UK football’s roster has flaws, but the 2024 transfer exodus isn’t the cause

Kentucky football’s 2025 roster is flawed. Even Mark Stoops acknowledges that.

“I think you can see — I hope you can — and everybody can see we are most definitely better in certain areas,” Stoops said last week before Kentucky snapped a 10-game SEC losing streak with a 10-3 win at Auburn. “I understand we’re not complete, and you look at our record.”

Building a complete roster has become even more difficult in recent years with players able to transfer without sitting out a season. Those rule changes made the prospect of developing players over multiple years more difficult.

But the mass exodus from Kentucky’s 2024 roster via the transfer portal does not appear to have been the primary cause for any shortcomings on the roster this season. Perhaps that should not be a surprise considering the Wildcats were 4-8 last year, but with just one month left in the regular season it is apparent that only a handful of the 23 active former Wildcats who transferred after the 2024 season would have even been included on UK’s two-deep depth chart this season.

Some of the players who might have featured for the Wildcats this season have been replaced by newcomers who have performed better than the departed players did last season.

Here’s a closer look at how the players who left Kentucky after the 2024 season have fared for their new teams in 2025 compared to the players who replaced them at UK.

TE Khamari Anderson (Arizona State)

Anderson has played in all nine games for Arizona State but has recorded just three catches for 11 yards. Considering the production of Kentucky’s deep tight end room, Anderson has not been missed.

WR Barion Brown (LSU)

Brown has already surpassed his production at UK last season and is on pace to post similar statistics from his 2022 freshman breakout. Brown leads LSU with 36 catches in eight games and ranks second on the team with 361 receiving yards. He has just one receiving touchdown, though. After returning five kickoffs for touchdowns in three years at UK, he has yet to return a kick for a score this season. Brown’s statistics are very similar to his UK replacement Kendrick Law (30 catches, 351 yards, three touchdowns), so his departure has not been the hit to Kentucky’s offense fans might have feared.

LB Jayvant Brown (Temple)

Brown has served as a backup linebacker for the Owls this season, totaling nine tackles in eight games. Depth has been a concern for UK at Brown’s position this season, but it seems unlikely he would have factored into the rotation had he remained in Lexington.

WR Anthony Brown-Stephens (Tulane)

The nephew of Grammy Award winner John Legend, Brown-Stephens has caught 18 passes for 220 yards and one touchdown in eight games playing for former UK player and assistant coach Jon Sumrall at Tulane. Brown-Stephens has started the past three games for the Green Wave. Kentucky probably could have used Brown-Stephens as a rotation option at receiver this season, but the emergence of freshmen Cam Miller and DJ Miller over the past month has reduced the sting of the losses at the position.

OT Anfernee Crease (Texas State)

Crease has appeared in every game for the Bobcats as a reserve offensive tackle but has yet to start this season. Since Kentucky has stuck with the same five linemen throughout the 2025 season, Crease is unlikely to have played had he remained in Lexington.

TE Jordan Dingle (South Carolina)

Dingle has already surpassed his 2024 production at Kentucky (nine catches, 71 yards) in nine games at South Carolina (nine catches, 112 yards) but he is behind UK tight ends Willie Rodriguez and Josh Kattus in catches and receiving yards. Dingle appears to have made the right decision to look for more snaps elsewhere.

OLB Tyreese Fearbry (Wisconsin)

A former four-star recruit who failed to live up to that hype at Kentucky, Fearbry has appeared in all eight games as a reserve outside linebacker for the 2-6 Badgers. He has recorded eight tackles and one sack. Depth is a strength at outside linebacker for Kentucky even after multiple departures from the position, so Fearbry’s absence has not been felt.

OT Courtland Ford (UCLA)

Ford appeared in only two games at UK last season due to a hand injury after playing a key rotational role with two starts in 2023. He’s started in all seven appearances at left tackle for UCLA this season. Ford likely could have boosted UK’s depth had he remained in Lexington, but the staff clearly prioritized upgrading at his position last winter.

