Kentucky in the 2021 NFL Draft: Where Jamin Davis, Bossman Fat and more will go
The 2021 NFL Draft is here, and Kentucky football is ready to represent.
Jamin Davis leads a crowd of 10 Wildcats hoping to get picked this weekend, along with several other players who starred for Kentucky colleges over the last few seasons. The fun gets underway 8 p.m. Thursday, with live broadcasts across ABC, ESPN and NFL Network.
Let’s break down what the three-day parade of pro-football hopefuls could end up looking like by the end of Saturday.
Two Cats in first round?
Davis, by most accounts, will be a first-round draft selection.
After stepping up in the absence of teammate Chris Oats — a projected 2020 starter at inside linebacker prior to suffering a stroke last summer — Davis opted to forego his final year of college and enter the draft. At the time, the most optimistic projections placed him as high as the third round, but since then he’s done nothing but ascend draft boards; the majority opinion has Davis getting selected somewhere in the latter half of the first round.
That could end up not happening — draft-day trades or unforeseen selections earlier in the night can disrupt the best-laid plans in a hurry — but Davis seems a lock to go no later than the second round. If he’s indeed picked in the first, he’d be Kentucky’s most recent in that round since Josh Allen went seventh overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2019. Davis could be the 18th UK player drafted in the first round, and just the fifth since the draft became a seven-round event in 1994.
Before the season got underway, if you’d said a Kentucky player was probably going in the first round the consensus name would have been Kelvin Joseph. A high-upside transfer from LSU who was with the team in 2019 but had to sit due to NCAA bylaws, Joseph in nine games of work had four interceptions (tied for second in the Southeastern Conference) and frequently tapped into the raw athletic gifts that had the Wildcats (and the Tigers, for whom he played as a true freshman) excited about him. He also exhibited some lapses in judgment, and that combined with his relative lack of in-game experience compared to other defensive backs in the class will probably force him into the second or third round; NFL.com analyst Daniel Jeremiah tabs him as the No. 84 prospect available in the draft (he has Davis ranked 23rd overall).
If selected in the higher range of where he’s projected, Joseph — or Bossman Fat, if you prefer his family nickname — would have a chance to be the highest-picked UK cornerback in the school’s history. That honor currently belongs to Melvin Johnson, the 43rd overall pick in the second round by Tampa Bay in 1995. Lonnie Johnson is UK’s only other second-round selection at the position; he was picked 54th overall by Houston in 2019.
Kentucky boys
While Southern transplants Davis (Ludowici, Ga.) and Joseph (Baton Rouge, La.) top the marquee, Kentuckians Drake Jackson and Landon Young also hope to hear their names called this weekend. Neither is expected to get picked through the first two days (rounds 1-3), but they could be the next two Wildcats selected after the headliners.
Jackson has been knocked for his size — at 6-1 and 293 pounds, he’s the smallest draft-eligible center — but his IQ for the game and technique should make him a solid fit for teams built around the run. If drafted, Jackson would be the first center selected from Kentucky since Hall of Famer Dermontti Dawson was chosen in the second round in 1988 (Jon Toth, who’s spent some time in the league and under whom Jackson studied, was an undrafted free agent).
As for Young, his size and strength are NFL-caliber, but his athletic ability hasn’t wowed scouts. Leading up to the draft, too, he’s had to disprove skeptics who think he’s less-refined as a pass blocker, a byproduct of UK’s mostly one-dimensional offense over the past few seasons. He’s expressed a willingness to move to guard, which could end up being a better fit at the next level.
NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein is higher on Young, the first five-star recruit to sign with UK during Mark Stoops’ tenure, than Jackson, projecting the former as a sixth-round selection and the latter as a seventh-round pick.
Wild-card Wildcats
Six other Kentucky players are draft-eligible this weekend, though only a handful might hear their names called.
Max Duffy, UK’s punter, might have the best shot of the six. Specialists are by far the most under-represented selections during the NFL Draft, but at least one kicker or punter has been picked in all but two drafts (1998 and 2010) in the seven-round era. No punters were picked in last year’s event but six were selected over the 2019 (two) and 2018 (four) drafts. If a single punter is selected this year, it’s likely to be Duffy despite possible concerns about how consistently he’ll be able to deliver traditional-style kicks and him being an older rookie (he’s 28). Zierlein has him going possibly as early as the sixth round.
Nose guard Quinton Bohanna and cornerback Brandin Echols boast strong enough profiles to warrant consideration from teams looking for talent at the end of the draft. Bohanna is viewed as a possible rotation piece but his lack of play-making ability could make him more of a situational player than a guy who’s going to give you quality snaps down after down in the NFL.
Echols put up some eye-popping testing numbers — a 4.35-second 40-yard dash and a 42.5-inch vertical at UK’s pro day — but isn’t put together, physically, as well as teams typically seek from the position. His aggressiveness as a tackler and speed should have him on draft boards, but whether he’s picked will come down in large part to how the draft unfolds and who finds themselves looking for help in the secondary toward the end; the corner position is loaded, with 10 of the top 72 prospects on Pro Football Focus’ big board playing the position.
If any or all of those guys strike out, all will likely be signed as free agents soon after the draft has ended. That’s likely to be the fate of the other three former UK standouts — Phil Hoskins, A.J. Rose and Jamar “Boogie” Watson — as well.
Louisville
At least two U of L players should be selected this week.
Tutu Atwell is likely to be the first Cardinal off the board. The 5-9, 155-pound junior receiver is tiny, but that didn’t keep him from becoming a two-time member of the All-Atlantic Coast Conference First Team; he finished eighth all time at the school with 2,307 receiving yards, fifth with 21 touchdowns and fourth with 10 100-yard receiving games. Jeremiah ranks him as the No. 79 available prospect, and most analysts expect him to go in the third or fourth round.
Running back Javian Hawkins is also undersized — 5-8, 183 pounds — but would be the next-best bet as a Cardinal who will hear his name called. “Hawkins is a niche player, but his ability to produce big plays and add a speed dynamic gives him a chance at the next level,” Joe Marino of The Draft Network said of the sophomore. If he’s picked, it’ll be sometime during day three.
Receiver Dez Fitzpatrick and cornerback Marlon Character are also listed in the NFL’s 2021 prospect database but neither is expected to get drafted.
Lexington’s other star
Landon Young isn’t the only former Lexington high school star in this year’s draft.
Devon Key, who played at Bryan Station, is a 6-foot, 208-pound safety out of Western Kentucky whom Zierlein tabs as a possible sixth- or seventh-round selection. Most mocks don’t list Key in their seven-round lists, but he’s oft-mentioned as a priority free agent following the draft.
“With his measurables and potential as a special teams contributor, it would not be a surprise to see him get a shot in the NFL,” Zierlein wrote.
Key led the Hilltoppers with 92 tackles and had an interception last year en route to a selection to the All-Conference USA Second Team. If drafted, he’d be the first player from WKU to earn that distinction since 2018, when linebacker Joel Iyiegbuniwe and quarterback Mike White were both selected.
Another name to be on the lookout for: Keyion Dixon. The Eastern Kentucky receiver led the Colonels with 37 receptions for 607 yards and six touchdowns against a patchwork, nine-game schedule. His frame — 6-3, 185 pounds — is easier to build upon than some of the receivers ranked ahead of him, and if he can get into camp, whether as a late-round selection or a free agent, he could surprise.
NFL Draft
Round 1: 8 pm. Thursday
Rounds 2-3: 7 pm. Friday
Rounds 4-7: Noon Saturday
TV: ABC, ESPN, NFL Network
