Kentucky’s Logan Stenberg will take his ‘meanness’ to NFL’s Detroit Lions
Logan Stenberg was an All-American blocker for an offense that last season finished with more rushing yards than any single team in the history of the University of Kentucky. Now the Detroit Lions will see what he can bring to their table.
The Lions drafted Stenberg with the 121st overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. He was the second UK player selected in this year’s draft, joining Lynn Bowden, who was picked 80th overall by the Oakland Raiders on Friday night.
Detroit drafted another Kentucky offensive lineman, Larry Warford, 65th overall in 2013. Now with the New Orleans Saints, Warford has gone on to be named to Pro Bowl rosters in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Stenberg arrived at Kentucky as a three-star recruit and redshirted his first year on campus. He played as a redshirt freshman and went on to become a starter the final 39 games of his career, beginning with his sophomore season. Stenberg twice — in 2016 and 2019 — was part of UK offensive lines that finished as semifinalists for the Joe Moore Award, given annually to the nation’s top unit.
As a senior, Stenberg was named to the Associated Press All-Southeastern Conference First Team offense and was recognized as a Second-Team All-America member by the Football Writers Association of America and Phil Steele.
He was the starting left guard for UK as it racked up a school-best 3,624 rushing yards, eclipsing the previous mark set in 1974 by exactly 500 yards. The 2019 Wildcats also finished with school-record totals in rushing touchdowns (36) and yards per rush (6.32), besting the 2016 team in both categories.
Only one quarterback hurry was attributed to Stenberg last season, and he did not allow a sack throughout. He led the Wildcats with 95 knockdown blocks and 209 blocks at the point of attack, according to the school.
“I think you could ask most of my teammates I’m very different on and off the field. Off the field I’m a very respectful fun guy, on the field it’s all business and I want to end the guy across from me every play,’’ Stenberg told the Detroit media on Saturday.
Stenberg was the only Wildcat other than Bowden invited to this year’s draft combine. He did not participate in the bench press but posted numbers in multiple other drills, including the 40-yard dash (5.3), vertical jump (26 inches) and broad jump (104 inches).
NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein believes Stenberg can be a “capable” reserve in the league who has the tools to be a starter, if necessary. Zierlein noted that Stenberg’s aggressive style of play led to frequent penalties during his time at UK, which could be a cause for concern; Stenberg was assessed 13 fouls as a senior, a total that would have been right below the NFL’s most penalty-prone players in 2019.
UK head coach Mark Stoops and John Schlarman, Stenberg’s position coach at Kentucky, were critical at times of the flags drawn by the 6-foot-6, 317-pound brute, but they were also quick to his defense; neither felt like he played with a selfish mentality.
Stenberg is eager to bring his nastiness to the league, albeit more measured.
“They like the meanness in me but I can’t be hurting the team,” Stenberg said during the draft combine. “That’s something I’m going to have to work on at the next level and I know that. It’s gonna be taken care of.”
Stenberg doubled down on that Saturday.
“I’d say my best asset is my attitude. I’m a nasty player,” he said. “I like to block and finish guys.”
This story was originally published April 25, 2020 at 12:58 PM.
