Not freshmen anymore, four Kentucky wide receivers trying to play their way onto field

Household names who had been making catches in Kentucky jerseys almost since Mark Stoops arrived on campus are now mostly gone.

Garrett Johnson, Blake Bone, Charles Walker and their multitude of collective catches have departed, but several young UK wide receivers are vying to take those spots.

“You can see the confidence in all four of those guys; they’re different (now),” offensive coordinator Eddie Gran said of a group of sophomore wide receivers who spent much of last season waiting their turn — Josh Ali, Lynn Bowden, Isaiah Epps and Clevan Thomas.

All of those players are playing at a higher level and not making as many of the freshman mistakes that plagued them last season.

“They didn’t get a lot of time, didn’t get a lot of catches,” Gran continued, “but you can see right now they’re confident.”

Bowden has received plenty of attention this offseason because of his play-making ability beyond making catches, but the others quietly are leaving an impression this spring as well, their coaches said.

“They’re playing faster,” new wide receivers coach Michael Smith said of that group of four. “When you know what you’re doing, you have a lot of confidence at what you’re doing. That’s our biggest challenge as an offense is to get our guys to play faster. That comes with just knowing what you’re doing.”

Kentucky needs that from those four sophomores this upcoming season. The Cats will return senior Dorian Baker, who missed all of last season with an injury, and there’s a consistent weapon in Tavin Richardson from a year ago.

But beyond them, there isn’t a lot of experience, depth or scoring at wide receiver.

Bowden leads the way with 17 catches for 210 yards last year, with the other three sophomores combining for 84 yards on eight catches. Only Epps played in all 13 games.

The foursome has a long way to go, but it has left Smith encouraged.

“The thing I like about the group is they do work,” he said. “They know how to practice, which is always encouraging when you come into a new system. Kids are getting after it.”

It’s a big spring for those players to get up to speed and ready to become standouts. That’s meant some experimenting with different positions, both inside and outside.

“Right now we’re just trying to work hard, get everything together as a group, get everything together and do what we have to do,” said Ali, a 6-foot, 181-pound receiver from Hollywood, Fla.

There was a learning curve, Ali and Epps said, especially getting used to the speed of play in the Southeastern Conference.

“First game it surprised me,” Ali said. His welcome-to-college moment came on a catch at Mississippi State.

“It was so fast, I didn’t know it really happened until after it happened,” he said smiling. “But it was a good feeling.”

Their coaches are spending time this spring getting a feel for how each player can improve and what he can add to the Cats’ evolving offense.

Of Ali, Smith said: “Josh has tremendous hips, good change of direction, strong hands and he’s learning how to put all of that together and make catches. … He’s going the right direction.”

Of Epps, who looks like the Cats’ best deep-ball threat, Smith said it’s easy to see he has a track background.

“He’s a tremendous runner,” Smith said. “Isaiah’s a fast kid and he plays with such body control, just smooth, has good tempo. He’s moving, but he’s so smooth he doesn’t look like it.”

A slot receiver playing behind Johnson and Walker, Thomas had coaches saying wow in the preseason, but he hit a bit of a freshman skid in his first full season. Gran thinks that’s changing, too.

“That was kind of frustrating for him last year,” the offensive coordinator said. “He had such a really good camp then he leveled off and a lot of guys, that’s what happens to them. … He’s hard on himself.”

• There was some worry that the injury to redshirt freshman Jamin Davis was significant, but defensive coordinator Matt House said after Thursday’s practice that the inside linebacker would miss just 3-4 weeks with his knee injury suffered a week ago. “Nothing major,” House said. “He’ll be back.” Davis has been working at both inside linebacker spots this spring, a position without a lot of depth or experience returning.

This story was originally published March 29, 2018 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Not freshmen anymore, four Kentucky wide receivers trying to play their way onto field."