Why Will Stein compared one young Wildcat to Jets NFL draft pick Kenyon Sadiq
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Will Stein compared Mikkel Skinner to Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq.
- Skinner redshirted as a freshman and had not caught a pass in four games.
- Coaches say Skinner can play multiple roles and must compete for tight end snaps.
When Kentucky hired Will Stein as its new football coach, it was easy to dream about an increased role for the Kentucky tight ends in the passing attack.
Most of that focus centered around the stay-or-go decision for junior Willie Rodriguez, but Stein was quick to make it clear there was another player on the roster who could thrive in the offense he ran to great success for three years at Oregon.
Mikkel Skinner did not catch a pass in four games while redshirting as a freshman, but the new staff clearly saw the potential that made him a consensus four-star recruit in high school.
“He reminds me somewhat of a Kenyon Sadiq-type player that I had at Oregon, which is a really versatile athlete that we can use in a lot of different ways,” Stein said of Skinner in a January news conference.
NFL Draft observers will recognize Sadiq as the first tight end picked in Thursday’s first round. The New York Jets drafted him at No. 16 overall.
He led Oregon with 51 catches last season to go with 560 yards and eight touchdowns. Sadiq ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, the fastest time ever recorded by a tight end at the event. He ranked second among tight ends at the Combine with 26 reps on the bench press.
The Athletic compared Sadiq to an action figure in its pre-draft scouting report.
All that is to say a new head coach comparing a player he just met who has yet to catch a pass in a college game to Sadiq should turn heads.
“He can be whatever Mikkel wants to put into this,” tight ends coach Justin Burke said of Skinner. “He can have as long a career, and he can have as great a college career, whatever he wants to get out of this, with the focus and growing up into this system. When he gets the ball, there’s some unbelievable things that happen.”
UK lists Skinner at 6-foot-4, 234 pounds. Sadiq measured 6-foot-3, 241 pounds at the Combine.
Kentucky’s previous staff was also high on Skinner’s potential, but as a freshman he was unable to break into a tight end rotation that included Rodriguez, Henry Boyer and Josh Kattus. Tight ends were often needed as extra blockers in the previous offense, and Skinner was viewed as more of a hybrid wide receiver.
It’s that skill set that should let him thrive in Stein’s offense.
“Skinner’s an all-around player,” Stein said. “You can put him anywhere.”
Skinner flashed big-play potential with a long gain off a flea flicker in the spring game. He will still have to compete for snaps in a crowded tight end room, with Rodriguez expected to be among the best players on the roster and Boyer proving his worth as a more traditional in-line tight end.
But no one made an effort to walk back Stein’s early hype during spring practice.
“He’s always had a talent, but he’s improved his mentals a lot from last year just with the playbook and everything,” Rodriguez said. “I think when he gets the ball in the hands, he’s definitely scary.”
While Sadiq drew most of the attention, Oregon featured multiple tight ends in the passing game last season.
Fellow tight end Jamari Johnson caught 32 passes for 510 yards and three touchdowns. Two of the Ducks’ top four pass-catchers were tight ends.
A year earlier, current Los Angeles Rams tight end Terrance Ferguson caught 43 passes for 591 yards and three touchdowns and Sadiq caught 24 passes for 308 yards and two scores as his backup.
While Boyer should not be considered an afterthought in the passing attack, the best-case scenario for UK would involve Rodriguez and Skinner posting similar combined numbers as the last two Oregon duos.
“He’s really benefited from the older guys in the room who have experience … to teach him how to go and learn the offense, how to show up every day for practice,” Burke said of Skinner. “But, those guys can say it all they want, I can say it all I want. That dude has just, from the very beginning, had a great mindset about just getting better every single day, and then that allows his talent to show on the field.
“Anytime you’ve got the head coach shining a light, it puts a little bit more pressure on you and a little bit more, ‘All right, if this guy sees it, what can I really be?’”