UK has been light on TD catches for a while. What are receivers doing to change that?

As co-offensive coordinator Eddie Gran and the rest of the Kentucky coaching staff seek more balance, they do so with an eye on emboldening play makers who for most of last year were asked to do anything but catch the ball — and who haven’t been asked to carry a heavy scoring load, period, in his tenure running the offense.

It’s easy to belabor last year’s circumstances, but Kentucky in the two seasons prior managed only 11 (2018) and 10 (2017) touchdown throws with quarterbacks who actually threw the ball (its high under Gran came in 2016, when the Cats came away with 17).

One side effect of the Kentucky wide receivers’ focus on blocking in 2019, though, was a heightened appreciation for physicality, which will aid it in one-on-ones against some of the country’s best defensive backs Saturday after Saturday this fall.

“We really dialed in on lifting the weights and trying to get every inch we can get as far as our angles and sizing up,” said Clevan Thomas, a junior who last year had 99 yards on 11 receptions, including his first touchdown grab. “When a DB knows it’s going to be a run, he’s already going to take off when the play starts, so we just had to adapt to our defenses.”

Thomas is part of a quartet of veteran receivers — along with Josh Ali, Allen Dailey Jr. and Bryce Oliver — who have collectively earned more letters (eight) than touchdowns scored (seven). All were consensus three-star recruits coming out of high school and chose Kentucky over their football-rich homes deep in the Southeastern Conference (Dailey is from Alabama, the rest hail from Florida).

Taking Kentucky to the “next level” is a frequent talking point among every position group, but no group could have as noticeable an impact on reaching that proverbial milestone as the receivers, whose sacrifices a year ago should be rewarded with an increase in potential play-making opportunities. Some of the onus will be on Gran, a running backs coach who has had incredible success in that aspect of the offense at UK, to make the play calls, but there’s an understanding that “proving it” is still very much a task for the Wildcats’ pass-catchers.

“Make the play when Coach Gran calls it,” Thomas said. “Every play that Coach Gran calls isn’t going to be perfect but it’s our job to make the play. In our offseason, we dialed in with all the quarterbacks, ran our routes and were getting that chemistry right.”

One advantage they have as they look to dismiss doubters: facing one of the nation’s top-ranked pass defenses in every practice and scrimmage throughout the fall. That same group last season faced many of the questions now being lobbed at UK’s receivers.

“They know if they’re catching balls and doing good on us, that’s the best they’re going to see in the nation,” cornerback Cedrick Dort said. “They’ve really been stepping up.”

Flag fiends

Drawing pass-interference penalties over the last two seasons became an unconventional wrinkle in the Kentucky playbook thanks to the tall, bulky frame of Ahmad Wagner, who graduated in May. Last season alone he drew nine flags for pass interference against opposing defenses, equaling the number of touchdowns the Wildcats’ receiving corps scored in 2019.

No receiver on Kentucky’s roster this year stands 6-foot-5, but newcomer Izayah Cummings is 6-3 and 228 pounds, just a couple inches and a few pounds shy of where Wagner was as a senior. The true freshman, about nine months removed from leading Male to a high school state championship game at Kroger Field, is one of several youngsters who’ve been on the receiving end of praise throughout fall camp.

“(Wagner) was faster than what people thought, and then had the big body bodying up people and (was) going up and catching those 50-50 balls,” Gran said. “I think we’ve got some of those guys.”

Scouting the Cats

This is the first of nine stories looking at the 2020 Kentucky football team position-by-position.

Outlook: Wide receivers

Leading men: Josh Ali, in large part based on a single performance against Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl last December, was deemed the heir apparent to Lynn Bowden as UK’s No. 1 receiver. He’s cemented that role in camp and stepped up as a leader. The senior last year made 13 starts in the flanker spot, managing 233 yards and three touchdowns on 23 receptions. Clevan Thomas started seven of the last eight games, including the last four, in the slot and scored his first touchdown last season; the junior finished with 99 yards on 11 catches. Either Allen Dailey Jr. or Bryce Oliver could emerge as the starter on the outside; Dailey is a big body who recorded 75 yards on seven catches a year ago while Oliver has demonstrated a bit more big-play ability (he had 111 yards and a TD on six catches in 2019). Both will play big minutes, regardless.

Supporting cast: Tae Tae Crumes is an under-the-radar name to watch. The former Butler High School standout appeared in only one game last season as a true freshman (Tennessee Martin) but has impressed early in fall camp. With a free year of eligibility to play around with, it’s possible that true freshmen Izayah Cummings (another Louisville export) and Kalil Branham (Columbus, Ohio) get more run than they otherwise might have. Redshirt freshman DeMarcus Harris and sophomore Akeem Hayes, too, are factors. Isaiah Epps, a junior, was expected to be a contributor last year but was sidelined all season due to a foot injury; he finally returned to the field in the midst of fall camp.

Synopsis: It’s easy to point to this group as the biggest question mark of the offense. They entered 2019 with a lot to prove and were not given a whole lot of room to actually prove anything (other than their willingness to block, which they demonstrated to a T). Those same uncertainties are ever-present in 2020 but, assuming the quarterback position is much more stable and the offense a little less run-centric, there’s enough talent — from the upper ranks down to the newest guys on campus — to build a strong mix. It’s unlikely that they’ll be relied on to carry the offense, but they should be depended on to explode as needed.

This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 7:47 AM.

Josh Moore

Lexington Herald-Leader

Josh Moore covers the University of Kentucky football team for the Lexington Herald-Leader, where he’s been employed since 2009. Moore, a Martin County native, graduated from UK with a B.A. in Integrated Strategic Communication and English in 2013. He’s a fan of the NBA, Power Rangers and Pokémon. Support my work with a digital subscription