Not necessarily looking ahead to next year but after looking at our depth chart

[FiveStarCat]

Let me first say I am in no way downplaying or overlooking this season... this was just an observation I had looking over the depth chart...

It's hard not to get excited about the offense for not only this season but the next as well. Only two SRs listed on this week's offensive depth chart (starting LT Swindle and starting LG West) and none at the skill positions. A SR Towles (or RS SO Barker) playing with a JR receiving corp of Baker, Badet, Juice and Bone plus a SR Timmons is Throw in the backfield of JR Boom, SR Kemp, JR Horton and SO King and... dayum. (Not to mention the influx of OL talent but we'll see how that plays out with redshirts, etc)

Back to 2015 now...

 

[SosaUK]

Let me first say I am in no way downplaying or overlooking this season... this was just an observation I had looking over the depth chart...

It's hard not to get excited about the offense for not only this season but the next as well. Only two SRs listed on this week's offensive depth chart (starting LT Swindle and starting LG West) and none at the skill positions. A SR Towles (or RS SO Barker) playing with a JR receiving corp of Baker, Badet, Juice and Bone plus a SR Timmons is Throw in the backfield of JR Boom, SR Kemp, JR Horton and SO King and... dayum. (Not to mention the influx of OL talent but we'll see how that plays out with redshirts, etc)

Back to 2015 now...

So you aren't looking ahead to next season but at the same time you are? Well, alrighty.

 

[FiveStarCat]

So you aren't looking ahead to next season but at the same time you are? Well, alrighty.

Perhaps I should have said "not overlooking this season" in the title. Anyway, I think you got my point.

 

[SosaUK]

Perhaps I should have said "not overlooking this season" in the title. Anyway, I think you got my point.

Haha. I was just messing with you.

 

[dvillecatfan]

maybe...depth chart looks pretty damn good for years to come.

 

[JHB4UK]

who isnt guilty of peaking ahead at our future since it is so bright? I thought the offense was gonna have to carry us to 7 wins this season. that the defense would be far too young & inexperienced, but that our D would be flat nasty in 2016. Welp the 2nd half in Columbia showed me some nastiness might be here a year early.

 

[Anjiejo]

Dline is a concern....we need a juco NT that's ready to back up Elam next year..Unless one of meant Middleton dubose move over..

 

[K_TIME]

If Tate Leavitt takes very well to Swindle's spot at LT next year....watch out for UK's offense next year. Could rival Woodson's Sr year in terms of lighting up the scoreboards in a variety of ways/weapons.

And if we can get a consistent pass rusher threat off the edge for defense...it could be a New Year's Bowl game we've been hunting for a long time.

 

[DaBossIsBack]

Dline is a concern....we need a juco NT that's ready to back up Elam next year..Unless one of meant Middleton dubose move over..

Kobie Smith will play right away next year and be ready to serve as back up. He's going to be a special player for us.

 

[Smashcat]

Let me first say I am in no way downplaying or overlooking this season... this was just an observation I had looking over the depth chart...

It's hard not to get excited about the offense for not only this season but the next as well. Only two SRs listed on this week's offensive depth chart (starting LT Swindle and starting LG West) and none at the skill positions. A SR Towles (or RS SO Barker) playing with a JR receiving corp of Baker, Badet, Juice and Bone plus a SR Timmons is Throw in the backfield of JR Boom, SR Kemp, JR Horton and SO King and... dayum. (Not to mention the influx of OL talent but we'll see how that plays out with redshirts, etc)

Back to 2015 now...

I think a lot of people including the coaching staff have to feel really good about next year.

 

[Cefiro]

Yep....compete for a bowl game this year, compete for the SEC east next year.

 

[seccats04]

Dline is a concern....we need a juco NT that's ready to back up Elam next year..Unless one of meant Middleton dubose move over..

We'll have JaVon Provitt in Jan 2016. I know that doesn't help next year but if he ever makes it here he will be a stud.

 

[Dallas-Wild]

We'll have JaVon Provitt in Jan 2016. I know that doesn't help next year but if he ever makes it here he will be a stud.

If he is here in January why would he not be able to help next year? I hope he makes it I really liked his tape, big strong bulldozer type....with quickness.

 

[RV2]

Where'd Jacob Hyde go?

