From prospects to pros: 2022 NFL Draft résumé for former Kentucky quarterback Terry Wilson
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This year’s NFL Draft is April 28-30. A number of former University of Kentucky stars are eligible, and many are expected to be selected this year. We’re taking a look at every UK player who hopes to have their name called.
Terry Wilson
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 207 pounds
Hometown: Oklahoma City, Okla. (Del City)
Projected NFL position: Quarterback
What you’ll remember about him at UK: Wilson’s signature performance as a Wildcat came in Gainesville, Fla., on Sept. 8, 2018. He threw for two touchdowns and 151 yards and rushed for 105 yards and another touchdown in a 27-16 win, then UK’s first victory over Florida in 31 years. That win was part of Kentucky’s first 10-win season since 1977. He finished his career, statistically, as the most dynamic dual-threat quarterback in school history; he’s the only player who’s thrown for 3,000 and rushed for 1,000 yards.
Key stats: Completed 101 of 174 pass attempts (58 percent) for 1,058 yards and seven touchdowns in six games as a senior at New Mexico. Averaged 4.1 yards per carry and rushed for five touchdowns in his final season at Kentucky (2020).
Career development: Wilson signed with Oregon out of high school and enrolled early in 2016, but spent the next year at Garden City Community College, where he became one of the most coveted junior-college players in the country. He signed with UK over Florida and Nebraska and won the Wildcats’ starting job in 2018; he finished that season having completed nearly 70 percent of his passes for 1,889 yards and 11 touchdowns in a run-heavy offense. He was interception-free through six quarters of play in 2019, addressing a concern from his first season, but suffered a season-ending tear of a patellar tendon in the second game of that season. Wilson returned and started 10 of UK’s 11 games in 2020 (missing the one due to a hand injury). He transferred from UK, a decision prompted by changes to the offensive staff, to New Mexico, to exhaust his college eligibility. An injury to his non-throwing shoulder caused Wilson to miss most of his final season.
Latest draft projections: Undrafted.
His future: It doesn’t bode well for Wilson that, in a year light on quarterback prospects deemed worthy of the NFL, he can’t crack lists naming 20-plus guys at the position. An unfortunate injury history and shaky production in the college ranks will make it hard for NFL teams to even consider signing him after the draft, but he has enough athleticism (he ran a 4.52 40-yard dash at UK’s Pro Day) and playing experience that an undrafted free-agent contract somewhere could be an option. Those traits alone should get him onto a non-NFL roster if he wants to explore other leagues. Wilson has frequently professed his love of Lexington and UK, so if he favors a non-playing track, he should be able to lean on relationships there to get on sound footing, career-wise.
Quote: “I feel like I’ve improved,” Wilson said. “It’s night and day. It’s crazy just to see how I used to throw the ball a couple years back to now. I’m definitely excited to showcase that. I know I can play at the next level at the quarterback position. That’s what I’ve been working really hard for.” — Terry Wilson to the Louisville Courier Journal ahead of UK’s Pro Day
This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 8:04 AM.
