'Big body' Baker presents tough matchup for Kentucky opponents

Less than two weeks into fall camp, Dorian Baker has made so many big plays that he's acquired not one, but two new nicknames.

Oh, and the Kentucky sophomore wide receiver has been compared to at least one sturdy object.

"Well, you know, he's built like a brick wall," quarterback Patrick Towles said of the 6-foot-3, 208-pound wideout and his big-play ability.

Baker is both sturdy and wide, apparently.

"He's like a two-car garage out there," Towles continued, noting that he knows he can loft a pass in Baker's general area and feel confident that the receiver from Cleveland is going to bring it down.

"I'm just trying to live up to the name," Baker said on Tuesday night. "People say I'm a big body, so I gotta use it, right?"

The other name is the one that will probably stick for Baker.

Two one-handed, back shoulder catches during last Friday's practice had offensive grad assistant Max Drisko calling him "American Pharoah" in honor of the Triple Crown winner.

"They call him American Pharoah because he's so big and runs so good," quarterback Drew Barker said. "It's just awesome to have a guy like that on your team and making a lot of plays."

Baker beamed when asked about comparisons with the horse racing stud.

"Drisko gave it to me and after that Coach (Tommy) Mainord kind of got on that, and that's how it became a thing, and then everybody just started calling me AP," Baker explained with a wide grin.

"AP's definitely the new look. I like that a lot. AP's definitely the new look."

Smiling and playful is definitely a new look for Baker, who struggled both on and off the field last season at times and had to take the spring off after having surgery on his knee.

Baker, who played in 10 games last season and finished with 19 catches for 199 yards and one touchdown, said the surgery didn't slow him down.

"It kind of made me faster, because I learned how to run again, had to get my mechanics back together," said Baker, who reports he's 100 percent healthy. "So I just feel like I'm way faster and I just feel like I'm working better to be at my full potential this year."

Part of that full potential includes immersing himself in the playbook and trying to be more mature.

"He's quick to learn, he's asking me all these good questions," Towles said. "And he just makes good plays on the football. I feel really, really comfortable throwing the ball near him."

The more big plays Baker makes in practice the more his coaches see him as a serious mismatch for opponents.

"If you look genetically, there's just not a lot of people walking around like him — his athletic ability, as far as being that big and that fast and that strong, so we've just got to find ways to get him the ball," offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said.

Having Baker and other bigger players like 6-foot-4 sophomore Blake Bone — who had two massive one-handed catches of his own on Tuesday — on the edges can be a huge advantage for the UK offense.

"Playing man-to-man coverage on them is tough," Dawson explained. "So when you do get in heavier sets, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna help (on) him with the safety? Well if you do, you're weak in the box. And so it's just simple numbers.

"If you're gonna line him up there and you're gonna let a corner cover him the whole game, that's a tough matchup."

This story was originally published August 19, 2015 at 5:38 PM with the headline "'Big body' Baker presents tough matchup for Kentucky opponents."