UK football mailbag: New mindset, freshmen to watch, offensive line rebuild and more

SEC football’s hype season officially begins this week with the annual SEC Media Days extravaganza in Nashville.
To prepare for the week, we asked for your questions about where things stand with Kentucky football. Here’s a sampling of some of the most relevant questions.
For my money, this is one of the most important storylines for Kentucky this season.
It was just minutes after the Music City Bowl loss to Iowa when Mark Stoops said, “Obviously there was just something a bit off this year from time to time. I just told the players this, and I’ll tell you, that’s on me. I have to get that fixed to get back to being who we are.” That theme has continued throughout the offseason.
Stoops acknowledged this spring without going into too many specifics he tweaked some things in the offseason program in an effort to reestablish the identity that was so important during his rebuilding project. When he was not pleased with the energy and leadership in spring practice, Stoops blasted his players after one practice, making it clear he expected more of them.
Kentucky’s appearance at SEC Media Days offers another case study in how the Wildcats’ approach might have changed.
Most years, you could write the story from SEC Media Days before Kentucky players even spoke. They were going to push back against the regional and national perception of the program, using a perceived lack of respect for offseason motivation. That wasn’t the case last year when reporters picked UK second in the SEC East then ranked Kentucky in the preseason top 25.
The program did not handle that hype well, but the disappointment of 2022 means Stoops and company will likely find themselves in a familiar position this summer. The question is whether a program with 14 incoming transfers can thrive with the same us-against-the-world mentality that Stoops’ earlier Kentucky teams used.
NEW UNIS?
Running back Ray Davis seemed to hint at least one new helmet might be on the way when he tweeted a short video of himself wearing a black helmet in the UK locker room, but no official word on new uniforms. UK will want to keep any new uniforms close to the vest to create maximum excitement when they are unveiled for a big game, but I would not assume just because the men’s basketball team unveiled new uniforms last season (with the much-maligned checkerboards removed) that new uniforms are coming for football too.
“Each sport is on a different cycle,” UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart told me in an interview last year when I asked about the end of the checkerboards on uniforms. “Some of it depends on use as well. Baseball is going to go through a lot more uniforms sliding and all of that. Football is obviously going to be a lot different than gymnastics or whatever.”
HOW DO THEY FEEL ABOUT THE SECONDARY AND O-LINE DEPTH?
With summer transfer additions at both positions (Courtland Ford, Ben Christman and Dylan Ray on the offensive line and Kevin Larkins at safety), depth should not be an issue at either spot.
The question is whether there are enough top-end players at either position.
Kentucky coaches raved about the play of Northern Illinois transfer Marques Cox at left tackle during spring practice and were pleased by the results of moving Kenneth Horsey back to left guard, Jager Burton to center and Eli Cox to right guard. They made no secret of the fact that right tackle remained a question mark though. We will not know if Ford can silence those concerns — or if a returner like Jeremy Flax or Nik Hall takes a step forward to seize the starting job — until at least when the team puts pads on in preseason practice. There looks to be a decent rotation though with the four locked-in starters plus Ford, Flax, Christman and Alabama transfer Tanner Bowles. Hall or another young tackle emerging would be a boost.
Depth is no concern at safety, where Kentucky feels it has three starter-caliber players in Jordan Lovett, Zion Childress and Jalen Geiger. If Larkins, who has not yet joined the team according to the Wildcats’ most recent roster update, makes it to campus and can quickly adjust to life in the SEC, the strength is even more pronounced. Sophomore Alex Afari will be on the field a lot playing the “middle” position in UK’s defense, a hybrid defensive back and linebacker.
The questions come at cornerback, but while no player at that position can be considered a proven commodity, UK coaches were confident all spring the group would end up being fine. Andru Phillips will play key snaps, either at cornerback or nickelback. Cincinnati transfer JQ Hardaway, Ohio State transfer Jantzen Dunn and returners Maxwell Hairston and Jordan Robinson are competing for cornerback snaps as well. Kentucky doesn’t need all of those players to contribute this season, so the hope is with so many options at least three emerge from the pack as reliable rotation pieces.
