Tanner Bowles, Alabama Offensive Lineman, will Transfer to Kentucky

Kentucky is rebuilding the Big Blue Wall with a homegrown product who spent years cultivating his craft at a traditional powerhouse. Tanner Bowles announced he will transfer from Alabama to Kentucky during an appearance on Kentucky Sports Radio.

“After taking a couple of visits and just talking to my family I’ve decided that I’m going to be committing to the University of Kentucky,” Bowles told Matt Jones.

Tanner Bowles is an interior offensive lineman that played center, right guard and left guard during his time with the Crimson Tide. The 6-foot-5, 300-pounder also received some snaps at right tackle. A redshirt senior next fall, he has two years of eligibility remaining.

A Glasgow, Ky. native, Bowles was a four-star prospect in the 2019 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the nation’s No. 34 offensive tackle and the No. 7 player in the state of Kentucky.

Bowles was one of six four-star prospects from Kentucky in the class of 2019 to leave the Commonwealth. It forced Kentucky to make Vince Marrow the Cats’ primary in-state recruiter. Following Wan’Dale Robinson, Tanner Bowles is the second one of those four-star prospects to return home. He could soon be joined by another. Former Trinity blue chip prospect Stephen Herron is in the transfer portal after four years at Stanford.

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Bowles on his decision to come home

Bowles told KSR that getting to play for a program like Alabama was a dream, but more playing time and the opportunity to follow in his father’s footsteps and represent his home state made this decision an easy one.

“Growing up, my father played baseball at the University of Kentucky so I’ve always been around the colors, the atmosphere, things like that and I’ve already gotten to experience what it’s like to play for another team, one of the great dynasties as people call it, and I’m thankful for the opportunities. Can’t be more appreciative to Coach Saban and all he’s done for me but things happen where you feel like you might not get exactly what you want out of it, so entering the transfer portal, there were a lot of options I could have taken but just having that atmosphere of being around the University of Kentucky, I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity. Thankful for that and I’m excited.”

When Bowles entered the transfer portal, he said it didn’t take long for Vince Marrow, who recruited him in high school, to reach out.

“I talked to Coach Marrow. I remember talking to him when I was originally getting recruited out of high school. So he reached out to me, he called me and my father. They had the contact information from previous experience. He reached out to me, I talked to the new O-Line coach, Coach Yenser, and a couple more people in the building. They all seem like people I’m happy to play for, so like I said, I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”

Bowles plans to enroll in the spring semester.

Kentucky Must Continue to Bolster Offensive Line this Offseason

The Big Blue Wall significantly regressed in this year’s rebuild. In 2021 the Wildcats’ offensive line ranked No. 8 in stuff rate (11.9%) and its sack rate (6.0%) was the national average. In 2022 only four offensive lines had a worse sack rate than Kentucky (12.5%) and they ranked No. 104 in stuff rate (20.3%).

Chris Rodriguez went the entire 2020 regular season without getting tackled behind the line of scrimmage. This year the Wildcats allowed 81 tackles for loss, ranking 105th in FBS. Will Levis was sacked 42 times. Only six schools in the country surrendered more sacks.

Even under lowered rebuilding standards, the offensive line fell far short of the bar. Now Kentucky will fortify its efforts in the trenches through the transfer portal. Tanner Bowles can fit in seamlessly in the interior, where Tashawn Manning is the only apparent departure. The Wildcats are still in the market for offensive tackles. Northern Illinois OT Marques Cox is expected to visit Lexington this week and appears to be one of UK’s top targets.

After a disappointing 2021 on the Big Blue Wall, Kentucky is fishing in the right waters to fix its protection problems.