Former Kentucky star ‘active’ for Dolphins, could make NFL debut
University of Kentucky football fans could get their first chance to take a look at Lynn Bowden in an NFL game. The former Wildcats star was listed as “active” when the Miami Dolphins released their official roster for Sunday’s matchup with the Buffalo Bills.
The Bills and Dolphins kick off in Miami at 1 p.m. Sunday. The game is not available on local TV in Kentucky, but DirecTV customers can watch with a subscription to NFL Sunday Ticket. Fans can also stream a replay of the game as soon as it ends with a subscription to NFL Game Pass.
Also, former Kentucky offensive lineman Logan Stenberg could make his debut for the Detroit Lions on Sunday. The 2020 fourth-round draft pick was inactive for the team in Week 1 but is active for Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers.
After a legendary junior season at Kentucky in which he went 6-2 after taking over as starting quarterback and led the Wildcats to an 8-5 record and a victory over Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl, Bowden was drafted No. 80 overall by the Las Vegas Raiders in the third round of April’s 2020 NFL Draft.
In a surprising move, on Sept. 5 Bowden was traded along with a sixth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft from the Raiders to the Dolphins in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Bowden was inactive for Miami’s loss at New England in last week’s season opener. Dolphins’ second-year head coach Brian Flores said this week he wasn’t sure when Bowden would be ready to contribute on the field but that he has made a lot of progress in his short time with the team.
“He’s been here two weeks, three weeks — somewhere in there — so he’s worked extremely hard,” Flores said. “He’s been meeting one-on-one with ‘Grizz’ (wide receivers coach Josh Grizzard) trying to get caught up; but when you’re a rookie, you’re young, you need reps. So we’re trying to get him as many reps in practice as possible, but as far as getting caught up, there’s going to be, I think at best for a young guy in that situation, a couple packages, a couple things he could feel comfortable doing and maybe get him out there; but I’m not sure we’re there yet, so we’ll see.”
Miami took a long look at Bowden ahead of the NFL Draft. According to the Miami Herald, the Dolphins invited him to team headquarters for one of their 30 permitted visits from prospects before the NFL canceled those visits because of the coronavirus pandemic. Miami lists Bowden on its roster as a wide receiver.
Bowden rushed for 1,468 yards and 13 touchdowns during his final season at Kentucky, setting an NCAA record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a bowl game when he went for 233 yards on the ground in the victory over Virginia Tech. He was voted to the All-America First Team and won the Paul Hornung Award, given annually to the country’s most versatile player.
This story was originally published September 20, 2020 at 11:35 AM.