BTW - the OP reminds me of every Kentucky basketball fan that watches football. No mention of the defense going forward.

 

[FiveStarCat]

Where'd Jacob Hyde go?

BTW - the OP reminds me of every Kentucky basketball fan that watches football. No mention of the defense going forward.

I'm making a simple observation about the offense having two seniors on the depth chart and a ton of returning, proven players coming back for next season. I didn't say anything about not being excited for the defense. Would you like me to make a separate post about the defense? Special teams? The coaching staff?

BTW, you remind me of every defensive (as in sensitive) football only fan that has some sort of weird vendetta against basketball fans.

 

[Jacktwncat94]

Stamps, Forrest, C.J Johnson, Jarbari Johnson, Lewis, Huguenin all fairly big losses. Luckily we should be good at safety and linebacker. Little worried about DT and DE although the returners should be solid.

 

[bluescat92]

Football fans outnumber basketball fans, always have. We have suffered more then basketball fans but would the b ball fans turnout 45,000 fans if the basketball team had seasons like our Football team has had. And even if there were 63,000 seats in Rupp I don't think you could ever fill it.

I love my Cats in all sports but when Stoops gets the Cats to elite status (now, next year, year after) UK will be wishing they had expanded CWS.

 

[Gary4UK]

Let me first say I am in no way downplaying or overlooking this season... this was just an observation I had looking over the depth chart...

It's hard not to get excited about the offense for not only this season but the next as well. Only two SRs listed on this week's offensive depth chart (starting LT Swindle and starting LG West) and none at the skill positions. A SR Towles (or RS SO Barker) playing with a JR receiving corp of Baker, Badet, Juice and Bone plus a SR Timmons is Throw in the backfield of JR Boom, SR Kemp, JR Horton and SO King and... dayum. (Not to mention the influx of OL talent but we'll see how that plays out with redshirts, etc)

Back to 2015 now...

No doubt about it.... Next year will be gold... We can have a great year this year, but I think we'll be at our full strength next year..... Then you can also say, as long as we bring in these recruiting classes, that from now on, this team should be strong....

 

[seccats04]

If he is here in January why would he not be able to help next year? I hope he makes it I really liked his tape, big strong bulldozer type....with quickness.

My error. I meant January 2017.

 

[TTU/UK fan]

If you wanna drool look at what our rostr will be for 2017..

 

[PhattyJ4UK]

Im worried about how much we lose on the defense. I k ow we got a lot of young talent but we also have some huge losses on the D. Which makes me predict 2 things..this year and next could be similar ..so hopefully we comePete for that new yeaes day bowl this year
And number 2 prediction is that 2017, barring a bunch of our offensive skILl guys leaving a year early, is the year you see Kentucky playing in atlanta.

 

[MKGMVP]

Stamps, Forrest, C.J Johnson, Jarbari Johnson, Lewis, Huguenin all fairly big losses. Luckily we should be good at safety and linebacker. Little worried about DT and DE although the returners should be solid.

None of those guys are irreplaceable. Huguenin, Johnson, Johnson are serviceable at best.

 

[DaBossIsBack]

None of those guys are irreplaceable. Huguenin, Johnson, Johnson are serviceable at best.

Cj Johnson is the best player of those three and he could be missed depending on the development of the young guys. Forrest, Lewis, Flannigan and Stamps are pretty big losses but not irreplaceable. I feel like we won't have any drop off at those positions from a talent perspective. Their leadership, intelligence and experience will be missed though.

 

[RR30]

Depending on possible attrition our offense next year could be incredible. Defense on the other hand could be an issue again. We will lose our best DL (Lewis), 2 best linebackers (Forrest & Flanigan) and best defensive back in Stamps. Stamps will be the easiest to replace imo because Darius West and Mike Edwards are studs. Lewis hurts, but hopefully Elam and company are ready to take the next step. Losing Forrest and Flanigan really hurt. That is why it is so important to get some of these younger guys experience and hope Love is the real deal next year.

 

[hmt5000]

miggins very well could take cj's spot by years end. middleton, meant, dubose, elam, hyde, bell, miggins, and whoever the freshman is that can play immediately... is a pretty good rotation for 3 down guys.

 

[BengalWACO]

I am hyped to every game every season and every year.. from here to my last breath on earth!

