Sam Greene has officially become the first transfer portal commit of the offseason for Kentucky. Greene, an Edge player from USC, made the announcement official on X Saturday afternoon. The news comes at an awkward time as Vince Marrow was linked to North Carolina just minutes before the announcement, but Kentucky landed the explosive athlete anyway. Greene fills one piece to what is expected to be a totally new Edge rotation, so let’s look at what Kentucky is getting from the redshirt sophomore.
Player Background
Greene was a high three-star recruit from powerhouse St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Maryland. After two seasons in Southern California, Greene decided to make the move much closer to home in Lexington. Greene came on late in his second season with the Trojans, tallying 20+ snaps in each of the final six games of the season after not eclipsing that mark before. His best game of the season came against Rutgers where he totaled two sacks and an additional pressure in only nineteen pass rush snaps. In his six games with extended playing time, he totaled eleven tackles, nine pressures, and a sack as a rotational edge piece.
Program Fit
There are a lot of open spots in the Kentucky Edge room following the departures of JJ Weaver, Tommy Ziesmer, Caleb Redd, Noah Matthews, and Tyrese Fearbry. Greene looks to fill one of the rotational spots but may not be ready to take over the full-time starter role in his first season with the Cats. Undersized at 6’1 and 255 pounds, Greene uses a strength and explosiveness to get into the body of bigger linemen. The pass rush moves are not super developed, but if he can become great at a couple setup finesse moves his bull-rush would become even more effective.
Position Outlook
Greene joins Stephen Soles and Jerod Smith as the only players currently in the room with college experience. While the high school defensive linemen have a ton of potential, Cedric Works may be the only one that sticks on the outside and he needs some development before becoming a high-volume player. Kentucky needs multiple Edge rushers from the transfer portal and having a highly recruited, athletic player like Sam Greene is not a bad piece to start with.
