NFL.com lists Kentucky as "surprise team to watch"

[jnewc2]

NFL.com came out with a list of 15 surprise teams to watch that could have memorable seasons this year, and we come in on the list at #3.

Here's what they had to say about us:

"3. Kentucky
Last year, the Wildcats opened the season on fire and finished it ice cold with six straight losses. Quarterback Patrick Towles and the UK offense should be solid and the kicking game will be outstanding. Replacing pass rushers Bud Dupree and Za'Darius Smith won't be easy, but stopping the run will be the more critical area of improvement, anyway."

Here's the list of surprise teams to watch:

15. Minnesota
14. Toledo
13. Oklahoma
12. Georgia Tech
11. Louisville
10. BYU
9. Arkansas
8. Utah State
7. Houston
6. Tennessee
5. Penn St.
4. Oklahoma St.
3. Kentucky
2. Northwestern
1. California

Here's a link to the article: Link

 

[hmt5000]

Good to be high on that list.

 

[Bigblueforever]

Good to be high on that list.

That high is great also like Louisville down to 11.

 

[jnewc2]

I think "surprise" is a good way to describe what this team is right now. It's a team that was a couple plays away from 7 wins last year & returning almost all of its key parts. All of that plus the fact that Stoops calls this a "significantly improved" team, and I think this will definitely be a team that surprises a whole lot of people with how good they are. It's a team that might now win every game out, but they will definitely have a shot at winning every single game they play barring significant injuries.

It's a team that's kind of flying under the radar right now, but has the parts to do a lot of damage. It reminds me a lot of the '06 and '07 UK teams as far as playmakers. If I were a top-10 team I wouldn't want to play this team..especially at Commonwealth...it has the weapons to compete and beat anyone out there..I honestly believe that.

 

[The Public Enemy]

That high is great also like Louisville down to 11.

Not really a bad thing...this is what NFL.com said about Louisville...basically Louisville will still be good dispite losing all of those players to the National Football League:

Who could possibly have big expectations for Louisville the year after losing a school-record 10 players to the NFL draft? Six of those came off the defense, so nobody is quite sure what defensive coordinator Todd Grantham will come up with this year. But this much we know about Louisville football: Bob Petrino will find a way to score points, and there won't be a shortage of athleticism. A week-one takedown of Auburn might be asking too much, but the Cardinals will overachieve with an inexperienced squad.

As for Kentucky no surprise to me they said this....You guys do have talent, just got to learn to get over that hump...it starts IMO with beating South Carolina in Columbia.

 

[jnewc2]

Not really a bad thing...this is what NFL.com said about Louisville...basically Louisville will still be good dispite losing all of those players to the National Football League:

Who could possibly have big expectations for Louisville the year after losing a school-record 10 players to the NFL draft? Six of those came off the defense, so nobody is quite sure what defensive coordinator Todd Grantham will come up with this year. But this much we know about Louisville football: Bob Petrino will find a way to score points, and there won't be a shortage of athleticism. A week-one takedown of Auburn might be asking too much, but the Cardinals will overachieve with an inexperienced squad.

As for Kentucky no surprise to me they said this....You guys do have talent, just got to learn to get over that hump...it starts IMO with beating South Carolina in Columbia.

People can say what they want about Petrino, but the dude can flat-out coach. I'm not blinded by loving Kentucky that I can't realize when a guy is a heck of a football mind.

Petrino rarely ever has the most talented team out there, but he continually finds a way to get the absolute most out of the players he has.

Heck, he was finding a way to win 9 or 10 games in the SEC West with what was many times significantly less talent (as far as star rankings) than the team he was playing against. If he can do that consistently in the SEC West, some of us are kidding ourselves if we don't think he'll be able to do that in the ACC.

Everyone keeps pointing to how many players he lost, but honestly that's not going to cause Louisville to take some kind of big step back..not with Petrino as coach..history has told us otherwise.

