UK football practice observations: Early impressions on QBs, WRs, O-line rebuild and more
After opening spring football practice in March, UK coach Mark Stoops warned reporters against asking questions about specific players.
“Let’s wait and see how each player, each group progresses through this spring,” he said that day.
Such is the reality of college coaches now as they have to be constantly worried about losing key backups to the transfer portal or hearing from star players who feel their NIL payments might not be enough based on fan or media interest. Despite shying away from revealing too much about his rebuilding program thus far this offseason, Stoops opened practice Wednesday morning to local reporters.
Afterward, he broke his spring football rule and did answer questions about specific players based on practice observations. Here is a look at what we learned.
The QB pecking order is what we expected
The reality of Kentucky’s quarterback room has been that Incarnate Word transfer Zach Calzada was never picking a school for a seventh and final season of college football where he did not expect to play, but due to the presence of promising redshirt freshman quarterback Cutter Boley, who the staff has repeatedly described as the quarterback of the future, Stoops has yet to publicly call Calzada his starter.
Still, Calzada took almost all the first-team reps at quarterback in Wednesday’s practice. The exception was when Boley took over the first-team offense for a two-minute drill in the final segment of practice.
“We’ve seen (Calzada) playing,” Stoops said. “And now it’s a matter of getting comfortable in our system, putting it all together. Through spring, there’s some things that look sloppy, that look ugly at times. Then we got to just pull it all together.
“Both guys have made a lot of growth. Cutter is getting better as well. You could see both guys have very live arms.”
While Calzada should be considered Kentucky’s starter regardless of Stoops’ public comments this spring, that does not mean the door is closed to Boley eventually winning the job.
This is a staff and team desperate to erase the bad taste of the last three years, especially the 4-8 season from 2024. If Boley makes a massive leap over the course of the summer, Stoops and offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan have to allow for the possibility he takes over the starting job at some point this fall.
Calzada looks like the higher floor quarterback for 2025. It was essential UK added a veteran to the room after Brock Vandagriff retired and Gavin Wimsatt transferred. Boley probably has the higher ceiling though and might be the best hope for more than an average team.
Neither quarterback has bit on the question about who starts this spring. Calzada declined to answer a question Wednesday about his conversations with Stoops about expectations for 2025.
Instead, he is focused on building chemistry with his new teammates as quickly as possible.
“That’s part of spring ball, getting those connections,” Calzada said. “We’ve never played together before, and just every player plays different, and every connection is going to be different. And that’s the great thing about college: We get three, four weeks to get better and take steps in the right direction.”
A familiar face in a new position
When Kentucky signed Arkansas offensive guard transfer Joshua Braun in December, the assumption was returning starter Jager Burton would slide to a backup role, but during Wednesday’s practice Burton operated as the first-team center, a position he played for part of the 2023 season. Former Western Kentucky center Evan Wibberley, who was signed as the heir apparent to Eli Cox at center, worked mostly with the second-team offense.
“We have a lot of combinations,” Stoops said. “We want to make sure we can be adaptable, flexible, and have guys play multiple positions. We got some guys that are left tackles that are playing right. We have some guys that can swing. We feel good about our depth, much better about our depth.
“Evan was a little banged up for a little while early in spring. And so we’re just making sure we’ve got our bases covered.”
It is dangerous to read too much into lineups for a spring practice on April 2. It is possible if Wibberley had not been slowed early in camp he would have been with the first-team unit as expected Wednesday.
But Burton remains an important piece for an offensive line that will need more than three interior linemen to make it through the 2025 season. Keeping him involved and engaged this spring is important to keeping him in the fold for the fall.
“We’ve been experimenting with a lot of different stuff,” Burton said. “We got a bunch of new guys who can play a lot of different positions, a bunch of guys with a lot of game reps. If there’s a time to do it, it’s spring, so just move a bunch of guys around.”
Playmakers to watch
On a windy morning, the offense struggled to get the ball down the field through the air regardless of who was at quarterback, but a trio of offensive skill position players stood out at various points.
Running back Jason Patterson, who impressed early in the 2024 season before an injury derailed his progress, spent most of the morning as the first-team running back. Nebraska transfer Dante Dowdell and returning big-play threat Jamarion Wilcox also received plenty of carries, but it was Patterson who was most involved with the starters.
“I’ve seen him take some steps even in the last two, three practices,” Stoops said of Patterson. “It’s good to see him back out here, see him healthy, getting the reps. I like seeing him out here, because he’s a guy that can be an every-down back.”
Alabama wide receiver transfer Kendrick Law was a popular target for Calzada and Boley as the first-team slot receiver. Law has a reputation as a physical blocker, but he should have an opportunity to make plays for Kentucky as a security blanket for Kentucky quarterbacks.
Law is expected to start at slot receiver with Ja’Mori Maclin moving to outside receiver, where he impressed down the stretch in 2024 after injuries sidelined starters Barion Brown and Dane Key.
“He’s a strong guy,” Calzada said of Law. “He can create good separation.”
The catch of the day went to freshman wide receiver DJ Miller though. During an 11-on-11 period with the third-team offense and defense on the field, Miller leaped over cornerback Nasir Addison, who had strong coverage on the play, to make an acrobatic catch from quarterback Beau Allen down the far sideline.
“He’s just a guy that just has to put it all together,” Stoops said of Miller. “... He operates really smooth. I’d like to see a little more urgency out of him at times, but he is definitely a great young man and just works really hard and likes the coaching. He buys into everything.
“When we give him opportunities like that, he can make some plays. Just let him grow up, let him continue to get better.”
This story was originally published April 2, 2025 at 1:29 PM.