Kentucky landed Zach Calzada on Thursday as the Wildcats' initial transfer portal pursuit, Maalik Murphy, committed to Oregon State. CBS Sports' Will Backus was not high on Calzada, calling out his upside, or lack thereof, and giving the Wildcats a "C-" grade for landing him.
Wildcats head football coach Mark Stoops also caught a stray for his inability to effectively replace Will Levis after he was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in 2023.
"Calzada is coming off a huge year at Incarnate Word, in which he threw for 3,744 yards and 35 touchdowns, though he did average just 7.1 yards per attempt. He also has 27 interceptions in his last three years of football and he hasn't played in the SEC since 2021 -- when he completed 56.1% of his passes and had a career-low passer rating as a starter. Maybe Calzada's grown in that time, but he's also entering his seventh year of college football so there's not much upside to find. Plus, Kentucky's hit-rate on transfer quarterbacks since Will Levis has been well below the Mendoza Line at a startling .000," Backus wrote.
Calzada's career has been inflated by Texas A&M's 2021 upset of Alabama. He was largely unspectacular the rest of that season and missed the entire 2022 season with Auburn. Bryan Harsin lied about his injury status all season and once the Boise native was fired, Calzada ended up at Incarnate Word.
This won't be a Cam Ward situation of a Cardinals QB taking the Power 4 by storm, more than likely. Calzada, as Backus pointed out, has given the college football world plenty of tape from his time in College Station from 2019-2021. He put up big stats in the FCS the past two years, but expecting him to turn Kentucky around is likely a fool's errand.
Losing out on Murphy to Oregon State is the biggest problem. Kentucky's NIL efforts in football will always be limited since UK is a basketball school first and foremost, but being outbid by a school that didn't even get a Power 4 invite is a sign Stoops isn't inspiring the donor base to support his program.
Is a change coming soon if these problems persist? Stoops has been a staple in Lexington since 2013 but isn't adjusting well to the NIL era.
It's not hard to see the potential cause and effect here.