What we learned from two days at Kentucky football preseason practice
The calendar has turned to August, but there is still much work to be done before Kentucky football opens its 2025 season against Toledo at the end of the month.
So, it would be foolish to read too much into how the team looked in back-to-back practices open to reporters. Those practices, including Saturday’s annual Fan Day festivities, were just the third and fourth of preseason camp. They were the first the team conducted in shoulder pads.
The look at the team did at least give an idea of where things stand entering camp though. With the large caveat that much will change over the next three weeks, here is a look at what stood out after two days viewing the 2025 Wildcats up close.
Cutter Boley has improved since spring practice
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops has acknowledged that Incarnate Word transfer Zach Calzada would be the starting quarterback if the season opened tomorrow — and Calzada took the vast majority of the first-team reps in the two open practices — but he continues to insist backup redshirt freshman Cutter Boley will have a chance to seize the job. That talk looked like ego management during spring practices open to reporters, but Boley looked much better this week.
Stoops pointed to two plays in Saturday’s Fan Day practice as an example of that growth.
On the first, a third-down during the team blitz period, Boley missed an open throw when he appeared to be affected by pressure. In a later 11-on-11 session, he faced a similar scenario but showed composure in eluding the pressure long enough to convert the pass.
“I just think with every opportunity like that, he’s getting better and better,” Stoops said. “He’s more comfortable. … He changed his body. He’s worked really hard. He’s just getting more comfortable.”
It should be noted that Boley’s performance came against the second-team defense while Calzada was facing the starters. Calzada also had the most impressive throw of the two days Saturday when he hit a leaping Willie Rodriguez over tight coverage.
Calzada’s hold on the starting job still looks safe, but the two practices offered more hope that Boley can lead the offense if Calzada struggles in his return to the SEC or is injured.
Mark Stoops has high hopes for the secondary
Kentucky’s safeties failed to live up to expectations in 2024, by their own admission. Depth at cornerback was exposed after future NFL draft first-round pick Maxwell Hairston was sidelined for multiple weeks by an infection.
Still, Kentucky added just one transfer to the secondary — former Maryland cornerback Kevis Thomas — and looks set to enter 2025 with the same starting four it featured during Hairston’s absence.
“I don’t want to get the cart in front of the horse there, but I feel like the secondary can be really good,” Stoops said. “I think we got some good experience. You can see the length that we have out there with JQ (Hardaway) and DJ (Waller). DJ is really playing good football. He really is. And the safeties got good experience. They can run. So, we need to keep healthy and develop some depth.”
Both starting safeties, Jordan Lovett and Ty Bryant, intercepted Calzada passes during Friday’s practice. Waller and Hardaway, the starting cornerbacks, held up throughout one-on-one drills against the wide receivers.
Stoops, who specialized in coaching defensive backs before becoming a head coach, clearly believes that group can learn from the 2024 struggles. The starting group looks up to the challenge so far, but depth is a concern again.
The starting nickelback is expected to be sophomore Quay’Sheed Scott, who played primarily on special teams last year. His primary competition for the job is senior Jantzen Dunn. Meanwhile, the second-team secondary at the four primary positions in the two practices featured a junior who has yet to make a start (Nasir Addison), two sophomores (Terhyon Nichols and Cam Dooley) and a freshman (Martels Carter). That group will certainly be needed for significant snaps at some point in 2025 and must continue to progress.
Wide receivers get an incomplete grade
We’ll hold off on judging the offensive and defensive lines considering no one was being tackled to the ground in the two open practices, so the most concerning performance in the two days came from a receiver group that enters camp with a long list of questions.
Gone are Barion Brown and Dane Key, the featured targets each of the last three years. There also is a new position coach (L’Damian Washington) in the room.
There were too many dropped passes in the two open practices and none of the available receivers looked like a clear No. 1 target for Calzada. The caveat there is Alabama transfer Kendrick Law did not practice either day due to what Stoops called a minor injury. Stoops expects Law back in practice on Monday.
Without Law, who offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan acknowledged earlier this week would be a focal point of the 2025 offense, Ja’Mori Maclin, Fred Farrier, J.J. Hester and Hardley Gilmore took most of the first-team reps. Clemson transfer Troy Stellato did not practice on Friday but made multiple catches on Saturday out of the slot.
If you’re looking for a reason to get excited about the group though, freshmen DJ Miller and Montavin Quisenberry continued to impress as part of the second-team offense after standing out during spring practice. Quisenberry, the former Boyle County High School star who is listed at a generous 5-foot-10 on the roster, was particularly impressive across the last two days.
“He’s a good, solid player,” Stoops said. “He’s a good young player. I think he’s going to get better with every rep, with every opportunity. … He tracks the ball really well. He’s got good ball skills, and so he’s going to get better and better.”