Official Visit Preview: Daveren Rayner

The college football transfer portal window is closed to new applicants, but teams across the country are still pursuing the best available in the portal. Kentucky is looking for reinforcements on the defensive side of the ball. Northern Illinois linebacker Daveren Rayner begins an official visit in Lexington today, and he might not be the only prospect in town. Here’s what you need to know about Rayner and what he could bring to Kentucky.

Daveren Rayner Bio Blast

A three-star recruit from Indianapolis North Lawrence, one of the top programs in Indiana, the all-state performer quickly made an impact for the Huskies. As a true freshman at Northern Illinois he started in five of six games during the Covid-plagued 2020 season. He tallied 27 tackles, three pass breakups, and two tackles for loss.

The following year he appeared in eight games and started in four for the MAC Champs. He followed that up with the best year of his career in 2022, recording 71 tackles with 5.5 tackles for loss as a junior. In NIU’s loss at Kentucky, he led the Huskies with 10 tackles and a sack. Even though Daveren Rayner is under-sized at 6-foot-3, 208 pounds, he’s been productive throughout his career and excels at making tackles in open space.

How Rayner fits at Kentucky

The Wildcats are breaking in two new starters at inside linebacker, albeit experienced ones. Last year Trevin Wallace logged six starts and D’Eryk Jackson tallied nine as DeAndre Square and Jacquez Jones dealt with injuries. Their success as reserves shows you just how important it is to have quality backups. Linebackers in the SEC get hurt. It’s inevitable. Right now Kentucky does not have enough quality players available when Wallace or Jackson go down with injury.

Martez Thrower arrived at Kentucky the same year as Wallace. Thrower played in eight games as a freshman, including some significant snaps in the Citrus Bowl, and last fall he appeared in 12 games. However, he still has plenty of room to grow and develop as a player. Michigan State transfer Luke Fulton is also available, but Kentucky needs more than that in its inside linebacker rooms. Rayner can fill that void as a quality LB3 who’s consistently contributed in big games.

Handicapping the Recruitment

In addition to Kentucky, Rayner visited Cincinnati last weekend and he has a trip to Texas Tech planned for next week. The Wildcats might have a slight leg up in his recruitment.

“A good friend of mine, Marques [Cox], just transferred to Kentucky,” he told 247 Sports. “We played together. He was my host on my official at NIU. We have a really good relationship. With him going through this process and seeing the trust he put in Kentucky early on coming out of the portal, just talking to him he truly feels they didn’t lie to him about anything. If he can put his trust in that staff the way he is right now, it’s definitely a place I can see myself.”

Last year’s win over the Huskies could be even more beneficial if one of DeKalb’s finest decides to take his talents to Kentucky.