Wan'Dale Robinson, Dare Rosenthal named to All-Portal team

Wan’Dale Robinson and Dare Rosenthal were transfer portal pickups for Kentucky football in 2021. Both blue-chippers made an instant impact for the Wildcats.

Coming off a 9-3 season, Kentucky will be heading to the Citrus Bowl thanks largely in part to the accomplishments of Robinson and Rosenthal. The Wildcats finished No. 16 nationally in yards per play (6.56) as Liam Coen’s first offense in Lexington averaged 33.3 points per game posting over 200 yards rushing and passing per game for the first time in the Mark Stoops era.

Bowl games will be starting very soon. That means it’s officially recognition season. Honors are rolling in for Wildcats.

On Thursday, The Athletic released the All-Portal team for the 2021 season, and a pair of Wildcats made an appearance.

Wan’Dale Robinson

The top-ranked player in Kentucky in the class of 2019 decided to continue his playing career at Nebraska out of high school. After two disappointing seasons, Wan’Dale Robinson decided it was time to move on.

“Robinson left Nebraska after two years to move home and saw his number of targets double from 64 to 128 in first-year offensive coordinator Liam Coen’s system,” wrote Max Olson. “The Wildcats sure knew how to put the 5-foot-11 speedster to good use.”

The former top-100 recruit returned home, and that decision was a good one. The junior wideout set the program’s single-season record for receptions (94) and became the first 1,000-yard receiver of the Mark Stoops era.

Robinson became an elite playmaker for the Wildcats and may end up being the cornerstone piece that allowed Kentucky to fix the passing game issues that have long plagued the program.

Dare Rosenthal

Following the announcement that Darian Kinnard and Luke Fortner were returning for an extra season, Kentucky felt very good about the Big Blue Wall heading into 2021. Even with a new position coach and scheme, there were high expectations for the offensive line.

However, the Wildcats had a huge hole to fill at offensive tackle. LSU transfer Dare Rosenthal helped plug that gap.

“He only allowed one sack all season, according to PFF, and teamed with second-team All-America honoree Darian Kinnard to give the Wildcats one of the best tackle duos in the country,” The Athletic wrote about Rosenthal.

The former four-star recruit from Louisiana will have a big draft decision to make in the coming weeks. If Rosenthal returns, Kentucky will have one of the top left tackles in college football entering 2022.