Former Kentucky wide receivers are off to a hot start with new teams

To put it nicely, Kentucky’s wide receivers this season have yet to showcase star power. Stoops and company found themselves in receiver room rebuilding mode this offseason after they lost their two marquee pass catchers to the transfer portal. Dane Key followed former wide receivers coach Daikiel Shorts to Nebraska, while the speedster Barion Brown took his talents to the Bayou with LSU. Through two weeks into the 2025 college football season, the former ‘Cats are flourishing.

Dane Key has caught a touchdown pass in each of his two games with the Cornhuskers, showcasing his elite hands in the endzone. That means Key has matched the total number of touchdowns he had all season last year with Kentucky in Nebraska’s first two games.

In addition to the scores, Key has hauled in nine of his 13 targets for 86 yards and looks to be one of Matt Rhule’s primary weapons on offense. To boot, he has a new touchdown celebration dance that is quickly growing in popularity.

Dane Key with the TD grab on fourth down pic.twitter.com/XfMds7eHjK

— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) August 29, 2025

Barion Brown has been great for LSU

Meanwhile, Barion Brown is arguably the best receiver on the third-ranked team in college football. Although he hasn’t yet found the endzone (his would-be touchdown was controversially called incomplete in Week 1), Brown led LSU in receptions and receiving yards in the Tigers’ Week 2 win. His eight-catch 94-yard performance earned him player-of-the-game honors and the game ball.

Through two games, Brown leads his team in targets with 18 and has 13 receptions for 118 yards. For comparison, he had just 361 yards all of last season for Kentucky, and 63 of those yards came on that one play against Ole Miss.

It’s tough watching former ‘Cats excel elsewhere, but part of me is happy to see them have success. Of course, the other part of me wants them to fail miserably as punishment for leaving Kentucky; however, in the interest of positivity, I’ll lean on the “Once a ‘Cat, always a ‘Cat” mentality. Good luck the rest of the way to Dane and Barion.