Kentucky lands commitments from Daveren Rayner and Dylan Ray

The Kentucky Wildcats scored not one but two football transfers today!

First, it was West Virginia offensive lineman Dylan Ray who announced his commitment to Kentucky.

Later in the afternoon, the Wildcats landed a pledge from Northern Illinois linebacker Daveren Rayner.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Rayner racked up a career-high 71 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks in just eight games this past season with the Huskies. He becomes the second NIU player to come to Lexington this offseason, joining left tackle Marques Cox.

The former class of 2020 recruit played at Lawrence Central in Indiana and was a three-star safety recruit entering college.

Heading into the 2023 season, Kentucky should have a solid starting inside linebacker duo in D’Eryk Jackson and Trevin Wallace, but there’s almost no proven depth behind them heading into the summer. Rayner might not be a starter, but he figures to have a significant role in what hopes to be another standout Brad White defense.

As for Ray, the 6-foot-5, 293-pound lineman was originally a walk-on addition in the class of 2021 from Noblesville High School in Indiana. He redshirted his first year, then played limited snaps this past season for the Mountaineers.

Check out some high school highlights of the newest Cats in action!

A Sea of Blue comes loaded with the best Kentucky Wildcats links, news, analysis, and some other fun stuff, so be sure to go ‘like’ our Facebook page and then go follow us on Twitter. Got a link you think we should check out? Email us at seaofblue@gmail.com. Go Cats!!!