Louisville might not IMPROVE this year, but I'd be surprised if they take a noticable "step back". Petrino is too good of a coach to let that happen. We've seen time after time what Petrino does with the "less talented" team, or what he does in his first year as a head coach with a brand new roster. Barring the NFL experiment the guy has over-achieved literally every single place he's been, and every single time someone counts him out he usually plays his best.

Petrino is more of a "system" coach. We saw it when he plugged in his third-string QB and he looked like Joe Montana against us. He's able to plug in guys and not miss a beat.

 

[CATFANFOLIFE87]

Not really a bad thing...this is what NFL.com said about Louisville...basically Louisville will still be good dispite losing all of those players to the National Football League:

Who could possibly have big expectations for Louisville the year after losing a school-record 10 players to the NFL draft? Six of those came off the defense, so nobody is quite sure what defensive coordinator Todd Grantham will come up with this year. But this much we know about Louisville football: Bob Petrino will find a way to score points, and there won't be a shortage of athleticism. A week-one takedown of Auburn might be asking too much, but the Cardinals will overachieve with an inexperienced squad.

As for Kentucky no surprise to me they said this....You guys do have talent, just got to learn to get over that hump...it starts IMO with beating South Carolina in Columbia.

For all the talk about how Petrino "puts up points no matter what" your offense was actually pretty bad for most of the season. Getting Parker back made a big difference but he's not coming back this year and neither are Dyer, Christianson, your Oline, and many of your receivers. I actually have more questions about your offense than your defense. Even with losing 6 starters you brought back more proven talent on defense than offense in my opinion. We'll see how much of a genius Petrino is behind that Oline because he'll have to be one

 

[The Public Enemy]

People can say what they want about Petrino, but the dude can flat-out coach. I'm not blinded by loving Kentucky that I can't realize when a guy is a heck of a football mind.

Petrino rarely ever has the most talented team out there, but he continually finds a way to get the absolute most out of the players he has.

Heck, he was finding a way to win 9 or 10 games in the SEC West with what was many times significantly less talent (as far as star rankings) than the team he was playing against. If he can do that consistently in the SEC West, some of us are kidding ourselves if we don't think he'll be able to do that in the ACC.

Everyone keeps pointing to how many players he lost, but honestly that's not going to cause Louisville to take some kind of big step back..not with Petrino as coach..history has told us otherwise.

Louisville might not IMPROVE this year, but I'd be surprised if they take a noticable "step back". Petrino is too good of a coach to let that happen. We've seen time after time what Petrino does with the "less talented" team, or what he does in his first year as a head coach with a brand new roster. Barring the NFL experiment the guy has over-achieved literally every single place he's been, and every single time someone counts him out he usually plays his best.

Petrino is more of a "system" coach. We saw it when he plugged in his third-string QB and he looked like Joe Montana against us. He's able to plug in guys and not miss a beat.

.

Pretty much agree with your post about Louisville....now back to Kentucky you must feel good that the some in the media see the uptick in overall talent for the Wildcats.

My main concern for your team is breaking in a new Offensive Coordinator and on the talent level replacing Bud Dupree and the back end of your Defense.

 

[The Public Enemy]

For all the talk about how Petrino "puts up points no matter what" your offense was actually pretty bad for most of the season. Getting Parker back made a big difference but he's not coming back this year and neither are Dyer, Christianson, your Oline, and many of your receivers. I actually have more questions about your offense than your defense. Even with losing 6 starters you brought back more proven talent on defense than offense in my opinion. We'll see how much of a genius Petrino is behind that Oline because he'll have to be one

The problem IMO was injuries at QB with Gardiner and the fact his backup was basically in his second year as a QB ever in Bonnefon.

Now he has gone through a entire Spring and is in the 2nd year under Petrino offense...Traditionally Petrino on offense is much more efficient...look at the jump from year 1 to year 2 on offense at Louisville and Arkansas...we will see if History repeats itself

 

[stenchymouse]

.

Pretty much agree with your post about Louisville....now back to Kentucky you must feel good that the some in the media see the uptick in overall talent for the Wildcats.

