Brad White excited to see a willingness to improve from transfer LB Daveren Rayner

When you think of a former Northern Illinois football player that transferred to Kentucky, your mind most likely immediately goes to Marques Cox, a 6-foot-5, 310-pound behemoth of an offensive lineman. Cox came to Lexington in December after spending the last five seasons at NIU, where he started in 34 of his 36 career games. He was part of a necessary influx of talent this offseason for the Big Blue Wall and was recognized as one of the premier linemen available in the portal. Cox was easily one of the most important additions since the 2022 season came to a disappointing end.

But he’s not the only former Northern Illinois veteran that elected to play in the Southeastern Conference this fall. Cox’s former, and now once again teammate, Daveren Rayner, also transferred to the Wildcats — although the two moves happened roughly half a year apart from each other.

For those unfamiliar, Rayner transferred to Kentucky in May. He spent the previous three seasons at Northern Illinois where he started in 17 of the 20 games he appeared in. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound inside linebacker recorded 126 tackles (8.5 for loss), 5.5 sacks, and three pass breakups during his time in the MAC. NIU named him Linebacker of the Year following his junior campaign in 2022. He totaled 10 tackles and one sack in his team’s loss to Kentucky last season.

While he’s not as highly touted as his longtime Huskies teammate, Rayner is still going to play an important role this season for Brad White’s defense.

“I think what we’ve looked for are guys that fit our system. And I think the success that we’ve had — especially at inside linebacker — the longer, athletic guys have had a lot of success here. We get big bodies up front that can take blockers off them but in this day and age, you’ve got to be able to make plays in space. He’s shown that, he’s put that on film,” White said of Rayner on Friday afternoon.

BBN what’s good!? I’m home!! pic.twitter.com/LkihL9nxED

— Daveren 🦧 (@d9veren) May 13, 2023

The biggest adjustment for a guy like Rayner — a three-year starter at a Division I program — is going to be the leap in talent from the MAC to the SEC. The one knock on Rayner is his lack of overwhelming size, but he came to Kentucky with the intention of making that a nonissue.

“Obviously we played against him last year here in this stadium,” White added. “There are parts of his game, and he knew coming in, that we wanted to really improve upon. I think he’s embraced that. That was part of the reason he came. We’re not just gonna tell you how great you are. Listen, this is what you need to get better at. We need to put on some weight… we need to be more stronger and physical. And we haven’t been in pads, but you can see a willingness, which I’m excited about. He’s tried to take those things to heart. As we put pads on and we scrimmage and we go live, we’ll really see what we have.”

If there’s one position on defense where this season’s Wildcats could use all the depth possible, it would be at inside linebacker. It’s why bringing in a guy like Rayner was such a big priority over the last few months. A pair of super senior starters from 2022 in DeAndre Square and Jacquez Jones are off to the professional ranks. Rayner, along with true juniors Trevin Wallace and Martez Thrower, expect to replace most of that lost production.

Inside linebacker is a spot where injuries aren’t uncommon. It’s a position that can quickly wear down even the purest and hardiest of athletes. If Rayner can meet the physical requirements necessary for battling in the SEC, he’s going to be key in keeping White’s system running.

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