Five key observations from Kentucky football’s first 2019 depth chart
The University of Kentucky football program released its first depth chart of the 2019 season on Monday. Here are some key observations:
▪ Sorry, fans of quarterback controversy: Terry Wilson, who won 10 games as a sophomore starter last year, is Kentucky’s QB1 heading into 2019. Sawyer Smith, a graduate transfer from Troy, is Wilson’s immediate backup.
Head coach Mark Stoops told reporters Monday that he has been proud of the work Wilson has put in to improve himself this offseason, and that he’ll have a chance to show that off against Toledo this weekend.
“But he can’t do too much either,” Stoops said. “He just has to play within himself. We have a lot of other people around him. That’s always going to be the case. The strength of our team is always going to be the team. You heard me say that a year ago. It’s not a fancy cliché, it’s the truth. You got to have a good team. You’re going to win as a team and lose as individuals. If we go out and play as individuals, we’re going to lose. That will always be the case. This is the ultimate team sport here.”
▪ Cedrick Dort Jr. (cornerback), Jamari Brown (cornerback), Tyrell Ajian (nickelback), Jordan Griffin (strong safety) and Yusuf Corker (free safety) had the honor of being listed as starters in the secondary, probably the most-discussed unit this offseason because of its overall inexperience and youth.
“I’m sure. I would think so,” Stoops said when asked if he expects Toledo to quickly test UK’s defensive backs. “They do that anyway. They’re aggressive.”
Only Griffin has played significant minutes. The 6-foot senior has played in 33 career games with one start as a sophomore in 2017. Ajian is listed as his backup at strong safety while he’s behind the sophomore at nickelback in the schemes that call for it.
Junior college transfer Brandin Echols is listed as the backup to Dort Jr., a sophomore who missed all of last season with an ankle injury. Brown, a redshirt freshman, is backed up by true freshman M.J. Devonshire, one of five true freshmen listed on the two-deep rotations.
▪ Presumptive starter AJ Rose, who backed up Benny Snell each of the last two years, is indeed the No. 1 running back heading into Saturday. His backup is less definitive: Chris Rodriguez and Kavosiey Smoke, both redshirt freshmen, are listed with an “OR” distinction behind Rose.
“They’re both good players,” Stoops said. “They’re both going to play. We didn’t feel like one deserved to be ranked ahead of the other one.”
▪ Louisville native Jared Casey was another one of the true freshmen listed on the depth chart. He’s the backup to Jamar “Boogie” Watson at strongside linebacker.
The 6-foot-3, 232-pound Ballard graduate was rated as a four-star prospect coming out of high school and originally committed to Oregon over UK last October. He backed off that commitment in November and picked the Cats in December.
▪ Senior defensive lineman and Toledo native Phil Hoskins, who played in all 13 games last year, was absent from the depth chart. Stoops said Hoskins will miss the season opener as well as UK’s second game against Eastern Michigan, because of an academic issue.
Season opener
Toledo at Kentucky
Noon Saturday (SEC Network)
