Bio Blast: DJ Miller

Many in Big Blue Nation were officially introduced to true freshman wide receiver DJ Miller on Saturday night against Tennessee. Does redshirt freshman quarterback Cutter Boley have a new No. 1 target? He just might.

After suffering quad injury during the end of fall camp, the talented first-year player was sideline for the first part of the season. The former high three-star recruit made his collegiate debut against Texas and then went for five receptions for 120 yards and two touchdowns against Tennessee.

GO DJ, THAT'S OUR DJ 🎶

📺 – SEC Network pic.twitter.com/CgEGBaRLaV

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) October 26, 2025

“It’s just always hard to know with a true freshman in this league until they actually get out there and do it,” Offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said. “If the moment’s ever too big or it’s not. He’s a guy who’s a confident kid, he’s been working his tail off for the last two, three weeks to get this opportunity and I’m extremely proud of him.”

Odds are high that Miller will remain a big part of the wide receiver rotation over the last five games. Now feels like a good time to take a look back at Miller’s recruitment and provide some background information that many will be watching closely over the last few games.

A recruitment that went down to the wire

Things really started to heat up for St. Louis (Mo.) Cardinal Ritter wide receiver DJ Miller after a big junior season. Kentucky safeties coach Frank Buffano is the program’s lead midwest recruiter and had the Cats involved early. Former wide receivers coach Daikiel Shorts Jr. later joined him on this recruitment. Offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan was also involved. This was very much a committee recruitment that went through quite a ride.

Miller made it to Kentucky’s campus for an unofficial visit in April 2024 at the end of his junior year. That same weekend, he also made a stop at Tennessee. Illinois and Ole Miss were some other schools making a big push. The Rebels got Miller on campus for the first official visit in June and seemed to grab some momentum but a commitment never came. Miller then took official trips to Tennessee and Kentucky before things got quiet. Somewhere along the way, UCLA got some buzz and tried to make a big push.

No one really knew where this recruitment was going until a November push by Kentucky ended in a commitment just a week out from the early signing period. However, this recruitment wasn’t over yet. Ole Miss made a late push to get Miller flipped after Shorts left for Nebraska. Kentucky had to play the waiting game, but the signature rolled in on day two of the early signing period.

A long-time target had a roller coaster recruitment, but Kentucky’s steady pursuit ultimately led to a big addition.

Highly productive high school career

DJ Miller was a three-year starter for Cardinal Ritter and and a member of state championship teams his junior and senior seasons. The 6-foot-3 wideout was a highly productive player on the gridiron and a baseball player during the spring semester.

Miller finished his senior season with 71 catches for 1,032 yards and eight touchdowns in 11 games. This productive year came after a monster season. As a junior, Miller recorded 66 receptions for 1,361 yards and 25 touchdowns.

The high three-star recruit and No. 6 player in Missouri was big-play standout during his prep career. This translated during spring practice where the young player shine and seemed in position to be a part of UK’s wide receiver rotation from the jump until the injury bug arrived during fall camp.

Luckett’s Scouting Notebook: DJ Miller

Over at KSR+, I put together scouting write-ups on each of Kentucky’s high school signees from the 2025 high school class after watching film and collecting data. This is my breakdown of DJ Miller.

Highly productive playmaker for St. Louis (Mo.) Cardinal Ritter produced 124 receptions for 2,297 yards and 33 touchdowns during his final two seasons. Big-bodied wideout with a sizable catch radius. Does his best work on vertical routes. Terrific at balltracking and makes competitive catches against tight coverage. Vertical play creator. Not a burner.

True X receiver who does not need a ton of separation to be open. Will immediately give the Kentucky wide receiver room some much-needed size. Expect Miller to play snaps in year one.

Kentucky Scouting Notebook: Class of 2025

Future outlook

The Kentucky passing game got off to another slow start this season, but that changed when the calendar turned to October. Over the last three games, Kentucky is averaging 271 passing yards per game with a 69.5 percent completion rate on 6.9 yards per attempt. The Cats have found something in redshirt freshman Cutter Boley.

Over the last five games, Kentucky new pass-first approach will not go away. Boley owns a 5.2 yards average depth of target over his last two starts meaning that Kentucky is throwing a lot of short passes. The quarterback is also spreading the wealth with multiple wideouts, tight ends, and tailbacks logging catches. There are all of a sudden a lot of opportunities to be found in the passing game.

DJ Miller should get plenty of chances.

Kentucky has been searching for players who can win on the outside and come up with big catches. Miller has done that over the last two weeks. The true freshman had a huge first down grab on Kentucky’s two-minute drive that tied the game against Texas and looked like the best player on UK’s offense not named Boley on Saturday.

The true freshman has a chance to make a real splash down the stretch and potentially become a top option in an offense as a true sophomore.