UK football ends its long tight end drought and other bold predictions for 2025

Predicting how a college football season will play out is a near impossible task in a normal year.

So what are the chances of knowing what will happen for a Kentucky roster with more than half the scholarship players wearing a UK jersey for the first time? Not good.

But making outlandish predictions is part of the fun in the leadup to a season opener. In this space a year ago, I predicted quarterback Brock Vandagriff would be one-and-done at UK. Retirement was not one of the scenarios mentioned in the explanation, but I’ll still count it as a win.

As for the other two bold 2024 preseason predictions (UK would win multiple road games and J.J. Weaver would lead the SEC in sacks), let’s just pretend those didn’t happen. The point of this story is to be bold, which means by definition it is unlikely the predictions actually come true.

The bar has been set at a 33% success rate. Let’s see if we can do better in 2025.

Here are three bold predictions for UK’s season.

Willie Rodriguez will lead the Wildcats in catches

The pragmatist in me wants to add some caveats here. Maybe finishes top three in catches or leads the team in receiving touchdowns would make more sense.

But those predictions are not bold enough.

Instead, I’m going all-in on the potential of the Wildcats’ sophomore tight end. In the year longtime tight ends coach Vince Marrow jumped ship to join the staff at archrival Louisville, Kentucky finally features a tight end who breaks the post-Jacob Tamme drought as a receiver.

Only one UK tight end (C.J. Conrad, 2018) has caught more than 20 passes in a season since Tamme left for the NFL in 2008. Conrad also holds the high-water marks in that span for most receiving yards (318) and touchdowns (four) in a season for a tight end.

Recent history suggests UK’s tight ends will be needed as blocking support rather than pass catchers, but Rodriguez is too talented — and the other receiving options too inconsistent — to ignore in the passing game. The presence of fellow tight ends Josh Kattus, Henry Boyer and Elijah Brown should free up Rodriguez for targets in multiple tight end sets as well.

The favorites to lead UK in catches are wide receivers Kendrick Law, Ja’Mori Maclin and Hardley Gilmore, but none did enough in preseason camp to even warrant a solo starting spot on the week one depth chart. Rodriguez and new quarterback Zach Calzada appear to have already developed a strong chemistry, too, bonding over their Cuban heritage.

This prediction coming true might not be a great sign for Kentucky’s passing attack as a whole. The Wildcats need someone to emerge from the crowded pack of wide receivers, but until that happens Rodriguez might be the best option.

Zach Calzada starts every game for Kentucky

Wait, saying the week one starting quarterback will remain the starting quarterback does not exactly seem worthy of a spot in a bold predictions column.

But the same quarterback has started every game in a season just five times in Stoops’ 12 years as UK coach. Even in a couple of the seasons where only one quarterback started (like in 2018 with Terry Wilson) the job was opened for competition at some point.

Add in the fact that Stoops has gone out of his way to heap praise on backup Cutter Boley over the past week and the most likely outcome is that Boley starts at least one game this fall. Perhaps an injury to Calzada is Boley’s path to the field, but there is a real possibility that “playing Cutter” is an appealing strategy for a jumpstart at some point this season, too.

Calzada is not a perfect quarterback. If he were, he would have been in the NFL long ago rather than preparing for his seventh college season.

But he feels like the right quarterback for this team.

Calzada’s arm strength should provide the opportunity for a handful of explosive passing plays per game, and he should help the offense stay ahead of the chains with his running ability. His fiery personality will endear him to fans if the team is better than expected.

Yes, Boley is the future of the offense, but the staff clearly thinks Calzada is the best option to win now. Otherwise, Boley would have taken more first-team snaps in preseason practice.

The prediction here is the gap between Calzada and Boley remains wide enough and the season remains competitive enough that the staff resists making a change in 2025.

A Kentucky cornerback is drafted for the fourth straight year

For a Kentucky team with no players included on the media’s or coaches’ preseason All-SEC first and second teams, there’s no guarantee any Wildcat is picked in the NFL draft next season. For as badly as last season went, it was clear Deone Walker and Maxwell Hairston were NFL talents when healthy.

On this Kentucky team, it is difficult even to identify who the best player is. Maybe one of the transfers emerges as an NFL draft prospect after proving himself against SEC competition, but if any were surefire professionals they likely already would be in the NFL.

Instead, the most likely position to look for a NFL draft pick is the one where Kentucky has churned out the most professionals recently.

“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 early in preseason camp. “I think we got some good experience. You can see the length that we have out there.”

Hairston (first round, 2025), Andru Phillips (third round, 2024) and Carrington Valentine (seventh round, 2023) were all drafted as Kentucky cornerbacks in the past three years. JQ Hardaway and DJ Waller are next in line for the chance to prove themselves at the position in UK’s defense.

Hardaway has only one season of eligibility left, but Waller might be the more intriguing prospect as a junior breakout candidate. At 6-foot-3, each has the size to draw interest from scouts. Expect at least one to emerge as a legitimate draft candidate in the coming months.

Jon Hale

Lexington Herald-Leader

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Jon Hale is the University of Kentucky football beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He joined the Herald-Leader in 2022 but has covered UK athletics for more than 10 years. Hale was named the 2021 Kentucky Sportswriter of the Year. Support my work with a digital subscription