The portal has been open for three days now, and so far, Kentucky has been linked to a total of zero quarterbacks. This is baffling because head coach Mark Stoops said they need to get a quarterback in the portal. When asked about it a few weeks ago, he said, "We have to get one." So why haven't they contacted any quarterbacks we know of?
It's not that there aren't quarterbacks in the portal; there are some really good ones. This list came out a couple of days ago:
Top QBs in college football's transfer portal (per @247Sports)
— Brad Crawford (@BCrawford247) December 10, 2024
Maalik Murphy, Duke
Conner Weigman, TAMU
Miller Moss, USC
Darian Mensah, Tulane
Jackson Arnold, Oklahoma
Kaidon Salter, Liberty
Justyn Martin, UCLA
Matt Sluka, UNLV
Devon Dampier, New Mexico
Thomas Castellanos, BC
The wild part is since that was published, some of those high-caliber quarterbacks have already found their new home. Kentucky, though, didn't reach out to any of them (at least what has been reported). It's almost like offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan is waiting for a very specific quarterback. Could that QB have finally jumped in the portal?
Boise State quarterback Malachi Nelson intends to enter the NCAA transfer portal, per his manager @JgNetworkCEO. He’s a former USC QB who was ESPN’s No. 1 overall player in the class of 2023. pic.twitter.com/1DeQS0jjlE
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 12, 2024
Nelson was one of the best recruits in all of the 2023 class and chose to go to the USC Trojans as a true freshman. He only served as a backup for his one year with USC, completing only one throw for zero yards. Then he went to Boise State and was recruited to play there out of the transfer portal, but none other than Bush Hamdan.
Once again, though, he served as a backup to playoff quarterback Maddux Madsen and only completed 12 passes for 128 yards. The tools are still there, but he has yet to play for an offensive coordinator that has wanted to utilize his skill set.
This may not be the quarterback that Kentucky goes after, but it's the first that seems like there is a direct connection to the offensive coordinator, who will have a heavy hand in picking who gets to take snaps for the Wildcats next year.