2021 Kentucky spring practice: Five Wildcats whose football stock could soar soon
Spring practice is always valuable, even if the actual gains made usually aren’t particularly noticeable in the big picture.
Typically it’s more a period of incremental physical and mental growth rather than a time where-in superstars are identified, and for the most part that will remain true in 2021. However, this spring the Wildcats will get their first opportunity to have coaches work with them, ball in hand, using the new offense brought in by former Los Angeles Rams assistant Liam Coen. How UK’s play-makers adjust to executing a new playbook — and how the Wildcats’ defense responds to defending a more diverse attack snap after snap when the lights aren’t on — will look much different in September than it will this month, but how it looks this month — and how many strides it makes by mid-April — does matter.
Units start with players, of course, and there are plenty of guys on both sides of the ball whom Kentucky can expect to be quick studies. What about the wild cards, though? The returning roster members with something to prove or newcomers looking to establish big presences early on? Here are five guys to watch out for throughout the next few weeks.
Luke Fulton
Wan’Dale Robinson is the incoming transfer who’s drummed up the most hype, and understandably so; he’s a former Kentucky Mr. Football winner who initially committed to Kentucky and quickly proved himself to be a legitimate weapon for another Power Five football program. It won’t surprise anyone if Robinson excels at UK.
Fulton, on the other hand, is much more of an unknown quantity. He was in the mix for a starting inside linebacker job last season at Michigan State before getting suspended prior to the start of the season; he was arrested and charged with assault following an incident at a fraternity house last September.
Ties to Mark Stoops — he graduated from the head coach’s high school, and Stoops’ sister was his middle school principal — helped pave Fulton’s path from East Lansing to Lexington. He was a highly regarded three-star prospect coming out of high school, and contributed on special teams in his first year with the Spartans. A UK team in need of quality depth at inside linebacker would benefit big-time if Fulton can live up to his prep profile and avoid further legal trouble.
Clevan Thomas
A number Kentucky receivers could have been named here, but Thomas went from a guy expected to make a leap as a junior to an also-ran who played in only four games last season, totaling a single catch for 3 yards.
If healthy and engaged, Thomas should have a shot at rectifying what amounted to a lost season. Following the offseason transfers of Akeem Hayes and Bryce Oliver, whose decision to enter the portal became public Tuesday, Thomas is one of only three receivers on UK’s roster who have caught a touchdown pass as a Wildcat (Josh Ali and Allen Dailey are the others). It’s vital to see how he and other holdovers from the Eddie Gran era respond early, though; with every member of the offense more or less starting from scratch, the door’s cracked a bit more open for young guys to overtake veterans if the difference between Player A and Player B is negligible.
Thomas is among a few guys who have a great opportunity to quickly course-correct the direction of their college careers. How he and others meet that challenge will be worth monitoring.
Jager Burton
It’s not a surprise that Burton — considered a top-10 offensive lineman in the nation — is drawing early praise from Kentucky’s coaching staff, given his outward demeanor and the weight-room work he’s apparently put in since enrolling in January (at 280 pounds, he’s already 10 pounds heavier than his listed weight at Frederick Douglass High School).
The offensive line has become a bellwether unit for Kentucky, and Burton will serve as a significant barometer in the years to come as it undergoes a coaching transition. If he gets on the field as early as he’d like to, that would suggest a lot about how great an impact new offensive line coach Eric Wolford is having in his first year; obviously Burton’s talent has much to say in that happening, but so does his instruction.
Kentucky lost two starters (Drake Jackson and Landon Young) from its “Big Blue Wall,” and while Burton doesn’t immediately project as a possible starter at either guard spot, that he’s studying both spots leading up to spring practice is a good indicator of how much playing time could be in his future.
Cedrick Dort
A makeover of the defensive secondary isn’t something that Steve Clinkscale and Frank Buffano are strangers to, and the cupboard’s not as bare of experience as it was following the 2018 season. Still, Dort jumps out as a difference-maker and probably the only shoo-in to start in the defensive backfield in Kentucky’s first game.
This selection isn’t so much about Dort needing to prove that he’s up to that task, but how he responds after getting thrust down the depth chart for much of last season due to the presence of a one-year cameo by Kelvin Joseph. Dort started 12 games at corner in 2019 and started in Joseph’s place against South Carolina before missing UK’s bowl game in December; there’s no reason to think he’s bitter about how things played out, but the spring for him will serve as a good platform to remind folks of what he can do, and allow him to become a stronger voice for a young corps.
Mike Drennen
A ballyhooed late addition to last year’s recruiting class, Drennen appeared in eight games and recorded three catches for 26 yards, good for fifth among all returning receivers to UK’s roster.
He drew comparisons to Lynn Bowden leading up to and following his commitment, but it was unfair to expect Drennen to come in and produce at a proficient clip right away, especially given the lack of a true offseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drennen’s name has fallen a bit off the radar, what with Robinson’s entry into the program and a slew of freshman signees stealing some of his shine, but the former four-star recruit has the kind of frame and speed that makes him shifty and versatile; I’d guess Coen has him watching film of Austin Ekeler, and if he’s able to replicate some of that, look out.
