Someone give me something positive with the 2026 class. I know we are only 8 guys in, but that low of an average star, even this early, is just insanely low.
EDIT - a couple good responses. Appreciate some of the reasons.
This board truly has tunnel vision. Your post, for example. Don't limit your assessment to one website's class rankings.
Learn to use all available material.
Take into account many points of view. Consider all available scouting evaluations, and watch some film yourself. Consider, especially, evaluations by pro evaluators who have actually seen the players.
I have done all of that. Here are my assessments, keeping in mind that I am a former football player but not an expert on scouting. I have watched film and read all of their available evaluations.
Jordan Crutchfield - outstanding prospect. Strong tackler. A killer in space. Superior size, excellent athleticism, surprisingly fast. Product of an area where hs football competition is excellent. Holds at least 6 SEC offers including FL and defensively-minded TX A&M. ESPN rates him as an "80" prospect.
Messiah Tilson - outstanding prospect. Adequate size, excellent speed. Great motor. He is from the greater Chicago area, where hs football competition is strong. Holds at least 6 B10 and 3 SEC offers. ESPN rates him as an "80" prospect.
Jarvis Strickland - excellent prospect. Great length, athletic, great feet. Scouting assessments are predicting an NFL career as a high draft choice. Holds at least 6 SEC and 4 B10 offers. ESPN rates him as a "79" prospect.
Davis McCray - solid prospect. Excellent length, good hands. He runs track at Cornerstone Christian hs. 100m, 200m, 400m, and long jump. So speed and athleticism are not issues. Athletic competition in TX at the hs level is excellent and McCray is a product of that competition. Among others, Miami, OK St, WA St, and Houston have already offered. Just guessing, it might become difficult to hold onto his commitment as his recruitment blows up in the fall, as it surely will.
Prince Jean - strong prospect who can play "Z" or play in the slot. Adequate size, excellent athleticism. Killer quickness and speed. Great motor. Intelligent, strong student. He is a product of a legendary hs football program in Valdosta. He holds 6 SEC offers including AL and GA but chose UK because he loves our coaching staff and our campus.
Deuce Alston - doesn't have a strong offer sheet, so I watched all the film I could find online. I immediately saw what Coach Boulware likes about him. He comes from a strong hs program. He has good size and strength. What REALLY stands out on film is his vision, quickness, and his second gear. He intelligently cuts back to daylight and accelerates. Then he outruns safeties and corners. He has a real second gear. Reminds me of CRod size-wise and running style, but faster and quicker than CRod. BTW nobody wanted CRod. He was also lightly recruited, like Deuce.
Max Mohring - in some ways, the most interesting commitment so far. The offer sheet is light although it means something that so many Ivy League schools want him. He is very intelligent. He is also big at 6'3" 215#. But the teller here is that he runs the 100 m dash for Malvern Prep! How many 215# guys can you name who run the 100 m dash? This is a big, fast, very intelligent player from an excellent prep school program. A great job of scouting by Coach White. But something has limited his Power 4 offers. Maybe he is overshadowed by other players like UK target Jackson Ford at Malvern Prep. Maybe Mohring will blow up in the fall. That will be interesting to watch.
Cameron Miller - here we have a true Power 5 project. He is big, thick, and strong in the upper body, with great feet. But too thin in the legs. His home state schools, IN and Purdue, badly wanted him. But the overall offer sheet is surprisingly light although he does hold 3 B10 offers plus TX Tech. He easily overpowers hs opponents. At the SEC level, he will need stronger, thicker legs. He needs to live in the gym and focus on a protein diet. Not an immediate contributor but has potentially big upside if he does the work.
Juco DT Seven Cloud is committed to GA but just visited UK last weekend, which begs the question whether his GA offer is committable. Coach Stewart is recruiting him.
Speedy slot receiver Larry Miles from Orlando appears to be down to UK, Pitt, and maybe NE. Miles just visited UK and is scheduled to visit NE this weekend. Miles reportedly holds at least 8 B10 and 4 SEC offers plus Miami and FL St. Coach Washington is recruiting him.
VA DB prospect Andre Clarke is reportedly down to UK and MI. Outstanding prospect who can play S or CB. UK is recruiting him as a CB. As of this moment, MI probably has the edge. Coaches White and Collins are recruiting him.
Looks like big LB Asharri Charles will probably pick Miami.
Watch this week's OVs. Several of these prospects are likely to end up in UK's class.
Keep in mind that UK is trending for Elite 11 QB Matt Ponatoski. Ponatoski will visit OR soon. Unless OR mesmerizes him, it will be UK versus the MLB draft next month. Ponatoski will be in line for a healthy NIL package in Lexington. Coach Hamdan is personally recruiting Ponatoski.
