UK with 6th best Portal class so far.

[bthaunert]

On3 ranks plus/minus. They have UKs class at 34th due to all the guys that left.

I do like how On3 does it. A couple thoughts:

We significantly upgraded our OL through the portal. We lost (transfer ranking next to their name):
Ben Christman (86.00)
Koby Keenum (86.00)
Courtland Ford (86.00)
Dylan Ray (85.00)

We brought in:
Josh Braun (91.00)
Alex Wollschlaeger (89.00)
Evan Wibberlay (89.00)
Wallace Unamba (88.00)

That is a massive improvement on the OL.

We upgraded in the DL/Edge rush area too. We lost:
Keeshawn Silver (90.00)
Tyreese Fearby (87.00)
Caleb Redd (86.00)
Tommy Ziesmer (85.00)
Noah Matthews (82.00)

We brought in:
David Gusta (90.00)
Kameron Olds (88.00)
Sam Greene (88.00)
Landyn Watson (87.00)
Jaden Williams (86.00)

Skill positions is where we took the biggest hit. We lost:
Dane Key (91.00)
Barion Brown (91.00)
Hardley Gilmore (88.00)
Chip Trayanum (87.00)
Khamari Anderson (87.00)
Anthony Brown-Stephens (86.00)
Brandon White (85.00)
Tanner Lemaster (84.00)

We brought in:
Dante Dowdell (88.00)
Troy Stellato (87.00)
Kendrick Law (87.00)
JJ Hester (86.00)
Henry (Boyer (85.00)

I like our focus on the lines on both sides of the ball. Our offensive philosophy/execution no doubt killed us in the skill positions.

 

[bthaunert]

Goofy? Seems like basic common sense. And your second sentence undermines your first. Yes, you have to have players leave to bring in new blood. Thus, you need to measure the net +/-.

Agree. It's no different than looking at a pro team and seeing who they lose via free agency and who they gain via free agency. They either upgrade their roster or they don't.

 

[docholiday51]

I do like how On3 does it. A couple thoughts:

We significantly upgraded our OL through the portal. We lost (transfer ranking next to their name):
Ben Christman (86.00)
Koby Keenum (86.00)
Courtland Ford (86.00)
Dylan Ray (85.00)

We brought in:
Josh Braun (91.00)
Alex Wollschlaeger (89.00)
Evan Wibberlay (89.00)
Wallace Unamba (88.00)

That is a massive improvement on the OL.

We upgraded in the DL/Edge rush area too. We lost:
Keeshawn Silver (90.00)
Tyreese Fearby (87.00)
Caleb Redd (86.00)
Tommy Ziesmer (85.00)
Noah Matthews (82.00)

We brought in:
David Gusta (90.00)
Kameron Olds (88.00)
Sam Greene (88.00)
Landyn Watson (87.00)
Jaden Williams (86.00)

Skill positions is where we took the biggest hit. We lost:
Dane Key (91.00)
Barion Brown (91.00)
Hardley Gilmore (88.00)
Chip Trayanum (87.00)
Khamari Anderson (87.00)
Anthony Brown-Stephens (86.00)
Brandon White (85.00)
Tanner Lemaster (84.00)

We brought in:
Dante Dowdell (88.00)
Troy Stellato (87.00)
Kendrick Law (87.00)
JJ Hester (86.00)
Henry (Boyer (85.00)

I like our focus on the lines on both sides of the ball. Our offensive philosophy/execution no doubt killed us in the skill positions.

Thanks for posting

 

[optimus-blue]

It really will be. 5-6 wins will be our norm. That sucks but its reality. Our down years will be 3-4 wins and up years 7-8. Maybe with a really less brutal schedule we could get to 8-9.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

I cant tell if you are quoting that because you think its inconsistent or consistent.

 

[maysvilleky]

I think from a skill standpoint, Stoops is going to go back to a very run heavy offense with quick throws. So as long as the WRs can catch, I’m not sure there will be a big drop off (although I would have like to have kept Key).

 

[rrdd2021]

Not to dampen some spirits, but huge Portal classes just mean that there are serious holes in a team's lineup. Many of those kids (not all) are in the Portal because they couldn't make the field at their previous school. If you look at the 2 NC finalists - ND and OSU - they take very few transfers. I read that OSU took only 6 last year and 5 of them were immediate contributors this year.

