With 10 verbal commits now, let's take a closer look.
Martels Carter, DB (S)
Marquise Davis, RB
Ja'kayden Ferguson, WR/CB
Tucker Kattus, OL (OG)
Andrew Purcell, DB (CB)
Stone Saunders, QB
Quintin Simmons, WR/slotR
Nicholas Smith, DL (DE/DT)
Darrin Strey, OL (OT)
Brennen Ward, QB
So, at this juncture, that's 6 offensive prospects, 3 defensive prospects, plus one (Ferguson) who is being recruited primarily as a WR but also intends to take practice reps at CB.
Stoops already has the QBs he needs in the class.
We know he wants at least one more WR. Dejerrian Miller, Andrew Marsh, Preston Bowman, and Samari Reed are still uncommitted.
Stoops might take one more RB in the fall, maybe a late flip, but no new RB names are on UK's public radar right now.
Coach Marrow is only recruiting one TE prospect (Brody Lennon) but most observers expect Lennon to commit to OH St.
We know Stoops wants at least one more OT. The prominent uncommitted name is Jermiel Atkins, whom Coach Marrow would like to wrap up today or at least in the next 2 weeks. Atkins is a high risk high reward prospect. If he is a take, Bryan Auguste is another likely OT possibility. There is one uncorroborated new report that Coach Wolf is recruiting Jason Ekperuoh and time will tell if it is valid. As far as the interior OL is concerned, Stoops is still waiting on Isaac Sowells. New names could pop onto Stoops' radar in the fall, like Marc Nave did late in 2023.
On the DL, we now have Nicholas Smith. Coach White and Coach Stewart are trying hard to close on Kalen Edwards and Javeon Campbell.
Numerically speaking, Stoops doesn't need more LBs in the 2025 class. But Christian Gass, Cedric Works, Jaiden Braker are too talented to pass up if Stoops can sign them. My guess would be that Stoops gets one of them, most likely Works.
In the secondary, we already have commitments from a CB (Purcell) and a S (Carter). These are strong commitments, but we still need another CB and another S. Dawayne Galloway and Noah King are still uncommitted, and new names will probably pop up on Stoops' radar in the fall. Galloway is considered a national top 250 prospect and would be an ideal fit for Coach White's secondary.
Because evaluations do not involve any standardization or guidelines concerning uniform depth of coverage, I am not a proponent of online player ratings, as everyone on the thread already knows. UK fans know Jacob Tamme, Randall Cobb, Josh Allen, and Bunchy Stallings went from being very lightly recruited in hs to All Americans in Lexington. Who is to say whether the #275 prospect is really better than the #400 prospect, and so forth? However, for those who follow such things, Simmons and Carter are ranked within the nation's top 250 hs football prospects. Marquise Davis is the #11 overall prospect in OH and the #21 RB prospect in the country. Darrin Strey is the #29 OT prospect in the country. Based on size, athleticism, and level of hs competition, our 10 commits are legitimate SEC prospects.
These players are OVing UK this weekend-
Jermiel Atkins, OL, Dayton, OH
Jaiden Braker, LB, Snellville, GA
Kalen Edwards, DL, Dyersburg, TN
Dejerrian Miller, WR, St Louis, MO
Nicholas Smith, DL, Monroe, GA (UK commit)
Cedric Works, LB, Clayton, OH
Smith committed to UK yesterday. All six of these prospects are important targets. It is widely believed that other thus far unreported prospects are also visiting UK this weekend, which remains to be seen.