My main concern for your team is breaking in a new Offensive Coordinator and on the talent level replacing Bud Dupree and the back end of your Defense.

I'm not worried at all about having a new OC...

As a matter of fact, I don't think that Stoops and Brown had great chemistry as coaches.

I think that Dawson and Stoops will work together much better!

 

[TBCat]

That high is great also like Louisville down to 11.

I'm not sure how they make the list at all. They've had several good seasons in a row. I wouldn't call them a surprise.

 

[The Public Enemy]

Well I'm one of the few Louisville fans that can see us struggle this year due to the uncertainty of the Offensive Line...if we go 8-4 this year I would be very pleased...anything over that is Gravy but would not be surprised at 7-5 either.

As for Kentucky with the right breaks I can see 7-5 this year but if you have patience with Stoops the Break Out for you is 2016.

 

[Crankdatmustard]

The problem IMO was injuries at QB with Gardiner and the fact his backup was basically in his second year as a QB ever in Bonnefon.

Now he has gone through a entire Spring and is in the 2nd year under Petrino offense...Traditionally Petrino on offense is much more efficient...look at the jump from year 1 to year 2 on offense at Louisville and Arkansas...we will see if History repeats itself

Difference is the Louisville offensive line is well below top notch unit with almost zero depth to boot.

 

[The Public Enemy]

The saving grace is Coach Klenakis is a very good OLine Coach...There is talent there but very inexperienced

 

[jauk11]

I'm not sure how they make the list at all. They've had several good seasons in a row. I wouldn't call them a surprise.

This.

I wouldn't be surprised to see them regress instead of advance.

 

[SanAntonioCat]

NFL.com came out with a list of 15 surprise teams to watch that could have memorable seasons this year, and we come in on the list at #3.

Here's what they had to say about us:

"3. Kentucky
Last year, the Wildcats opened the season on fire and finished it ice cold with six straight losses. Quarterback Patrick Towles and the UK offense should be solid and the kicking game will be outstanding. Replacing pass rushers Bud Dupree and Za'Darius Smith won't be easy, but stopping the run will be the more critical area of improvement, anyway."

Here's the list of surprise teams to watch:

15. Minnesota
14. Toledo
13. Oklahoma
12. Georgia Tech
11. Louisville
10. BYU
9. Arkansas
8. Utah State
7. Houston
6. Tennessee
5. Penn St.
4. Oklahoma St.
3. Kentucky
2. Northwestern
1. California

Here's a link to the article: Link

Fran Curci was absolutely right. The missing link was coaching and commitment. We finally have both.

 

[wildcatbd21]

Well I'm one of the few Louisville fans that can see us struggle this year due to the uncertainty of the Offensive Line...if we go 8-4 this year I would be very pleased...anything over that is Gravy but would not be surprised at 7-5 either.

As for Kentucky with the right breaks I can see 7-5 this year but if you have patience with Stoops the Break Out for you is 2016.

This. I have had many discussions with my mother about Stoops building the program. We both agree that it is not out of the realm of possibility for UK to go bowling this year. After last season, I expect them to. But we have always agreed that the 2016 season is when Stoops and the team really start to make noise and start knocking off the big boys on a consistent basis.

 

[Brock28]

Well I'm one of the few Louisville fans that can see us struggle this year due to the uncertainty of the Offensive Line...if we go 8-4 this year I would be very pleased...anything over that is Gravy but would not be surprised at 7-5 either.

As for Kentucky with the right breaks I can see 7-5 this year but if you have patience with Stoops the Break Out for you is 2016.

Agree 100%

 

[The Public Enemy]

This.

I wouldn't be surprised to see them regress instead of advance.

I think what the Article implies is normally when a Non Traditional Program loses that many NFL Draft Picks it "should" fall down to roughly a .500 team the following year...I took it as they are saying the drop off will not be that much and with the right bounces no drop off in record at all.

 

[jauk11]

Could be, I took it as saying they would be improved this year.