Kentucky football summer questions: How worrisome are running back injuries?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky held transfers CJ Baxter and Jovantae Barnes out of contact most of spring.
- Jason Patterson was the top option while Baxter and Barnes were held out.
- Kentucky coaches moved safety Martels Carter to offense to bolster running back depth.
Each week leading up to the start of Kentucky football preseason camp, the Herald-Leader will take a look at one significant question facing Will Stein’s first UK team.
This week, we’re looking at the running back room. Stein and his staff added two SEC transfers there, but both were held out of the majority of spring practice. Will one go-to option emerge? Is depth already an issue?
Will Stein’s reputation as an elite offensive mind has been largely built around his ability to develop star quarterbacks, but his offenses have never been one-dimensional.
In three years at Oregon, Stein’s offenses never ranked worse than 30th nationally in rushing yards per game. Last season, the Ducks ranked 20th nationally at 198.6 yards per game.
For all the success Kentucky found running the ball during the heights of Mark Stoops’ tenure, the Wildcats only ranked in the top 30 in rushing yards per game twice in 13 years. One of those seasons came after the staff was forced to move wide receiver Lynn Bowden to quarterback due to a series of injuries at the position, essentially eliminating the downfield passing attack.
If Stein’s first Kentucky team is to live up to its coach’s offensive reputation, it will need a productive rushing attack.
“Our backs are going to be utilized a lot in this offense,” Stein said in January. “We work out of 21-personnel and different two-back, even three-back sets at times, so they will be big, really instrumental moving forward.”
But the Cats left spring practice with no shortage of questions at the position.
Transfers CJ Baxter (Texas) and Jovantae Barnes (Oklahoma) were held out of contact for most of spring practice in an effort to avoid adding to their lengthy injury histories. Without that duo, depth was enough of a concern that the staff moved safety Martels Carter to offense.
Can Kentucky rely on Baxter and Barnes to carry the load? If they are healthy, how will carries be split?
Coaches don’t seem concerned about injuries
Stein started spring practice preaching the importance of exposing players to game-like situations as much as possible but eventually acknowledged he had to temper some of his own eagerness in service of fielding a healthy roster when games actually started.
Baxter and Barnes were among a lengthy list of players held out of the public spring game as part of that strategy.
“Everybody’s gonna be back, 100%,” Stein said before the spring game. “I can tell you that with 100% certainty. I’m excited about that. Some stuff, you just want to make sure. We just gotta get these guys to the fall, and I’m not gonna risk anything with certain players.”
Baxter missed the entire 2024 season at Texas with a knee injury. He played in eight games in 2025 but missed four more games due to a hamstring injury.
Barnes has not played in more than nine games in a season since his freshman year at Oklahoma in 2022. He missed a combined nine games in 2023 and 2024 due to injury. He elected to redshirt after appearing in four games before being sidelined with an undisclosed injury in 2025 in order to preserve his final season of eligibility before transferring.
“Obviously, those guys have played a lot of football, which is great,” offensive coordinator Joe Sloan said of the sidelined duo during spring practice. “If we were having to hold them out and they hadn’t played a bunch, that’s tough. But I think they’re both really smart, they’re good learners, and they’ve played a lot of football, so that gives us comfort.”
Jason Patterson was the top option with Baxter and Barnes out in spring practice. He has recorded 77 carries for 336 yards in two years at Kentucky.
Coaches and teammates praised Carter for his impact after switching positions while acknowledging he faced a learning curve after playing only defense as a freshman. Tovani Mizell, who was also held out of contact for most of spring practice, and Delvecchio Alston, an early enrollee who committed to Kentucky before the coaching change, are the other scholarship running backs on the roster.
“Once the fall camp comes with CJ out there and Jovantae out there, we’re gonna be rocking and rolling,” running backs coach Kolby Smith said. “(Patterson) has done great for us. Even with Martels coming over, he’s done well for us. And Deuce is getting better every day.”
Who will lead Kentucky in carries?
Baxter, whom 247Sports ranked as the No.1 running back in the high school class of 2023, received the most hype of the new staff’s running back additions but is two years removed from his breakout freshman season (138 carries, 659 yards) at Texas. He has not scored a rushing touchdown in the past two seasons.
Barnes logged 294 carries in four years at Oklahoma, but he averaged just 2.4 yards per carry in limited action last season before redshirting. Patterson has flashed potential in two years as a backup but has yet to prove capable of taking on a featured role. Carter is learning a new position. Mizell has just four carries in two injury-plagued college seasons. Alston is a freshman who had no other SEC scholarship offers.
That’s a lot of uncertainty at a position that will be so important to Stein’s offensive game plan.
Baxter should still be viewed as the favorite to lead Kentucky in carries, but fans should not expect any one running back to assume a Benny Snell-like workload.
“I want everybody to shine,” Smith said. “I’ve been in a backfield before where when I was a player we had four guys get drafted out of that room. That’s what I expect to establish here.”
Stein proved willing to take multiple approaches at running back in three seasons at Oregon.
Three different Oregon running backs recorded between 75 and 129 carries last season. But in 2023 and 2024, two running backs accounted for the lion’s share of carries. The 2024 Ducks offense was built around a true featured back when Jordan James totaled 233 carries in 14 games.
“I feel like it keeps you fresh, and it challenges you as a football player,” former Oregon running back Noah Whittington said at the NFL combine. “Everybody’s not gonna get the ball. You got to be able to do other things, like special teams.”
A committee approach could increase the chances that Baxter and Barnes stay healthy throughout a full season, but the physical nature of the position means injuries are likely inevitable.
There will almost certainly be a point this fall when Patterson, Carter and others are needed.
But the best-case scenario remains a return to form for Baxter.
“In the running back room, you never want to be the only guy,” Baxter said during spring practice. “You want to have another one or two extra people that can help you tote the pill. Our position is very physical, especially in SEC. We’re hoping to play 16, 17 games this year, and it’s going to take everyone in the room to achieve that.”