Hope everyone had a great New Years Eve and the morning's going well. I was getting puked on until 3:30 a.m. so it made for an interesting night, but on we press.
Things will get interesting again here pretty quickly with more players at Kentucky and everywhere else making decisions.
** Believe Kentucky will still look to add help at two spots: the secondary, and offensive tackle.
** Could still add edge help but I think they're in pretty good shape there at least for next year. Fearbry looks like somebody who could be a real player for the next year and both Weaver and Afari are back.
** The hope is that Jamon Dumas-Johnson can be an upgrade over Trevin Wallace at MLB. Like Leary and Vandagriff they are just very different kinds of player. JDJ will not play sideline to sideline, shoot into the backfield as fast, etc., but will be a very high IQ player and more physical. At times Wallace wasn't all that physical but he's still a great talent. Eyes and seeing things develop was also an issue for Trevin at times that probably will not hurt JDJ as much.
** Have heard that Mississippi State OT Percy Lewis is someone to watch. Have not heard that anything is imminent, more of a "see how things go" kind of thing but did get the sense that is a situation to definitely be aware of. Someone they could try to pursue.
** Think Kentucky is hopeful that Courtland Ford can be a good player next year. He was hurt for most of this year, a wrist I think. The hope is he can fix it and be good to go next year. He will definitely be battling for that spot.
** It's going to be a big spring for Malachi Wood. This is the year he really needs to take the step forward. Good goal would be to be a rotation tackle, 200+ snaps next year. Not a bust if it doesn't happen but this is when you are looking for him to elevate. Kentucky's got to be a developmental OL program, a couple of years getting guys ready and then rolling them out.
** Have said for a while it's possible UK could look at another portal QB after the spring but right now have not heard anything about that happening. My guess would be they could definitely roll into next year with a top three of Vandagriff, Boley, and Allen. They may choose to pursue another high school quarterback from the '25 class which also has been something mentioned as a possibility for a while. Think Gahanna, Ohio quarterback Brennen Ward would be someone very interesting there but I'm sure there are others.
** Andru Phillips had some good moments at the end of the year. Would be nice to bring him back. The issue is his stock is never going to be higher than it is right now. He's going to be in the top handful of nickels available in the draft. We will see where it lands him but I really do think it's a question of how much he could improve that stock based on what he wants to do in the future.
Things will get interesting again here pretty quickly with more players at Kentucky and everywhere else making decisions.
** Believe Kentucky will still look to add help at two spots: the secondary, and offensive tackle.
** Could still add edge help but I think they're in pretty good shape there at least for next year. Fearbry looks like somebody who could be a real player for the next year and both Weaver and Afari are back.
** The hope is that Jamon Dumas-Johnson can be an upgrade over Trevin Wallace at MLB. Like Leary and Vandagriff they are just very different kinds of player. JDJ will not play sideline to sideline, shoot into the backfield as fast, etc., but will be a very high IQ player and more physical. At times Wallace wasn't all that physical but he's still a great talent. Eyes and seeing things develop was also an issue for Trevin at times that probably will not hurt JDJ as much.
** Have heard that Mississippi State OT Percy Lewis is someone to watch. Have not heard that anything is imminent, more of a "see how things go" kind of thing but did get the sense that is a situation to definitely be aware of. Someone they could try to pursue.
** Think Kentucky is hopeful that Courtland Ford can be a good player next year. He was hurt for most of this year, a wrist I think. The hope is he can fix it and be good to go next year. He will definitely be battling for that spot.
** It's going to be a big spring for Malachi Wood. This is the year he really needs to take the step forward. Good goal would be to be a rotation tackle, 200+ snaps next year. Not a bust if it doesn't happen but this is when you are looking for him to elevate. Kentucky's got to be a developmental OL program, a couple of years getting guys ready and then rolling them out.
** Have said for a while it's possible UK could look at another portal QB after the spring but right now have not heard anything about that happening. My guess would be they could definitely roll into next year with a top three of Vandagriff, Boley, and Allen. They may choose to pursue another high school quarterback from the '25 class which also has been something mentioned as a possibility for a while. Think Gahanna, Ohio quarterback Brennen Ward would be someone very interesting there but I'm sure there are others.
** Andru Phillips had some good moments at the end of the year. Would be nice to bring him back. The issue is his stock is never going to be higher than it is right now. He's going to be in the top handful of nickels available in the draft. We will see where it lands him but I really do think it's a question of how much he could improve that stock based on what he wants to do in the future.
