Kentucky football’s “Big Blue Wall” all but collapsed last season, but after some major construction, the unit is primed for improvement in 2025.
It is evident that the 4-8 record of 2024 did not have many bright spots, and the offensive line was one of the bleakest areas of the team.
The offense at times could not move the ball anywhere because defenders were having their way with the o-line. Quarterback Brock Vandagriff stayed banged up for the majority of his Kentucky tenure due to constantly being sacked or under pressure.
After giving up the least sacks in the SEC in 2023, the line surrendered 35 sacks last season, which was sixth most in the SEC and 111th in the nation.
This is very problematic for a team like Kentucky which relies on physicality and asserting its dominance on the line of scrimmage because that script was flipped so many times last year it made the offense lack any identity.
The good news for Kentucky is that the transfer portal can gift you a brand-new team in a matter of days and it is exactly how Mark Stoops along with his staff built the new wall.
“I feel better about the depth,” Head Coach Mark Stoops said. “We have eight guys that could start.”
One of the big splashes from this haul of transfers was former Arkansas guard Joshua Braun. Kentucky is the third stop in the SEC for Braun in what will be his fifth season of football as he spent three years at Florida and two at Arkansas.
The graduate student will bring 50 career games to Lexington, including 31 starts. Braun earned Second Team All-SEC honors.
Along with Braun, Shiyazh Pete joined Kentucky after four seasons at New Mexico State where he played 33 total games while making 30 starts.
Pete did not make his 2024 debut until week eight due to injury but finished the year strong as he allowed just five quarterback pressures in 193 pass-blocking attempts.
Rounding out the notable transfer trio is former Bowling Green center Alex Wollschlaeger. The graduate student is bringing 786 offensive snaps to the line in Lexington and was named 2024 First Team All-Mac last season. Wollschlaeger was a team captain for the Falcons in 2024 and will look to bring that leadership to his new unit.
It is expected that in-house talents Jager Burton and Jalen Farmer will round out the offensive line in 2025.
“Jagger’s a guy that you look at just physically, man, he’s taken it to another level,” Stoops said. “Him and Jalen inside, those are guys who have always been really good players, but I think the way they have attacked it in the weight room in the offseason, they are just guys who could take it to a whole other level.”
Burton brings a ton of experience to the line as he has started 34 games in blue and white. The senior will be getting his second shot at center in his tenure at Kentucky.
Farmer was the bright spot on the line last season as he allowed only one sack.
“From a person standpoint, I think all five guys are focused,” Offensive Coordinator Bush Hamdan said. “They are very driven, they know what’s on the line.”
The unit will have the first chance to try and show the new fortifications will result in better play along the “Big Blue Wall” Saturday, August 30, when it will host Toledo at Kroger Field with kickoff set for 12:45 ET.
