to show the consistency coaches hoped for then entered the transfer portal after the Louisville game. That leaves Soles, who flashed potential as a pass rushing specialist in the first half of his freshman season in 2024 but saw his production dip in the second half after an injury, as the most experienced outside linebacker returning on the roster.
UK has already looked to the transfer portal for reinforcements. Olds will be counted on as an instant impact contributor after totaling seven tackles for loss and six sacks as a junior for Kent State. Greene is more a project for the future after recording three tackles for loss and one sack in a limited role for USC as a redshirt freshman. Kentucky is also still pursuing FCS All-American edge rusher Mi’Quise Grace, a Cincinnati native who totaled 17 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks last season at South Dakota.
INSIDE LINEBACKER
Returning: Alex Afari, Grant Godfrey, Quintavion Norman, Daveren Rayner, Antwan Smith, Devin Smith.
In the portal: Jayvant Brown.
Other departures: Jamon Dumas-Johnson, D’Eryk Jackson.
Incoming transfers: Landyn Watson (Marshall).
High school signees: None.
There will be two new starters at inside linebacker for UK in 2025, but the Wildcats at least got a sneak peek at the future down the stretch when Jackson’s season ended early due to injury. The staff seems set on playing Afari inside after he spent most of his career in a hybrid outside linebacker/nickel back role. Assuming Stoops and defensive coordinator Brad White stick to that plan, Afari will be paired with Rayner, who redshirted in 2024 in order to gain weight in hopes of returning for a breakout season in 2025.
Godfrey, a former four-star recruit, gained valuable experience when injuries limited Jackson and Dumas-Johnson last year. He and Watson will be needed for depth at least, but the best case scenario would be at least one of that duo pushing for a starting job, allowing Afari or Rayner to play outside in certain formations. Spring practice will be an important gauge on the progress of Norman, Antwan Smith and Devin Smith, who played only sparingly as freshmen in 2024.
CORNERBACK
Returning: Nasir Addison, Jantzen Dunn, JQ Hardaway, Quavo Marshall, Tehryon Nichols, Quay’sheed Scott, DJ Waller.
In the portal: None.
Other departures: Maxwell Hairston.
Incoming transfers: Kevis Thomas (Maryland).
High school signees: Demarcus Gardner, Grant Grayton, Andrew Purcell.
Cornerback is the only position on offense or defense yet to lose a player to the transfer portal, so UK coaches appear to be making a bet on their ability to develop young talent at the position. There was plenty of experience gained in this group in 2024 while Hairston was sidelined for more than a month by a medical issue, but the performances were not always encouraging. Hardaway returns as a starter. Nichols and Waller will be the leading candidates to replace Hairston opposite him.
UK did add Thomas as a transfer, but his production as a sophomore at Maryland does not suggest his is a clear upgrade over the returning players at the position. He will be needed for depth though, as several of the other players listed as cornerbacks here are more likely to spend time at nickel. Purcell, the highest-rated signee in the 2025 class according to 247Sports, could push for snaps as a freshman but will not be enrolling until June.
SAFETY
Returning: Ty Bryant, Cam Dooley, Jordan Lovett, Jaden Smith.
In the portal: Avery Stuart.
Other departures: Zion Childress, Kristian Story.
Incoming transfers: None.
High school signees: Martels Carter, Dyllon Williams.
With so many holes elsewhere on the roster, it was never going to be financially prudent for UK to spend much of its NIL budget for transfers on safety, where starters Bryant and Lovett are both back, but there is an argument to be made the Wildcats still need an upgrade at the position. For now, the hope for the upgrade rests on those players making a jump in the offseason and being pushed by younger defensive backs. Depth is a major question here with no experienced backups on the roster, so a transfer might still be needed in the spring. The good news is UK coaches are clearly planning for Carter, a four-star recruit, to play a large role as a freshman. Carter is enrolling in January, so the staff will have a chance to evaluate his readiness before the spring transfer window.
SPECIALISTS
Returning: Aidan Laros, Jacob Kauwe, Alex McLaughlin.
In the portal: Walker Himebauch (Colorado State).
Other departures: Alex Raynor, Wilson Berry.
Incoming transfers: None.
High school signees: None.
The task of replacing All-SEC kicker Alex Raynor falls to Kauwe, who redshirted in 2024 but who Stoops repeatedly acknowledged was available if a 60-yard field goal had been needed to win a game. That leg strength should make Kauwe a weapon, but he still must prove he has the consistency that made Raynor such an important part of the team the last two years. At punter, Laros will look to build on an inconsistent debut season as a Wildcat. Berry, who opened the season as UK’s No. 1 punter before losing his job to Laros, has not officially announced his 2025 plans, but he signaled a likely departure by participating in senior day before the Louisville game. Walk-on snapper Alex McLaughlin is back, but UK lost Himebauch, who replaced McLaughlin as the snapper for field goals midway through the season, to the transfer portal.
This story was originally published January 2, 2025 at 6:30 AM.