Transfer Bio Blast: Landyn Watson

The first transfer portal window of the offseason opened on Monday. Kentucky’s coaches plus recruiting and support staff has a ton of work to get done. There have been 16 scholarship players leave the program and there are some roster spots to fill. This program is expected to be an active shopper in the free agent market.

A target at a clear position of need emerged on Monday.

Marshall linebacker Landyn Watson has entered the transfer portal as a redshirt senior with one year of eligibility remaining. However, there could be a chance to get an additional year since the class of 2021 recruit did not appear in any games during the 2022 season.

KSR+’s Jacob Polacheck has reported that Kentucky is expected to host the Sun Belt transfer for a visit this week. Now it’s time to learn about the latest Kentucky transfer target.

KSR’s Bio Blast takes a closer look at the off-ball linebacker with 625 career defensive snaps played.

Former high 3-star recruit

Landyn Watson was a high three-star recruit out of Hutto (Texas) High in Metro Austin. The linebacker/edge prospect had a legitimate power conference recruitment. There were many suitors.

Watson committed to LSU in the summer before his junior season but backed off that pledge four months later. Plenty of schools entered the chat after that happened with some buzz building for Virginia Tech at one point. However, TCU made a big push and Watson decided to sign with Gary Patterson’s program.

The in-state product would stay at TCU through the coaching change to Sonny Dykes. However, Watson would never see the field in Fort Worth. The linebacker entered the transfer portal after the 2022 campaign and landed at Marshall to play for head coach Charles Huff and defensive coordinator Jason Semore.

Big splash in year four

Landyn Watson did not find snaps at TCU and played exclusively on special teams during his first season at Marshall. The Thundering Herd gave the off-ball linebacker a chance to be a starter and the redshirt junior shined for a defense that finished the season ranked No. 55 in yards per play allowed and No. 50 in points per drive allowed.

Landyn Watson with the PICK‼️ pic.twitter.com/MvQj5sHdzC

— Marshall Football (@HerdFB) November 9, 2024

The veteran finished the season with 69 tackles, four tackles for loss, an interception and a forced fumble. Watson missed the last two games with an unspecified injury. Tackling efficiency (17.7% missed tackle rate) will be something to monitor at his next stop, but the off-ball linebacker was productive and reliable in his first season as a starter. Watson played 30-plus snaps in every game he appeared in this season for Marshall.

Fits a positional need

Kentucky currently has eight scholarship linebackers on the roster. However, D’Eryk Jackson could announce his intentions to enter the 2025 NFL Draft at any moment. Alex Afari Jr. had some issues making a positional switch when he replaced Jackson in the lineup over the last five games of the season. Daveren Rayner is scheduled to return for his super senior season but the room is very young and unproven after that.

The Wildcats had to go find some help at linebacker in the portal market. It did not take long for a name to emerge.

Landyn Watson will be on campus this week as defensive coordinator Brad White and linebackers coach Mike Stoops take the lead on this recruitment. California, Northwestern, SMU, West Virginia, Cincinnati, and Mississippi State are also involved in this recruitment. Do not be surprised if Kentucky attempts to push for a commitment quickly.

Watson is an off-ball linebacker with good size (6-1, 239) and has played in two winning programs. A recruiting win here could allow Kentucky to check an important box early in the transfer process.