One thing to know about every Kentucky football player in the 2022 NFL Draft
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The NFL Draft is upon us. Here are some quick-hit notes on all 11 former University of Kentucky football players hoping to hear their names called this weekend.
Josh Ali: The wide receiver recently wrote and released a children’s book, “Young Joshua’s Big Adventures: Fishing is Fun for Everyone.” In a press release promoting the project, Ali said that fishing helped him get through the post-surgery doldrums following a car accident in December. “I wrote this book to not only talk about my fishing experiences, but to show that there are many exciting activities to do outdoors other than sitting at home playing video games,” Ali said.
Yusuf Corker: His 23 bench press repetitions at the NFL combine were the most of any defensive back in this year’s draft. The overall bench press record is unofficially held by a player from Eastern Kentucky University. The mark of 51 by Colonels defensive tackle Justin Ernest has not been surpassed since he set it in 1999.
Luke Fortner: He’s set to become the first UK center to be drafted since Dermontti Dawson in 1988. Dawson, who only played the position on UK’s scout team before transitioning to it full time after he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012.
Darian Kinnard: Recently launched a collection in conjunction with BlueChip, a direct-to-consumer athletic apparel platform. Among BlueChip’s other partners are former NFL star Victor Cruz and Cincinnati Reds infielder Mike Moustakas.
Marquan McCall: “He truly is faster than any human that size should be.” — Luke Fortner, who went up against McCall on a daily basis in practice last year.
Quandre Mosely: Of the Wildcats not projected as draft selections, Mosely is the only one named in prominent rankings of guys who could emerge as priority free-agent signings. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler in his 288-pound draft guide (it’s called “The Beast” for a reason) wrote that Mosely “displays the foot quickness, twitch and length to be a developmental cornerback for a press-man NFL defense.”
Josh Paschal: Deadspin named Paschal its “Most likely to end up doing a series of Rob Gronkowski USAA-type ads,” citing his appearance in a commercial for Steckler Pediatric Dentistry. It’s a funny ad with more than 500,000 views on Twitter.
Justin Rigg: He was unable to be a full participant at UK’s Pro Day but was 100 percent healthy during a workout for local prospects held recently by the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals going into the draft have six tight ends on their payroll, so it seems unlikely that the Springboro, Ohio, native will end up signing with his “hometown” team.
Wan’Dale Robinson: According to Fran Duffy, who hosts the Philadelphia Eagles’ “Journey to the Draft” podcast, Robinson’s wingspan — 27 feet and five-eighths inches — would be the shortest of any receiver selected in the last 10 NFL Drafts.
Dare Rosenthal: If he, Fortner and Kinnard are all picked, Kentucky will have as many offensive linemen selected in this year’s draft as they’ve had in each of the last three years combined (George Asafo-Adjei in 2019, Logan Stenberg in 2020 and Landon Young in 2021).
Terry Wilson: Kentucky hasn’t had a quarterback picked since the New York Giants selected Andre Woodson in the sixth round of the 2008 draft. New Mexico, where Wilson finished his college career, hasn’t had a quarterback drafted since the Arizona Cardinals picked Stoney Case in the third round of the 1995 draft.
NFL Draft
Where: Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nev.
Round 1: Thursday, 8 p.m.
Rounds 2-3: Friday, 7 p.m.
Rounds 4-7: Saturday, Noon
TV: ESPN, ABC, NFL Network
This story was originally published April 27, 2022 at 9:44 AM.
