Bio Blast: Daveren Rayner
Kentucky currently has five open scholarships for the 2023 roster. We should expect Mark Stoops and his coaching staff to be active over the next two weeks when it comes to transfer portal recruiting. On Monday, a new name emerged at a position of need.
Northern Illinois transfer Daveren Rayner has two years of eligibility remaining and is looking for a new home after entering the transfer portal on April 28. Could Kentucky add a second MAC transfer to the roster in a single offseason?
After touching on the offer and scheduled visit that came to light on Tuesday for the NIU transfer, KSR’s Bio Blast is digging deeper to see what type of player defensive coordinator Brad White and the rest of the defensive coaching staff is pursuing after losing Jackson State transfer Jurriente Davis to Texas A&M last month.
Low 3-star recruit
Daveren Rayner was a three-star prospect out of Indianapolis (Ind.) Lawrence Central in the class of 2020. As a senior, the FBS prospect recorded 118 tackles, seven pass breakups, two interceptions, and two blocked kicks. Rayner was named All-State by the Indianapolis Star.
Following Rayner’s junior season, this recruitment started to heat up. The Indiana native had a handful of FCS offers, but quickly became a priority target in the MAC. Ball State, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, and Miami (Ohio) all issued scholarship offers to the three-star prospect.
Rayner would commit to NIU less than a month after receiving a scholarship offer from the Huskies.
Early playing time
Playing for head coach Thomas Hammock and defensive coordinator Derrick Jackson, Daveren Rayner quickly found his way on the field. In NIU’s woeful 0-6 season during COVID-19, Rayner played in all six games (348 defensive snaps) earning five starting assignments. The true freshman finished the season with 27 tackles, three pass breakups, and two tackles for loss.
Rayner would return to NIU in 2021 and recorded 29 tackles in eight games with four starting assignments. The second-year linebacker played 267 snaps that season for a squad that won the MAC title. Rayner returned in 2022 to record a career-high 71 tackles with 5.5 tackles for loss as a junior.
Despite missing some games with injury, Rayner has been a productive player for three years in Jackson’s multiple four-down scheme. The veteran was a valuable member of the NIU football program.
Power Five recruitment
As a high school prospect, Daveren Rayner did not get many looks from Power Five programs. That has changed after spending three seasons at Northern Illinois.
The linebacker entered the transfer portal last week and immediately received verbal scholarship offers from Appalachian State, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Marshall, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, and UCF. Texas Tech showed up one day later. Cincinnati and Kentucky then issued offers 48 hours later. Things are heating up for the transfer.
The Wildcats appear to have made the first big move by getting an official visit scheduled with the transfer linebacker.
Undersized linebacker
Why was Daveren Rayner a MAC/FCS recruit coming out of high school? There were legitimate size concerns at linebacker.
After three years in a college football strength and conditioning program, Rayner is listed at just 208 pounds on a 6-foot-3 frame and looks skinny on tape. After spending some time on the edge as a true freshman, Rayner settled into the box as an off-ball linebacker at Northern Illinois. There have been some issues in coverage, but the rangy linebacker has good closing speed giving him value as an occasional pass rusher. Rayner also logged good tackling grades according PFF with a solid 11.5 percent missed tackle rate from the last two seasons.
The linebacker with multiple years of eligibility can struggle to play downhill in a phone booth, but Rayner has range, length, speed, and does a good job of finishing tackles. This could be the LB3 that Kentucky has been trying to find.
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