Wan'Dale Robinson makes ESPN's list of Most Impactful Transfers

Wan’Dale Robinson was only a Wildcat for one season, but he made it count. The Frankfort native transferred to Kentucky in 2021 after two seasons at Nebraska and quickly rewrote the record books. Last season, Robinson caught 104 passes for 1,334 yards, both single-season school records, and seven touchdowns. In just 13 games, he rose to 17th in program history in receiving yardage. He also rushed for 111 yards on seven carries, helping Kentucky to a 10-3 record and Citrus Bowl victory over Iowa.

For all of that, Robinson made ESPN’s list of the 40 most impactful transfers over the past five years. He comes in at No. 33, Kentucky’s lone representative on the list (maybe next year’s will include Will Levis?). The top three players? Joe Burrow, who transferred from Ohio State to LSU and led the Tigers to the 2019 national championship; Jalen Hurts, who left Alabama for Oklahoma when Tua Tagovaiola was named the Crimson Tide’s starter; and Justin Fields, who left Georgia for Ohio State in 2019.

Obligatory Wan’Dale highlights:

Robinson draws comparisons to Cooper Kupp

Robinson was selected by the New York Giants with the 43rd pick in this year’s NFL Draft. Kentucky wide receivers coach Scott Woodward went on the Giants Huddle podcast this week and said that when the staff was looking at Robinson’s tape when he was considering transferring, they were reminded of Cooper Kupp, the LA Rams wide receiver who was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year last season.

“He would line up in the slot, at running back, all over the field,” Woodward said. “When Nebraska got the ball in his hands, special things happened. Coming from Nebraska and bringing him into our system, with Liam Coen who’s now the OC for the Los Angeles Rams, all you can kind of look at it and see is the Cooper Kupp comparison.

“What the Rams would do with Cooper Kupp, that’s kind of what we sold him on. He came in here and obviously produced at a very high level, had 104 catches for over 1,300 yards… With him being such a guy who just loves football and can take it mentally and put it back on the field into what a great product he did, it was so easy just to get him the rock because we lined him up all over the place. But his mental aspect of the game is not as good as Cooper Kupp, but just very close to it. We threw a lot at him and he was able to handle all of it.”

“When Liam came here, he would talk about how Cooper, how smart he was and how they could throw all this stuff at him and he could handle it all and understand defenses and understand concepts and the coverage and what’s going on, not just pre-snap but post-snap. When you sit down and talk to Wan’Dale, since he’s been drafted or before he was drafted, all these scouts and coaches have always asked me, ‘What makes Wan’Dale so great?’ One thing, the kid is an absolute dog. That’s just on the field. But one thing that really makes him special is anything that I have ever said to that kid, he’s remembered.”

One of many reasons he’ll be remembered as a Kentucky great. Check out Woodward’s full interview below.