Blue chippers: Five rising stars for Kentucky football in 2021

The following five University of Kentucky football players have played for the Wildcats and are positioned to be major contributors during the 2021 season.

Izayah Cummings

A wide receiver-turned-tight end due to a season-ending injury suffered by Keaton Upshaw prior to fall camp, Cummings is still poised to be a significant threat in the passing game, assuming he can block at the level expected of Kentucky’s bigs. He’s not a shrimp, but at 6-foot-3, 228 pounds, Cummings is the shortest and lightest tight end in the room; his burst will afford offensive coordinator Liam Coen some room to be creative with that spot, however, and if UK goes 12-personnel as its base offense (as it appears to be doing, if early practices are any indicator), it’s going to need a lot of reps from Cummings behind projected starters Justin Rigg and Brenden Bates. Cummings, a true sophomore out of Male High School in Louisville, appeared in nine games last season (he only sat out against Ole Miss and N.C. State), mostly in a special-teams role.

Jeremy Flax

Flax, a Detroit native, arrived at UK last season by way of Independence Community College and played spot minutes against South Carolina and Vanderbilt. The 6-foot-6, 356-pound offensive tackle projects to be a much more valuable brick in the Big Blue Wall this season. He was running with the No. 1 unit early in fall camp and coming out of spring was more or less deemed by Coen as the favorite to start at right tackle. That was prior to the addition of Dare Rosenthal, formerly LSU’s starting left tackle; his entry into the competition could knock over dominoes across the O-line. Ultimately, whether Flax starts or comes off the bench is irrelevant; he’s going to play a lot for the Cats’ most respected unit. Any experience is going to pay dividends, as Flax is classified as a redshirt sophomore and, thanks to the NCAA’s COVID-19 waiver, could play up to four years at UK.

Marquan McCall

It might be hyperbolic to say UK’s defense will go as McCall goes, but it’s not outlandish, either: the behemoth nose guard will be as crucial to Kentucky’s success this season as at least any other single individual on the team, on either side of the ball. After spelling Quinton Bohanna the last couple years, McCall stands alone as the man in the middle of a D-line at the forefront of the Cats’ efforts to once again intimidate — and, when possible, eliminate — passers in the Southeastern Conference. “He’s in year four here,” defensive coordinator Brad White said at the start of UK’s fall camp, “and he understands that now this is his time. His body is in as good a shape since he’s been here and I’ve been here. We sorta came in together. He’s ready to take that next step.” McCall is at the root of what White believes will be a stout middle three — with linebacker DeAndre Square and safety Yusuf Corker at the next levels — that will give UK an opportunity to put together a special season on defense.

Vito Tisdale

The coaching staff has poured some water on the Tisdale flames since last year mentioning him in the same breath as current Tampa Bay Buccaneer Mike Edwards — which prompted some verbal ribbing from Edwards himself — but the 6-1, 200-pound safety played more meaningful snaps than any other true freshman on the roster last season and will be on the field often this fall if he can move beyond a recent arrest on burglary charges and earn reinstatement to practice. He can be a wild card, but if he commits to the scheme, there might not be a better disruptor on Kentucky’s squad than the former Bowling Green High School standout. “All players are different with the way they learn, the way they play, the way they act,” Stoops said during fall camp. “He’s definitely a live one and he plays that way. I think you guys can see that. It’s not in a bad way, just sometimes off the field you gotta make sure he’s in line as well.”

J.J. Weaver

Rare is it that a player makes a repeat appearance on this list, but Weaver’s in the unique position of being a guy who started to flash signs of stardom prior to a season-ending injury late during the Cats’ most recent campaign. His importance to the program is evident in its potential deployment on defense; if Weaver isn’t healthy enough to give UK a lot of snaps this season, expect it to more frequently line up in a 3-3-5 scheme rather than its base 3-4 alignment due to its depth at defensive back compared to the outside linebacker rotation (that’s also another reason to buy stock in Tisdale). Stoops wants to take it slow with Weaver, which is admirable, but he seems determined to get on the field sooner rather than later, and could be the difference in whether UK’s able to regain its position as a pass-rushing force in 2021.

This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 6:00 AM.

Josh Moore

Lexington Herald-Leader

Josh Moore covers the University of Kentucky football team for the Lexington Herald-Leader, where he’s been employed since 2009. Moore, a Martin County native, graduated from UK with a B.A. in Integrated Strategic Communication and English in 2013. He’s a fan of the NBA, Power Rangers and Pokémon. Support my work with a digital subscription