Northern Illinois linebacker Daveren Rayner to visit Kentucky

The Kentucky Wildcats could be getting much-needed depth at linebacker. There is hope that they could add Northern Illinois linebacker Daveren Rayner via the transfer portal.

Rayner put his name in the transfer portal on April 28th, and with the Wildcats having revived the football program behind current head coach Mark Stoops, adding more high-end transfer talent has become much easier.

Rayner has received a plethora of scholarship offers — most notably from Ole Miss, Florida State, and Oklahoma State.

That said, 247 Sports’ Josh Edwards has reported that the NIU star will visit the Bluegrass state the weekend of May 11.

The 6-foot-3, 212-pound linebacker was a stud for NIU last season, totaling a career-high 71 tackles and 3.5 sacks. He also chipped in 5.5 tackles for a loss as well. He did all that in just eight games, so the sky could be the limit for Rayner if he joins an SEC program.

Originally from Indianapolis, Rayner came out of high school as the state’s No. 26 prospect. Rayner clearly has a strong list of suitors, and the Cats will expect to be among the top programs contending for the linebacker.

The need is there for the program as well. Kentucky recently made a run at Jackson State transfer linebacker Jurriente Davis, who eventually committed to Texas A&M.

Expect a strong push from the Cats for Rayner, who have a solid starting duo of D’Eryk Jackson and Trevin Wallace, but almost no proven depth behind them heading into the summer.