Kentucky EDGE K.D. McDaniel enters transfer portal

K.D. McDaniel became the seventh Kentucky player to enter the transfer portal since the end of the regular season on Tuesday afternoon. The outside linebacker will look to continue his playing career somewhere else after three seasons with Kentucky.

According to Rivals, McDaniel entered the portal after playing in 8 of 12 games for the Wildcats this season. A former high three-star recruit from South Georgia, K.D. McDaniel finished his career in Lexington with 15 tackles in 17 games played.

In the last month of the season, K.D. McDaniel begin to see his playing time increase as redshirt senior Jordan Wright recovered from an ankle injury. McDaniel was a contributor on obvious passing downs when Kentucky got into some nickel looks with their best pass rushers on the field. The redshirt sophomore had his best game against New Mexico State when he recorded three QB hurries.

Out of Tifton (Ga.) Tift County High, McDaniel chose Kentucky over Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Tennessee after recording 66 tackles as a senior.

Kentucky will be left with four scholarship EDGE players for the Citrus Bowl.

Class of 2019 exodus continues

Of the seven players to enter the transfer portal over the last two weeks, K.D. McDaniel is the fifth in the class of 2019. The Wildcats have seen a ton of attrition from a signing class that finished 35th nationally and 12th in the SEC.

Top-ranked player Jared Casey also entered the portal this offseason. High three-star cornerback M.J. Devonshire currently plays for Pittsburgh after two years in Lexington. Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Cardinal Gibbons teammates Nik Ognenovic (Akron) and Nik Scalzo (portal) have both moved on.

Currently, only 8 of 19 high school signees in that recruiting cycle are left on the roster. Kentucky appears to have more misses than hits in that recruiting class even with junior college transfers Brandin Echols and Quandre Mosely both having successful careers at Kentucky.

Luckily, the transfer portal has allowed the Wildcats to fill some holes. Wan’Dale Robinson, Luke Fulton, and Tre’Von Morgan were each Big Ten transfers who joined the program via the portal after going somewhere else out of high school in 2019.

Expect some more attrition to occur as Kentucky looks to add to a top-20 recruiting class. Keep in mind that the coaching staff would like to have wiggle room in case any potential impact players become available in the portal.