Daveren Rayner
Daveren Rayner
Carries tight ends down the field in coverage. Across five seasons and two programs, two head coaches: Thomas Hammock and Mark Stoops. The receipt: 15 tackles, 1.5 TFL against Vanderbilt — Week 13, 2025.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
- positional archetype classification
- head-coach lineage
- game log
Career Arc
Coaching Lineage · 2021–2025
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Mark Stoops.
2025 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
Splits & context
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Will Stein
Awards
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR05 · Part-time starter
Part-time starter. Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Kentucky | 69 | 32 | 6.5 | 2.0 | 4 | 2 | -- |
| 2024 | Kentucky | 13 | 7 | 3.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Kentucky | 30 | 18 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| 2022 | Northern Illinois | 71 | 30 | 5.0 | 3.5 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2021 | Northern Illinois | 30 | 24 | 1.0 | 1.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 213 | 111 | 18.5 | 6.5 | 5 | 2 | -- |
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 10 · 2025
W 10–3
at Auburn
8 TOT · 5 SOLO · 1 TFL
A wire-to-wire battle — won by 7 on the road.
How he plays
Play style
Carries tight ends and patrols the middle of the field in coverage.
CFB Index positional classification
2026 Outlook
Kentucky
2026 Depth chart
Returning starter
Linebacker · Kentucky
Returning around him
- 4 Kentucky players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: +2 net (29 in / 27 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Kentucky · Last season: 5-7 · Talent rank #27 · 2026 recruiting class #60
DNA match
Player DNA
Coverage 'Backer
Carries tight ends and patrols the middle of the field in coverage.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jailin Walker’s 2023 season.
Matches Jailin on
Differs from Jailin on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.