 

[Bereacat420]

Not to dampen some spirits, but huge Portal classes just mean that there are serious holes in a team's lineup. Many of those kids (not all) are in the Portal because they couldn't make the field at their previous school. If you look at the 2 NC finalists - ND and OSU - they take very few transfers. I read that OSU took only 6 last year and 5 of them were immediate contributors this year.

The top guys UK got this year were starters contributors at their last stop. They changed their approach and didn’t take a bunch of guys like last year that hadn’t played.

 

[trueblujr2]

Not to dampen some spirits, but huge Portal classes just mean that there are serious holes in a team's lineup. Many of those kids (not all) are in the Portal because they couldn't make the field at their previous school. If you look at the 2 NC finalists - ND and OSU - they take very few transfers. I read that OSU took only 6 last year and 5 of them were immediate contributors this year.

Lots of schools bring in big portal classes. Look at LSU and Ole Miss in the SEC. our portal class isn't inordinately large compared to some schools. Louisville brought in something like 25-30 last season alone. When schools get new coaches they really flip the roster. I don't disagree that we had some holes to fill, which sucks this deep into Stoops tenure, but after last seasons debacle, something had to be done to attempt to right the ship. The Portal now allows teams to find more immediate stopgaps. Whether we've really improved or not has yet to be seen, but all we can do is hope for the best, we have to live with this staff at least one more year.

 

[Padsfs07]

I think from a skill standpoint, Stoops is going to go back to a very run heavy offense with quick throws. So as long as the WRs can catch, I’m not sure there will be a big drop off (although I would have like to have kept Key).

Yeah in addition to the line, the pickup of Law and Boyer will help too, while Dowdell is a good power back.

 

[R.O.T.Muckinfush]

Nothing will help much with this coaching staff.

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

Add True Edwards, a 6-3 200 WR that is a good route runner and competes for balls. Runs well in his films. An old guy that was out of time to play anymore till the Pavia rule came about. All the sudden our WR room has become bolsterous with 6 vets.

 

[entropy13]

Nothing will help much with this coaching staff.

^This.

And our transfer class dropped to #36. To make an appreciable difference to move the needle next season, we'd have to be absolutely murdering the portal like the top 5 or so teams are.

https://www.on3.com/transfer-portal/team-rankings/football/2025/

That's not to say there hasn't been a small degree of improvement in some position groups, especially the lines, but I put absolutely no stock in anything until we start playing next year.

 

[Cole World]

^This.

And our transfer class dropped to #36. To make an appreciable difference to move the needle next season, we'd have to be absolutely murdering the portal like the top 5 or so teams are.

https://www.on3.com/transfer-portal/team-rankings/football/2025/

That's not to say there hasn't been a small degree of improvement in some position groups, especially the lines, but I put absolutely no stock in anything until we start playing next year.

https://247sports.com/Season/2025-Football/TransferTeamRankings/

Totally depends on the outlet you choose to push. The article in the OP is in regards to 24/7's rankings.



They're 7th according to them

 

[Bereacat420]

https://247sports.com/Season/2025-Football/TransferTeamRankings/

Totally depends on the outlet you choose to push. The article in the OP is in regards to 24/7's rankings.



They're 7th according to them

ESPN is the one that has them 6th. One thing that hurts the on3 ranking is they have Calzada as zero stars. Lol

 

[Cole World]

ESPN is the one that has them 6th. One thing that hurts the on3 ranking is they have Calzada as zero stars. Lol

That is a large discrepancy between 2/3 outlets lol 30 whole spots.



edit- I had glossed over the tweet in the article

 

[Bereacat420]

https://247sports.com/Season/2025-Football/TransferTeamRankings/

Totally depends on the outlet you choose to push. The article in the OP is in regards to 24/7's rankings.



They're 7th according to them

ESPN is the one that has them 6th. One thing that hurts the on3 ranking is they have Calzada as zero stars. Lol

 

[Bereacat420]

That is a large discrepancy between 2/3 outlets lol 30 whole spots.



edit- I had glossed over the tweet in the article

On3 is the only one that grades losses with gains

 

[catsfanbgky]

it is obvious Key and Brown was big distractions. Sometimes it is addition by subtraction. If those guys killed team moral. how exactly did they help UK ? few catches / big plays here and there, but OVERALL they was a distraction to others and team chemistry. Maclin will show everyone that he was a huge weapon that didn't get the chances he deserved. Got to throw the ball Dane's way to keep him happy, open or not, be damned. Give me Maclin and Tru Edwards over Key and Brown. Talent is the same, but better character guys = net gain.

