Mark Stoops believes Kentucky's roster is in good shape

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mark-stoops-ranked-16-in-annual-power-5-coach-rankings — (Photo by Dr. Michael Huang | Kentucky Sports Radio)

Thanks to the transfer portal, recruiting never stops in college football. Kentucky has used this new recruiting tool to help bolster its roster.

Since the end of the 2021 season, Kentucky has added seven players from the transfer portal and six of those will be scholarship players after Iowa quarterback Deuce Hogan accepted a walk-on role with the program. Meanwhile, the program has seen 16 scholarship players leave Kentucky, and only two have landed at power five programs — Jared Casey (Indiana) and Cedrick Dort Jr. (Wisconsin).

Head coach Mark Stoops believes the Wildcats have addressed needs. The program has specifically accomplished that mission in the secondary, but development of the current roster has been essential.

“I think the portal gives you an opportunity to address a couple of needs if you go through spring and you feel like you need some help,” Stoops told KSR on Thursday. “I feel like Carrington Valentine is definitely a guy at corner that’s a year older that’s really looked impressive. That helps solidify one of the spots. We went out and hit the portal possibly to help for others.”

In the secondary, Ole Miss transfer Keidron Smith will play a big role. The offense has added potential starters Javon Baker, Tashawn Manning, and Tayvion Robinson from other Power Five programs. Underclassmen Darrion Henry-Young and Jordan Robinson could have significant roles in the defense down the road.

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The mixture of development, efficient high school recruiting, and new transfers to plug holes have all added up to give Kentucky a good recipe entering the year.

“Overall, the roster’s as good as we’ve been in a while,” said Mark Stoops. “I really believe that. Again, when you have a quarterback that could be as good as any quarterback in the country — that’s a lot to build around.”

The party gets started with Will Levis as the redshirt senior appears to have game-changing potential, but the surrounding pieces will set a strong baseline for a team entering a season where there could be many wins on the schedule.