Liam Coen feels good about ‘six to seven’ of UK’s wide receivers right now
Twenty items of note this week from UK’s fall football camp and across the football landscape at large.
1. The most important development through the first five Kentucky practices is a non-development — no major injuries. “There’s always gonna be bumps and bruises and a couple of guys who are not 100 percent during practice right now, but nothing I can see long term,” head coach Mark Stoops said after his team’s fifth straight session. They’ll have their first day off before getting back at it Thursday morning.
2. Wide receiver Mike Drennen is now working with the running backs, per position coach John Settle. He’s really excited to see how the sophomore develops at that spot. “We just moved him a couple days ago and he’s already been able to pick things up and give himself an opportunity to play,” Settle said.
3. Drennen’s on the move in part due to the success that JuTahn McClain is having as a receiving threat out of the backfield. Both were four-star recruits in the 2020 class that Settle attempted to recruit at Wisconsin just a few years ago, and tried to sell them on the idea of running the kind of routes UK has them running. “Football’s an interesting thing, man,” Settle said with a laugh. “You never know where you’re gonna end up.”
4. McClain was one of the biggest standouts during Kentucky’s open practice for fans on Saturday, particularly as a route runner. He attributes some of his effectiveness to having improved at understanding college defenses. McClain said.
5. Drennen is excited about the move to running back, McClain says. The biggest difference coming over to the position? “The pass protection,” McClain said. “That’s probably going to be the trickiest part for him. We’re just gonna bring him in and help him out with that, ‘cause that was probably the hardest thing for every one of us when we came in here as freshmen.”
6. Settle, and later McClain, suggested that Kentucky could line up with as many as three running backs on the field at times this fall. “We’re doing some really creative things,” Settle said. “As long as they can learn it and do it, we’ll continue to experiment with some things.”
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7. Offensive coordinator Liam Coen said he has about “six to seven” receivers in whom he feels confident enough to play as of Tuesday. “Obviously the more depth we can add to that position, the better, because of how much mileage goes on those guys,” Coen said. “I think that we’ll do some things with different personnel groupings that will help with some of the depth issues that we have at the wide receiver position, but I do feel good about some of the young guys. They’ve had a really solid training camp so far, we’ve just gotta get ‘em a little bit more work with the older guys.”
8. One of those six to seven receivers is not Izayah Cummings, a true sophomore who made the leap over to the tight end room ahead of fall camp. He’s acclimated well, based on how he performed in the one open practice, and the sound of Coen’s voice when he was asked about his fit there on Tuesday. “Love it,” Coen said. “The kid’s just coming along. He’s such a good kid.”
9. That was a move that position coach and recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow suggested could happen at some point while he was recruiting Cummings out of Male High School. He’s currently at 226 pounds and would like to be at least 230 on game days; 235 pounds would be more ideal to combat Southeastern Conference linebackers and safeties. “It can get hard sometimes ‘cause we’re running around in the hot weather, so right after you get done and see that you’ve lost 2 pounds and you’re back down to 223,” Cummings said. “You’ve gotta eat.”
10. Coen is leaning toward coaching on the field during games. “I like to be able to communicate with the quarterback, look him in his eyes, see the look in his eyes, see if he’s a little rattled (and I) gotta calm him down,” Coen said. “Try to treat game day like a caddie. I’m just his caddie, trying to get him through to his next shot.
11. The preseason USA Today/AFCA Coaches Poll was released Tuesday. Kentucky ranked 37th overall, among the “others receiving votes.” Six SEC teams — Alabama (No. 1), Georgia (No. 5), Texas A&M (No. 6), Florida (No. 11), LSU (No. 13) and Mississippi (No. 25) — ranked in the top 25. UK plays Florida, LSU and Georgia in consecutive weeks in October. Future SEC members Oklahoma and Texas clocked in at No. 3 and No. 19, respectively, in the poll.
12. Former UK center Drake Jackson was waived Monday by the Detroit Lions but did not have to wait long to find a new home; he was claimed off waivers by the Houston Texans on Tuesday night.
13. CBS’s Barrett Sallee and Ben Kercheval together named the top college football team in every state for the 2021 season. Sallee was responsible for Kentucky, and chose the Wildcats. “Coach Mark Stoops has established the program as one that can consistently win in the trenches and produce an offense that is flexible enough to adapt to any given situation,” he wrote. “No disrespect to third-year Louisville coach Scott Satterfield and his program because Cardinals fans have plenty to be excited about, but it’s going to take a couple of rivalry wins to flip the power in the state.”
14. None of the 101 players named to Bruce Feldman’s 2021 college football “Freaks List” were from Kentucky, but Louisville had three honorees in the annual exercise, which aims to highlight guys “who generate buzz inside their programs by displaying the rare physical abilities that wow even those who observe gifted athletes every day.” Receiver Tyler Harrell clocked in at No. 11, followed by offensive lineman Trevor Reid (No. 44) and defensive lineman Ashton Gillottee (No. 67).
15. Western Kentucky defensive end DeAngelo Malone, the 2019 Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year, was No. 66 on Feldman’s list. He comes across as a guy with some Josh Allen-type potential in terms of a rise up draft boards come April.
16. Athlon Sports trolled SEC coaches for anonymous comments about league foes. One is skeptical of the Cats’ willingness to pass the ball. “Mark’s basically built a really smart, really disciplined Big Ten West type of program with a lot of Ohio guys and some SEC skill-position talent. They have a culture and they don’t really stray from it, so I can’t imagine them taking a lot of downfield shots.”
17. Pro Football Focus’ Mike Renner named his most underrated teams in the Power Five conferences. They were: Kentucky (SEC), N.C. State (ACC), Wisconsin (Big Ten), TCU (Big 12) and Washington (Pac-12)
18. Twitter personality Jim Weber released his college football “All-Name Team” on Tuesday. UK’s Kavosiey Smoke and Octavious Oxendine both made the cut. Three of my favorites: General Booty (quarterback, Tyler Junior College), Gentle Williams (offensive lineman, California) and New Zealand Williams (defensive back, San Diego State)
19. The first episode of HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” featuring the Dallas Cowboys this season, dropped Tuesday night. Two former Wildcats, Kelvin Joseph and Quinton Bohanna, are rookies expected to play for Dallas this fall. Neither was highlighted during the season premiere, but there was an interesting biology lesson, among other nuggets.
20. A junior named Joshua Moore is expected to be one of Texas’ best receivers in 2021. He boasts a physical profile similar to DeVonta Smith, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner who was coached last season by Steve Sarkisian, now the man in charge at Texas. He’s as close as I’ll ever get to a football award.
This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 7:56 AM.