Wide receiver Anthony Brown gained a head start on his fellow freshmen by enrolling early and participating in spring practice.
HOW MANY TRUE FRESHMEN DOES COACH STOOPS ANTICIPATE SEEING THE FIELD FOR MEANINGFUL MINUTES THIS YEAR? AND WHO ARE THOSE STANDOUTS SO FAR?
With 14 transfers from four-year colleges joining the roster, the path for freshmen to early snaps is not as clear as it has been for much of the Stoops era at Kentucky. There’s no way Stoops would commit to a specific number of freshmen playing this early in the calendar — we at least need to wait until actual practices start in August to make any conclusions — but he probably hopes some freshmen can help at a couple clear positions of need.
The most obvious position of need is wide receiver, where Kentucky has just one returning contributor behind starters Barion Brown, Dane Key and Tayvion Robinson. That player, sophomore Dekel Crowdus, was arrested on DUI charges in June. Freshman slot receiver Anthony Brown is probably the closest thing to a lock to play in the class since he enrolled early and made a strong impression during spring practice. UK needs depth at outside receiver too, opening the door for freshmen Shamar Porter and Ardell Banks.
Early contributions from freshman linebacker Grant Godfrey would ease some concerns about depth at the second level of Kentucky’s defense. Maybe one of the freshmen stakes a claim to the wide-open cornerback battle too.
Even at positions where depth doesn’t appear to be a concern, Stoops and his staff have proven more than willing to play freshmen who force their way onto the field. Afari, defensive lineman Deone Walker and tight end Josh Kattus did that a year ago.
So, while Kentucky has six upperclassmen running backs on scholarship, freshman Jamarion Wilcox could force his way into the rotation if he matches his recruiting hype.
Out of UK’s 17 scholarship freshmen — PRP tight end Jakob Dixon has already transferred to EKU after signing with UK — I will predict six play enough to burn their redshirts.
AFTER BACK-TO-BACK SEASONS WITH SOME OF THE LOWEST PASS RUSH NUMBERS IN THE SEC, HOW DOES STOOPS PLAN TO ADDRESS THAT MISSING PIECE OF THE DEFENSE?
The easy answer is a healthy J.J. Weaver finally turning into the player UK coaches clearly think he is capable of being. Since turning down the draft in order to return for his senior season, Weaver has focused on doing what he can to increase the odds of a fully healthy season through conditioning and nutrition, but he needs to be more consistent. It would be unrealistic to think Weaver has a Josh Allen-level senior season, but he could easily be the team’s best pass rusher since Allen if healthy.
Kentucky’s defensive style — Stoops and defensive coordinator Brad White are always going to make teams beat them rather than risk giving up big plays by dialing up a bunch of exotic blitzes — means the defense needs to get pressure when it rushes four if the sack numbers are going to dramatically improve. The good news is there could be two elite players in the front seven in Weaver and Walker.
I wouldn’t get too worried about the pass rush numbers though. It’s difficult to quibble with Kentucky’s defensive production playing its conservative style. Maybe a more effective offense allows White and Stoops to get a little more aggressive at times on defense.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT (INSERT WHATEVER CORNY THING BEAMER/DRINKWITZ DO THIS YEAR)?
We’ll close with one tongue-in-cheek SEC Media Days question.
Whether it’s Shane Beamer, Eliah Drinkwitz or someone else, surely at least one coach makes headlines this week with some sort of gimmick. We know it won’t be Stoops though. I expect Stoops to go out of his way to avoid making news after the minor controversy a year ago when his comment in one interview (that was not released until weeks after media days) about the difficulty of changing a program’s culture was viewed as a shot at Beamer.
But wouldn’t if be fun if Stoops came to the podium wearing the sunglasses from Beamer’s lip-sync video?
SEC MEDIA DAYS
When: Monday through Thursday
Where: Grand Hyatt hotel in Nashville
TV: SEC Network
Order of team appearances
Monday: LSU, Texas A&M, Missouri
Tuesday: Vanderbilt, Georgia, Auburn, Mississippi State
Wednesday: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky
Thursday: Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee