QB is a mystery, but there’s a lot we do know about the 2021 Kentucky football team
This spring, the biggest thing we don’t know about the Kentucky football team — who’s starting at quarterback — has somewhat overshadowed the fact that there’s a whole lot we do know about the direction of the program.
Let’s run down a few of those as week three of practice ramps up.
Passes will be thrown
Developing and encouraging balance within what, for the last half-decade, has been the Southeastern Conference’s least-balanced offense was what prompted a change in offensive coordinators in December. Head coach Mark Stoops and offensive coordinator Liam Coen have expressed excitement over how quickly Kentucky’s players are adapting to the new looks and ideas brought in by the newcomer.
The whos and whys of the quarterback depth chart won’t be determined, really, until the fall, when transfer Will Levis arrives and the competition truly begins. What we can tell now, though, is that the guys practicing right now — particularly Beau Allen and Joey Gatewood — are acclimating well. The two combined to go 29-of-34, an 85-percent completion rate, in a practice last week.
That completion mark stands out, but the number of passes in a way is more noteworthy. UK last season averaged 22 pass attempts per game over the course of 11 games, and completed more than half of them (13.1, or 59.7 percent). If it were to average, say, 35 passes a game over a regular 12-game season (420 attempts), that’d put it in the upper portion of the SEC in total pass attempts based on statistics from 2019 (a year in which UK threw only 257 passes).
Of course, it doesn’t do much good to throw a lot of passes if they aren’t completed, but UK has to start getting more comfortable with the idea of throwing the ball forward in general, and it seems like it is.
“There’s gonna be some ups and some downs,” Stoops said. “Overall, I see growth. I see improvement and that excites me.”
D-line making progress
Kentucky’s defensive line lost two starters in Quinton Bohanna and Phil Hoskins. It’s reasonable to expect the unit to perform at a high level in 2021, based on the level of talent in the room, but little of that talent has played consistent, meaningful snaps for Kentucky to date.
“There’s been some flashes of, ‘OK, this guy can do it,’ and some flashes of some ugly,” defensive coordinator Brad White said. “At that position specifically, you have to be so technique-sound because things happen in an instant.”
Defensive end Josh Paschal provides valuable experience as a senior who has started 25 games and played at multiple positions for the defense, and former backup Marquan McCall is garnering praise for his maturation this offseason. The 379-pound nose guard’s play will determine a great deal about the team’s ability to get off the field quickly; he could be “a force,” says White, around whom opposing offenses could have to game plan if he plays up to his capability consistently in 2021.
McCall, a laid-back, fun-spirited character, is saying the right things.
“I want to make sure that I get double-teamed so the free-hitter can come,” McCall said. “That’s my whole job. I don’t care about tackles or and everything like that.”
UK as part of its 2020 recruiting class signed four defensive linemen, regarded collectively as the pillars of that haul. White’s been impressed with those youngsters’ gains in strength and footwork from the fall, “but it still has a ways to go.” Former five-star recruit Justin Rogers and Josaih Hayes have been working behind McCall at nose guard, while former North Hardin standout Octavious Oxendine and Tre’vonn Rybka are vying for bigger jobs.
McCall and Paschal are shoo-ins to start, but who gets the nod at defensive tackle and how the overall rotation shakes out will linger into fall camp.
“I’m still nowhere close to knowing who those guys are going to be right now,” White said.
Go-to playmakers
We aren’t sure who’s quarterbacking this fall, but it already seems clear who the top dogs on offense will be.
Josh Ali was the only receiver who made a significant impact as a pass-catcher last season. He’s taken on a greater leadership role after returning for an extra year of eligibility, a decision that before spring camp began indicated he’d be trusted with a big role in the new-look attack.
It was easy to predict, too, that Wan’Dale Robinson — the biggest name among several incoming transfers — would give UK another go-to weapon in the offense along with running back Chris Rodriguez, a fan-favorite who looks poised for a massive role as UK’s leading man in the backfield.
“Chris Rodriguez needs to touch the ball as many times as possible, right? But I think it’s my job and our job as an offensive staff to find different ways for him to touch the football as opposed to just turning around and giving him the ball,” Coen said. “ … We want to try to get Chris over 25 touches a game, for sure.”
Those are the names likely to score the most touchdowns and rack up the most yards, but a couple other receivers — Isaiah Epps, who’s battled a foot injury the last couple years, and Clevan Thomas, who disappointed last season as a potential break-out guy — keep getting praised this spring. Kentucky also has both starting of its top tight ends, Justin Rigg and Keaton Upshaw, back; Coen’s history coaching that position and the L.A. Rams’ involvement of them in their offense suggests they’ll be heard from a lot as well.
“They’re moving us around to the outside receivers, inside, slot, on the ball,” Upshaw said. “With the motions and stuff with the tight ends, we’re moving around a lot better than we did last year.”
Secondary in good shape
On one hand, the outlook of UK’s secondary is concerning since its top one-on-one coverage guys in 2020 are both looking to get drafted in April. On the other, a slew of returning defensive backs who’ve played multiple spots should give the Wildcats flexibility as they work out any kinks in the defensive backfield.
If 2021 proves to be anything like 2019, developmentally, then the Wildcats ought to again rank at or near the top of the league in terms of pass protection (and that’s doubly true if the offense can better keep up). It’s nowhere near as void of talent as it was following the 2018 season, but did lose two corners, Brandin Echols and Kelvin Joseph, who played high snap counts. Andru Phillips and Carrington Valentine, true freshmen a year ago, both inched into the rotation toward the end of last season are making good progress according to Stoops, a secondary coach at heart; one of those two is likely to start opposite former starter-turned-key reserve Cedrick Dort when UK kicks off its season.
As far as safeties go, Ty Ajian is coming off his best season in blue and white and Yusuf Corker should be able to build on an All-SEC campaign. Davonte Robinson is continuing to progress from an injury that sidelined him in 2019 and should be able to contribute more this season.
Vito Tisdale was the member of UK’s 2020 signing class that got the most on-field time in 2020 and his versatility as a defender — he’s lined up at linebacker and could feature prominently there again this fall — makes him a possible star in the making for a position group that’s produced a few of those in recent seasons.
Kentucky will try to get that kind of versatility from multiple defensive backs by the fall.
“It gives us some more athletic ability on the field and lets Brad become a bit more multiple,” Stoops said.
Battle at center
Quarterback battles get all the attention, but how things work out at center will be huge for Kentucky; Drake Jackson was a fixture in the program who will likely be on an NFL roster this summer.
Quintin Wilson was Jackson’s backup most of the last couple seasons and the junior has built up chemistry with UK’s former backup quarterbacks in practice, but he — like every other player on offense — has had to adjust. Luke Fortner, a guard who returned for another year of eligibility, and sophomore Eli Cox have also been working at center.
Wilson was the presumptive leader to take over but Coen described it as an “open competition” among those three as of last week.
“It’s a lot on those guys but they’re handling it really well right now,” Coen said.
This story was originally published March 29, 2021 at 4:05 PM.