DL Kendrick Gilbert (Louisville)

Gilbert has not appeared in a game for Louisville this season. Defensive line is the deepest position on Kentucky’s roster, so he would have likely struggled for snaps had he remained in Lexington, too.

DL Darrion Henry-Young (Coastal Carolina)

The former Ohio State transfer has totaled eight tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in eight games at Coastal Carolina in his final season of eligibility. Henry-Young barely played in three years at UK, so he is unlikely to have broken into the deep defensive line rotation had he stayed for his final season of eligibility in 2025.

LS Walker Himebauch (Colorado State)

After taking over field-goal snapping duties for the final six games for UK last season, Himebauch has served as Colorado State’s primary long snapper this year. Kentucky has had no snapping issues this season with Alex McLaughlin serving in the role for punts and field goals.

DL Dennious Jackson (Colorado State)

Jackson did not appear in a game in one year at Kentucky and has played in just one game for Colorado State this season.

OL Koby Keenum (Mississippi State)

Keenum has played in all nine games for the Bulldogs this season but is listed as the third-string center. That position has been a strength for UK this year following Jager Burton’s move from guard. Keenum would have likely been third in the pecking order at center had he stayed at UK, too.

WR Dane Key (Nebraska)

Key’s departure looked like the biggest transfer loss for the Wildcats last winter, and it has played out that way. His production has dipped slightly for a Nebraska team with more receiving weapons, but he still has totaled 25 catches for 314 yards and five touchdowns. Kentucky has lacked a go-to downfield threat at wide receiver for most of the year. Even if DJ Miller eventually develops into that role, Key would have been the go-to option Kentucky lacked in the first half of the season.

TE Tanner Lemaster (Eastern Michigan)

This is an example of how the transfer portal can be good for players buried on the depth chart at power-conference schools. After not playing in a game in two years at UK, Lemaster has five catches for 69 yards in seven games for Eastern Michigan this year, including two against his former team in September. Lemaster would have been at best fifth on the depth chart at tight end at UK this season.

DB Jiquavious Marshall (Liberty)

In eight games this season, Marshall has four tackles and one interception, which he returned 70 yards. Marshall is playing a reserve role at Liberty, so he probably would not have played much at Kentucky this year, but as just a redshirt freshman he still has time to develop into a contributor at the power-conference level.

OLB/DE Noah Matthews (Delaware)

Matthews has started every game for Delaware, which is playing as an FBS program for the first time this season, after starting two of 12 games for UK last year. UK appears to have adequately replaced Matthews at outside linebacker, and Matthews now gets to play a larger role for his home-state school.

OL Daniel Mincey (UAB)

Mincey has yet to appear in a game for UAB as a redshirt freshman. He was not going to play for Kentucky this season had he stayed, either.

OL Marc Nave (Purdue)

Nave has yet to appear in a game for Purdue this season. He was not expected to play for Kentucky had he remained for his redshirt freshman season either, but the fact he found a spot on a power conference roster suggests he still has potential to develop into a contributor later in his career.

OL Dylan Ray (Minnesota)

This might be the second-biggest loss for Kentucky. Ray has started every game at right tackle for 6-3 Minnesota this season. Ray left UK after the staff recruited over him by pursuing three starting offensive linemen in the portal, but he would likely still have been the sixth-best lineman on the team. UK has been lucky that it has made it through eight games while playing the same five linemen while games were still in doubt, but one injury could show how valuable Ray could have still been.

OLB/DE Caleb Redd (Kansas)

Redd has totaled one tackle in three games as a redshirt freshman. He was not likely to play much at UK this season, but it is too early to decide if he can eventually develop into a power conference-caliber player.

DL Keeshawn Silver (USC)

After starting 23 of 24 games across two years at UK, Silver has moved into a reserve role for the 6-2 Trojans this season. He has 13 tackles and one tackle for loss in eight games. Silver would have certainly played a big role had he remained at UK, but David Gusta, his replacement, has been one of the best players on the team.

DB Avery Stuart (Ball State)

After playing in just three games across two years at UK, Stuart has played just once as a reserve safety for Ball State this year.

This story was originally published November 5, 2025 at 6:15 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