Awful circumstances have Kentucky reserve in position for breakout season in 2020
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Scouting the 2020 Wildcats
Josh Moore, the University of Kentucky football beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com, is examining the 2020 Wildcats position by position entering the season, which kicks off Sept. 26 at Auburn. Click below to read Josh’s stories published so far.
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Jamin Davis was going to be a critical part of Kentucky’s rotation at inside linebacker no matter how things shook out in 2020. His play on special teams and at linebacker in the latter half of UK’s 2019 season alleviated some worries about what, as the calendar turned over, appeared to be the Cats’ thinnest unit.
Unfortunate circumstances made it even thinner. Fellow junior Chris Oats, a presumptive starter, has been in a rehab facility since early June following an undisclosed medical issue unrelated to COVID-19. That development vaulted Davis, the only other inside linebacker with more than a single game’s worth of snaps against Southeastern Conference competition, into the spotlight.
He’s stepped into it with a heavy mind.
“Any moment, this game could be taken away from us,” Davis said. “We always keep Chris in our thoughts and prayers. … We just do what we can to honor him as best we can. We’re doing everything for 22, honestly.”
Davis as a sophomore posted a career-high seven tackles, matching the team lead, in Kentucky’s rout of Louisville last season, and totaled six tackles in its games against Missouri, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and Tennessee Martin (against whom he made his only previous start). Being able to get game reps is great, but actually performing at a high level against quality competition when you’re No. 4 on the depth chart is significant in terms of building up one’s confidence.
He gives a lot of credit, too, to Kash Daniel. The ex-Cat was a roommate frequently on road trips last year and the two had “a lot of personal conversations” in their hotel rooms. Daniel this offseason has stood strongly in Davis’ corner, going so far as telling Tom Leach that he could be one of Kentucky’s biggest impact players in 2020.
Don’t expect Davis to exhibit as big a personality as the former Kentucky Mr. Football winner, though.
“I’m not the type to run and get up all in your face or what-not, but at the same time if I feel like something needs to be said to step up and make corrections, I’ll do that when it’s needed,” Davis said of his leadership style. “But as far as all the extra noise and what-not, I just do whatever I can to show what should be done the correct way and hope that God’s following underneath my wing.”
It helps, too, defensive coordinator Brad White says, that Davis will get to play alongside DeAndre Square, another junior who has been a major contributor since arriving in 2018.
“There’s a confidence and swagger to the way he plays,” White said of Square. “There’s a leadership quality that’s really starting to blossom and now we need it to be in full bloom once the season starts.”
He and Davis will form what should be as stout of a one-two combo as there is in the SEC. After that, though? Jared Casey, a Ballard product who formerly was part of the outside mix, has moved inside (something Davis himself did early on); he played in three games last season. Marquez Bembry made the move from defensive end to the inside last year, but missed the bulk of his sophomore season due to injury and played in only one game. Freshmen signees D’Eryk Jackson and Torrance Davis — a late addition who’s transitioning from running back — could see their numbers called early and often depending on how injuries and possible COVID-19 developments shake out.
“You can’t go through a 10-game SEC season with two inside backers,” White said. “So we’re going to count on some really solid, meaningful reps from those guys and they’re going to have to be contributors. I know that they’ll be ready when we kick off.”
Scouting the Cats
This is the second of nine stories looking at the 2020 Kentucky football team position-by-position.
Outlook: Linebackers
Leading men: Defensive coordinator Brad White called DeAndre Square, who’s played in 25 of 26 games since getting to Lexington in 2018, one of UK’s most underrated players this offseason. “Deandre is starting to really come out of his shell, and we need him to continue to do that because any great defense that you look at, it starts in the middle,” White said. The junior from Michigan recorded 69 tackles (second on the team), including four for a loss, and forced a fumble and recorded an interception last season. Starting alongside him on the inside will be Jamin Davis, another junior who played in every game each of the last two years and saw significant action down the stretch in 2019. Jamar “Boogie” Watson and Jordan Wright have strong footholds in the outside linebacker spots; Watson is considered one of the best pass-rushers among Power Five schools and is the SEC’s leading returning producer of sacks (he had 6.5 last season). “I could brag on those two all day,” White said, noting their progression as leaders in the development of those underneath them on the depth chart.
Supporting cast: No defensive unit on this team needs to value its health as dearly as the linebacking corps, particularly on the inside. It was dealt a depressing blow when Chris Oats suffered an undisclosed ailment during the offseason resulting in him having to enter a rehab facility. Junior-college transfer Marquez Bembry has two years of eligibility remaining to be a steady contributor on the inside. Louisville native Jared Casey has moved to the inside and could end up seeing a big uptick in minutes as a result. The outside depth appears a little stronger, Louisville’s J.J. Weaver in particular showed great flashes as a true freshman, but much of that perceived strength comes with ample inexperience.
Synopsis: The first wave should be as capable of handling SEC offenses as any linebacking corps in the conference. What will keep UK’s coaching staff on its toes is the development of the second string and beyond. While most groups on the roster are well-equipped to stomach the strength of a 10-game league schedule, this one would have benefited the most from some tune-up games against non-conference bunnies. Multiple trials by some of the South’s hottest fires await them, instead.
This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 7:57 AM.
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