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Kentucky Football: Linebacker Roland Walder Transferring

By Brandon Rue

Nov 12, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops speaks with Kentucky Wildcats cornerback J.D. Harmon (11) during the third quarter against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2016; Knoxville, TN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops speaks with Kentucky Wildcats cornerback J.D. Harmon (11) during the third quarter against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Kentucky Football linebacker Roland Walder has announced on Twitter that he intends to transfer.

Kentucky Football has lost yet another player to transfer. This is the seventh transfer since the conclusion of the 2016 season.

Walder held offers from Pitt, Syracuse, and others coming out of high school in 2016.

Roland Walder was rated a 3 star player by every major recruiting network. He redshirted in his first season at Kentucky.

Every time a player transfers it generates curiosity from the fanbase, but I have no doubt that this move by Walder was made due to what would be a lack of playing time.

The Linebacker situation

Walder’s absence doesn’t look to be a substantial loss for the Wildcats. Kentucky has highly coveted newcomers like Jamin Davis and Joshua Paschal who are ready to play immediately as true freshmen. These recruits are bound to make some noise in the SEC.

Davis, an early enrollee for the Cats seemed to impress during spring workouts. He had quite the showing in the annual Blue-White spring game. Look for him to be a key part of Kentucky’s linebacker rotation.

Joshua Paschal enters the program under the “denfensive end” tag. But, with his speed, size, and athleticsm, I wouldn’t be shocked to see him move to the jack linebacker position.

The Cats also have junior Jordan Bonner and redshirt freshman Jamar “Boogie” Watson who are ready to put their stamp on the program.

Bonner is more than likely going to be at the inside linebacker spot the majority of the time he’s on the field. Although, It wouldn’t be a surprise to see a move to outside linebacker in certain situations.

Boogie Watson has had a great off-season. He will step up and do a great job this year. While taking in and attaining the “do’s and dont’s”  from veterans like Denzel Ware and Jordan Jones Watson has a model of what Stoops is looking for.

Next: Top 5 recruiting wins in the Stoops era

The linebacking core at Kentucky remains in robust condition, and the Cats’ upperclassmen will be a vocal point of the Kentucky defense in 2017 as the Cats have their eyes set on the city of Atlanta for the SEC Championship game.

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