 

[Levibooty]

On paper the DL will be the biggest concern going forward.

 

[Blue Decade]

Let me first say I am in no way downplaying or overlooking this season... this was just an observation I had looking over the depth chart...

It's hard not to get excited about the offense for not only this season but the next as well. Only two SRs listed on this week's offensive depth chart (starting LT Swindle and starting LG West) and none at the skill positions. A SR Towles (or RS SO Barker) playing with a JR receiving corp of Baker, Badet, Juice and Bone plus a SR Timmons is Throw in the backfield of JR Boom, SR Kemp, JR Horton and SO King and... dayum. (Not to mention the influx of OL talent but we'll see how that plays out with redshirts, etc)

Back to 2015 now...

I like our 2016 roster for potential, but I have to disagree with you a little bit. Our 2015 seniors are Daron Blaylock, Ryan Flannigan, Josh Forrest, Landon Foster, Khalid Henderson, Joey Herrick, Farrington Huguenin, Cory Johnson, Jabari Johnson, Melvin Lewis, Cody Quinn, AJ Stamps, Fred Tiller, Zach West. That's the punter, most of our defensive line, the left side of our offensive line, and 3 defensive backs who have logged a lot of starts for us. We will lose every significant player up the middle of our defense. Lewis and Forrest have been the 2 best players on our defense, and Stamps is all SEC. Someone else said Stamps will be easiest to replace, but that's nuts. So let's enjoy this season while these guys are on the field for us. As for 2016, there is a lot to be said for having a senior quarterback with a couple of seasons of starting experience. No way Barker starts ahead of Towles next year, that's still a fantasy for some I guess. Next year shapes up as another year of improvement for our offense, but a rebuilding year for our defense. There will be a lot of huge defensive shoes to fill, especially in the middle of the field. It will be interesting to see what Hart, Leavitt, Laster, and Love can contribute. All the 2016 true freshman offensive linemen will redshirt.

 

[Blueathletics]

Would like to see a couple more names at the RB position as it is always a play away from being depleted quickly....Any more names to add for the future?

 

[Blue Decade]

Would like to see a couple more names at the RB position as it is always a play away from being depleted quickly....Any more names to add for the future?

Boom, Horton, Kemp, King all come back in 2016. I'm sure the coaches would like to redshirt Snell and Rose.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Im worried about how much we lose on the defense. I k ow we got a lot of young talent but we also have some huge losses on the D. Which makes me predict 2 things..this year and next could be similar ..so hopefully we comePete for that new yeaes day bowl this year
And number 2 prediction is that 2017, barring a bunch of our offensive skILl guys leaving a year early, is the year you see Kentucky playing in atlanta.

Ware will have a year under his belt. Hatch will be a senior. Our young DBs will have experience. Our safety play should be strong and still deep. Two transfers will fill crucial spots. Muffins and maybe Bell will be experienced in their second year as Juco transfers. Meant as a junior with Middleton behind him.

IMO, a lot will fall on Elam and the NTs and who can step up at Flannigan's ILber position.

 

[seccats04]

DE- Courtney Miggins/Alvonte Bell/Kengera Daniel
NT- Matt Elam/Jacob Hyde
DT- Regie Meant/Adrian Middleton/Tymere Dubose
JACK- Denzil Ware/Josh Allen
SLB- Jason Hatcher/DeNiro Laster
MLB- Courtney Love/Nico Firios
WLB- Jordan Jones/Eli Brown
NICK- Blake McClain/Kei Beckham
CB- Chris Westry/JD Harmon
SS- Marcus McWilson/Mike Edwards
FS- Darius West/Marcus Walker
CB- Kendall Randolph/Derrick Baity

As you can see our D in 2016 will need very few if any newcomers to make an impact unless injuries take place. We are a legit two deep at every position. Bright future indeed.

 

[K_TIME]

I like the contribution of all our kids this year and they are doing their best IMO...

1. Stamps and Melvin Lewis are our 2 standout players that play like upper tier SEC players. The rest are good kids but I think we'll see their production just as easily replaced with newcomers without much to any dropoff.

2. Stamps though is being replaced with some highly rated kids that could get to his level. Lewis is being replaced by Elam who as we all know is a massive kid that has a ton of potential.