 

[bthaunert]

^This.

And our transfer class dropped to #36. To make an appreciable difference to move the needle next season, we'd have to be absolutely murdering the portal like the top 5 or so teams are.

https://www.on3.com/transfer-portal/team-rankings/football/2025/

That's not to say there hasn't been a small degree of improvement in some position groups, especially the lines, but I put absolutely no stock in anything until we start playing next year.

On3 has a unique way of doing the portal rankings as it ranks you based on perceived upgrade from players lost in the portal vs players gained. Key (13th overall), Brown (17th overall) and Silver (55th overall) are all highly ranked portal guys, so that definitely makes the On3 rankings not in our favor. 247 and ESPN simply rank in the incoming classes. 247 has UK as the 7th best class and ESPN has them as the 6th best class. So, the class coming in is strong...the question is, will they be an upgrade over what left. As you say, that's yet to be determined.

On paper, the offensive line (which was our weakest unit) has improved drastically. Let's hope that comes into play on the field.

 

[Cole World]

On3 is the only one that grades losses with gains

I'm aware

 

[bigbluedon]

it is obvious Key and Brown was big distractions. Sometimes it is addition by subtraction. If those guys killed team moral. how exactly did they help UK ? few catches / big plays here and there, but OVERALL they was a distraction to others and team chemistry. Maclin will show everyone that he was a huge weapon that didn't get the chances he deserved. Got to throw the ball Dane's way to keep him happy, open or not, be damned. Give me Maclin and Tru Edwards over Key and Brown. Talent is the same, but better character guys = net gain.

Agree with this but the question I have is if those guys were that unruly along with Walker and others, then why didn’t Stoops discipline them or kick them out? The coaches dropped the ball completely here. Obviously the inmates were running the asylum.

 

[jlkirk]

Agree with this but the question I have is if those guys were that unruly along with Walker and others, then why didn’t Stoops discipline them or kick them out? The coaches dropped the ball completely here. Obviously the inmates were running the asylum.

THIS...

 

[jlkirk]

THIS...

Whatever happened to the OL (from EWE T I believe at some point) that was pictured at the concession stand during the UL game?

 

[Bereacat420]

I'm aware

That’s why there is a big discrepancy.

 

[Lost In FL]

Key and Brown were both pretty much top 10 or close portal guys, losing those two has to be skewing that ranking some. but if you listen to our fans, they weren't that big of a loss. I also don't know if that ranking accounts for losses to the NFL draft like Walker and Hairston.

I'm sure the rankings are hard to do after 100 or so, but there are some head-scratchers. E.G. JJ Hester, who has over 500 career receiving yards ... not earth shattering, but respectable. He is ranked 1064 by this site.

These UK players that left are all ranked higher:
276 Ben Christman, 301 Khamari Anderson, 340 Avery Stuart, 449 Chip Trayanum, 480 Brown-Stephens - has 121 career yards, 523 Tyrese Fearby, 556 Koby Keenum, 671 Courtland Ford, 761 Tanner LeMaster, 937 Jayvant Brown.

I'm sure the rankings are hard to do with zero film on some of these kids. And I'm not trying to badmouth the kids at all, they may be fantastic kids ... IDK them. Not commenting on that. I am commenting that the rankings don't make a lot of sense to me. No correlation to productivity, seniority, or HS evaluations. I really don't know what metrics they are using.

 

[Kybluedude]

it is obvious Key and Brown was big distractions. Sometimes it is addition by subtraction. If those guys killed team moral. how exactly did they help UK ? few catches / big plays here and there, but OVERALL they was a distraction to others and team chemistry. Maclin will show everyone that he was a huge weapon that didn't get the chances he deserved. Got to throw the ball Dane's way to keep him happy, open or not, be damned. Give me Maclin and Tru Edwards over Key and Brown. Talent is the same, but better character guys = net gain.

I have a tough time believing Dane Key was a distraction. If anything we probably needed more players with his work ethic and commitment.