Transfer Bio Blast: Peny Boone

The spring transfer portal window of the offseason officially opened last week. We started to see some of the player movement pick up steam on Monday. Teams are working rapidly to get targets on campus for visits over the next two weeks to close these fast-paced recruitments over the next four or so weeks.

Kentucky got a key target on campus on Monday.

Shortly after Oregon State tailback Damien Martinez canceled his planned visit to Kentucky, we saw a pivot move by the Wildcats. The SEC program hosted Louisville transfer Peny Boone for a visit on Tuesday. UK has now twice shown interest this offseason in landing the Detroit (Mich.) Martin Luther King product that began his collegiate career at Maryland.

Peny Boone is a top-35 overall player in On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings and the third tailback trailing only Quinshon Judkins (Ole Miss to Ohio State), Damien Martinez, and Trevor Etienne (Florida to Georgia). Let’s dig in and learn some more about Kentucky’s latest transfer portal target.

Kentucky Spring Transfer Portal Big Board

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Two-And-Done at Maryland

Peny Boone was a four-star recruit in the class of 2020 out of Detroit (Mich.) Martin Luther King. A top-10 prospect in Michigan, Boone was a member of two state championship teams and received more than a handful of power conference offers before committing to Maryland the summer before his junior year.

After rushing 1,282 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior, Boone enrolled at Maryland as a true freshman in 2020 and played four games for the Terps rushing for 86 yards on 19 carries. As a redshirt freshman in 2021, Maryland made an offensive coordinator change with Dan Enos replacing Scottie Montgomery.

After receiving only 39 carries in year two and being somewhat buried on the depth chart, Boone decided to leave the Big Ten for the MAC.

Stardom at Toledo

Shortly after entering the transfer portal following the 2021 season, Boone landed at Toledo to play in Jason Candle’s spread offense. The redshirt sophomore was one of three tailbacks to get 100-plus carries for the Rockets. Boone was used mostly as a short-yardage option for a Toledo team that won the MAC title finishing the year with 443 rushing yards.

That season was a launching pad into stardom for the former top-400 recruit.

As a redshirt junior at Toledo in 2023, Boone received a true RB1 workload leading the Rockets in carries (194), rushing yards (1,400), and rushing touchdowns (15). Only seven other tailbacks in college football rushed for more yards than Boone last season. The tailback received MAC Offensive Player of the Year honors after rushing for at least 100 yards in eight games.

Boone then decided to re-enter the transfer portal after Toledo lost to Miami (Ohio) in the MAC Championship Game to cash in on his big season.

Spring-and-Done at Louisville

After entering the transfer portal in December, Peny Boone quickly trimmed his list to three schools. Florida State, Kentucky, and Louisville were each named finalists. The Cardinals got the first visit scheduled and locked down a commitment from the MAC transfer.

Boone was one of 24 scholarship transfers to join Jeff Brohm‘s program at mid-year. The expectation was for Boone to help replace the 313 carries, 1,938 rushing yards, 43 receptions, 480 receiving yards, and 25 total touchdowns leaving with Jawhar Jordan and Isaac Guerendo. The transfer portal recruiting win was one of Brohm’s best yet since arriving at Louisville.

The new marriage did not last long.

Boone re-entered the transfer portal on April 15, just a few days before the Louisville spring game. Why did the tailback decide to move? That probably depends on who you ask. Folks close to Louisville football say it is because Boone wasn’t the clear No. 1 at tailback and was not cool with splitting carries. Boone quickly defended himself against that claim on social media.

Which side is the truth? I’m not sure we will ever truly find out the answer but one of the top tailbacks in the portal is now a free agent again, and Kentucky quickly got the redshirt senior with two years of eligibility remaining on campus for a visit.

Scouting Notebook

Peny Boone was one of the top tailbacks in college football in 2023 and has an NFL future. After spending time as a rotational back his first three years in college at Maryland and Toledo, Boone put the traits that made him a four-star prospect coming out of Detroit (Mich.) Martin Luther King in the class of 2020 on tape last fall.

Here is my scouting write-up on the multi-time transfer.

Peny Boone (6-1, 242) is a tall tailback with a big, sturdy frame and is coming off his best season since high school. The light came on for Boone playing in Jason Candle’s spread offense that tagged a real QB run threat on zone-read actions. Has experience successfully running both zone and gap schemes. After posting a poor explosive rate (7.8%) in year one at Toledo, Boone tripled that in 2023 (21.1%) in addition to excellent efficiency (51% rushing success rate). Playing anywhere between 230-260 pounds during his collegiate career, Boone shows flexibility and pad level upon contact allowing him to fall forward or run over smaller defenders. Boone shows patience at the start of runs which allows blockers to get latched on. Flashes nimble feet leading him to sharp cuts and change of direction ability once a second-level read is made early in the rush. Long-strider in the open field with deceptive breakaway speed. Ball security was good until last season (6 fumbles in 209 touches). Boone is a productive downhill rusher with some big play pop. The transfer is a legit RB1 who can keep an offense ahead of schedule due to his patience and pad level.

Kentucky wants to run the ball downhill. Peny Boone can do that. Kentucky wants to be more efficient running the football. Peny Boone has done that. The big tailback is a fit for Kentucky’s run game philosophy and was highly productive at Toledo in a shotgun-heavy run game that included a QB run threat. Kentucky will have the same under offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan and quarterback Brock Vandagriff.

The Wildcats want to run the ball in 2024. Peny Boone and Chip Trayanum could give the Wildcats an excellent one-two punch that includes two big tailbacks who can keep the offense ahead of the chains.