3. Forrest is the one kid most will disagree about. I like Josh and I think he is a very good LBer in pass coverage...but I've never seem much out of him in run support. Makes tackles but almost all are not at LOS/impact plays. I truly believe Love will match and in all likelihood...surpass Forrest's impact at MLB.

All in all... I think our defense will be better next year vs. this year if our pass rushers improve like I think they will.

 

[PhattyJ4UK]

Ware will have a year under his belt. Hatch will be a senior. Our young DBs will have experience. Our safety play should be strong and still deep. Two transfers will fill crucial spots. Muffins and maybe Bell will be experienced in their second year as Juco transfers. Meant as a junior with Middleton behind him.

IMO, a lot will fall on Elam and the NTs and who can step up at Flannigan's ILber position.

I'm not saying the sky is falling by any means. . Really what it makes me think is, there are quite a few seniors who want to make THIS year our breakout year..aND I hope they do

 

[hmt5000]

DE- Courtney Miggins/Alvonte Bell/Kengera Daniel
NT- Matt Elam/Jacob Hyde
DT- Regie Meant/Adrian Middleton/Tymere Dubose
JACK- Denzil Ware/Josh Allen
SLB- Jason Hatcher/DeNiro Laster
MLB- Courtney Love/Nico Firios
WLB- Jordan Jones/Eli Brown
NICK- Blake McClain/Kei Beckham
CB- Chris Westry/JD Harmon
SS- Marcus McWilson/Mike Edwards
FS- Darius West/Marcus Walker
CB- Kendall Randolph/Derrick Baity

As you can see our D in 2016 will need very few if any newcomers to make an impact unless injuries take place. We are a legit two deep at every position. Bright future indeed.

you left out kobie walker. he's probably gonna play a lot when he get healthy. buh really seems to like him.

 

[ArmyWildcat81]

None of those guys are irreplaceable. Huguenin, Johnson, Johnson are serviceable at best.

Stamps, Forrest major losses

 

[Gary4UK]

The attitude some of you have toward uk "basketball" fans is really weird. You only root for uk football?
If so you have really miss out on some good basketball the last 5-6 years. But back to the attitude, it reminds me of Card fans. Your little brother syndrom rivals that of cardinal fans. Think about that for a minute....

Yea, he's one of the old crew... Jealous of our basketball program... You have a lot of those fans of football only, that are jealous of our basketball success... Not many the other way.. I guess the basketball fans don't have any need to be jealous... It's a shame that this happens..... I am a UK fan, period.... I like both sports... So, I have the best of both worlds....

 

[seccats04]

you left out kobie walker. he's probably gonna play a lot when he get healthy. buh really seems to like him.

Good catch. He will probably back Hatcher so this may move Laster to 1st team WLB.

 

[bluescat92]

The attitude some of you have toward uk "basketball" fans is really weird. You only root for uk football?
If so you have really miss out on some good basketball the last 5-6 years. But back to the attitude, it reminds me of Card fans. Your little brother syndrom rivals that of cardinal fans. Think about that for a minute....

I'm sure football's fans love basketball (I enjoy all UK sports programs) and to compare any UK FAN to being like a UofLsucksville fan is being disrespectful.
Your probably a looserville troll.

The difference for me is that basketball plays a lot of meaningless games during the regular season and even if a crummy team upsets you it will not affect going to the championship tournament.

Every game is meaningful in football for every team in every conference. The entire season from week one on is an elimination process to get to the playoffs. Every UK fan wants football to be just a successful as basketball and when it is the fan base will increase because all the basketball fans will jump on board the band wagon.

 

[Levibooty]

DE- Courtney Miggins/Alvonte Bell/Kengera Daniel
NT- Matt Elam/Jacob Hyde
DT- Regie Meant/Adrian Middleton/Tymere Dubose

As you can see our D in 2016 will need very few if any newcomers to make an impact unless injuries take place. We are a legit two deep at every position. Bright future indeed.

So tell me what you have seen from on the field performance to make you think this group is up to high level SEC standards? MInd you I'm not saying they will not develop which they very well could, (and will have to for us to be a force in the SEC next year) but what leads you to believe they already have? For me when I look at these players as a group I see good back-up players but not upper echelon starting DL in the SEC.

I'm not berating our players just trying to look at the hard truth of the matter from what an outsider may see. To me saying we are in good shape with our DL is like betting on the come.