Kentucky’s defense lost a major contributor Friday night when LB Eli Brown decided to transfer from the program.

Tyler Mansfield of the Sporting Times broke the news, while KSR has confirmed through the athletic department.

Brown’s transfer hurts the Cats defense, because he played well in 2017. The Bowling Green, Kentucky, native mainly played in the absence of star LB Jordan Jones, making 38 tackles, including two for loss. As a rising junior, he was figured to be a key member of the Cats’ LB corps in 2018.

Brown is a former 4-star prospect and ranked as the nation’s No. 20 overall LB and the state of Kentucky’s No. 2 overall prospect in the class of 2015, according to 247Sports Composite Rankings.

He was the highest rated signee in the Cats’ 2015 recruiting class.