Will Stein faces his first true recruiting war with Auburn WR Malcolm Simmons

Will Stein is going to be judged on wins, sure.

But in Year 1, Kentucky fans are going to judge him on something else first: can you go take an SEC-caliber playmaker from an SEC brand?

Because that’s the difference between “nice hire” and “this thing has teeth.”

One of the first names that feels like a true measuring stick is Auburn wide receiver Malcolm Simmons, and if Kentucky is serious about leveling up its offense in a hurry, this is the kind of recruitment that has to be more than “we checked in.”

RELATED: Kentucky football's transfer portal tracker

Malcolm Simmons is the kind of receiver Kentucky football has to chase

Simmons isn’t a gadget guy. He isn’t a slot-only compiler. He’s the kind of athlete who can change the geometry of a defense.

The production is respectable across the last two seasons and then you look at how he finished 2025 and it makes a lot more sense why this is about to turn into a real fight. Simmons went for 149 yards against Mercer, then followed it with 143 against Alabama the next week. That’s not “hot for a day.” That’s a player putting stress on you late in the season when teams know what you are.

He also brings the track background that usually shows up on Saturdays in the most annoying way possible for defensive backs: late hands, sudden separation, and that extra gear when the ball is in the air.

Kentucky hasn’t always had enough of that.

Why he fits what Will Stein wants to run at Kentucky

Stein’s offense, when it’s right, is about rhythm. It’s about clean breaks, timing throws, and letting athletes turn 12-yard completions into 40-yard problems.

That’s where Simmons makes sense.

He’s dangerous on routes that live in the “in-between” area defenses hate: crossers, seams, digs, anything that forces linebackers to hesitate and safeties to choose wrong. And if Kentucky gets quarterback play that values timing and trust, a target like Simmons can make the offense feel grown up fast.

This also matters because Kentucky has lived too many seasons where it needed a receiver to win a one-on-one and the answer was basically: please, somebody.

Simmons looks like somebody.

The off-field context will be part of the conversation, like it or not

There’s also real-world context here. Simmons had a domestic violence allegation that he was cleared of before the season, per WSFA. Any major recruitment is going to include due diligence and hard questions behind the scenes, that’s reality. It is important to note he was cleared completely.

But from a football standpoint, the question Kentucky has to answer is simple: is he a difference-maker worth going to war for?

If Stein wants to raise Kentucky’s ceiling quickly, these are the swings you take.

This is the kind of fight that tells you what Kentucky is becoming

Kentucky can’t build the new version of itself by only winning recruiting battles it’s “supposed” to win.

The fanbase is going to watch this one like a scoreboard, because it basically is one. If Stein can walk into a situation like this and come out with the player, it sends a message to recruits, to other portal targets, and honestly to the rest of the league.

Not that Kentucky is participating.

That Kentucky is hunting.