I almost made it to Friday this time, but frankly it's easier for me to post this at night than to wake up and set it up before you guys start on your morning coffee. Hope everyone has a happy Friday celebrating the Calipari era and looking forward to Kentucky's huge game in Columbia, S.C., on Saturday.
Stock Rising: Several 'Undervalued'?
No, we're not concerned about flips. Here we're talking about what recruits are doing on the field, beyond what we've mentioned in our write ups before.
Zy'Aire Hughes, Benny Snell, A.J. Rose, Ja'Quize Cross -- these guys are not among Kentucky's more heralded commitments, but they just keep producing at a very high level.
Hughes has been very quiet for several months now, although he did touch base with me recently and indicated that everything's okay with his commitment to UK. He had a big game for McCracken Co., last week and has apparently been progressing nicely as a wide receiver.
Snell's improved speed and penchant for breakaway touchdown runs is adding a new dimension to his game. He's a better pass catcher than he's been able to show at Westerville Central this year and I have always been a fan of his game, believing that his steady, patient, balanced running style might be unspectacular but it works.
Rose is having a bit of a breakout year in his limited action thus far, and while he's doing it at quarterback you can see the attributes that will make him a feared runner at Kentucky. He's going to be comfortable doing everything the UK coaches ask him to do, from splitting out (as you saw multiple running backs do at the same time last week against Lafayette) to downhill running. He has breakaway speed at a level that Snell does not, and while he doesn't run with the same kind of power he has his own brand of it.
Finally, Cross. He camped out in the opponents' backfield a few times last week, following a strong performance against Alabama's big guard commit the previous week.
If Chris Westry and the true freshmen seeing the field right now tell us anything it's that it's way too early to draw conclusions on which players are going to see the field early or make the biggest impact. So file that reminder away while we're talking about the headliners -- who deserve the attention they're getting.
Flood of 2017 Updates: Sorting It Out
So ... we kind of went overboard with 2017 updates this week. I just thought it would be a good time to hold absolutely nothing back, to get some of the nation's elite recruits with UK offers on the record, and see if anything interesting came out.
Here's the long and short of it.
I think Jacob Phillips and Gentry Bonds of Tennessee, Danny Davis, Javonte Richardson and Jaylen Harris of Ohio, Joshua Paschal of Maryland, Ambry Thomas of Michigan, and Zachary Carter of Florida are among the big names to watch. I'm restricting that to the four stars that we ran full updates on in the last week. Obviously Jedrick Wills would be in that category, too, and there are plenty of other four-stars the staff is in the process of building relationships with. And that says nothing of high three-star types that like Kentucky a lot.
Rivals100 OT Tony Gray, Rivals100 linebacker Markail Benton, Rivals250 linebacker Kendrick Haynes -- these guys are long shots, no doubt about it. I'm not ruling out the possibility (except in maybe Benton's case), but they're long shots.
Still, I believe Kentucky's 2017 class has the potential to rank very highly. That will largely depend on whether players like Yeast, Warren and Hudson are able to elevate themselves to four-star status, but I think the '17 class could end up with more four-star commitments than any Stoops class other than the '14 haul.
Position Changes?
Craig Yeast told me in a recent interview that he really believes his son, UK commit Russ Yeast, may have the defensive backfield in his future. He's playing quarterback right now because he's the best athlete at Fremont (Ohio) Ross, and the elder Yeast believes in the best high school player playing quarterback. But he believes that his son's physicality, cover skills and footwork make him a prime candidate to be an outstanding defensive back even if he doesn't have elite size.
Just tonight I reported on the possibility that Justin Rigg could move to offensive tackle. He doesn't necessarily want to, but the good news is he's not against it. I'm not saying it will happen, but he knows it's a possibility. Marrow isn't selling it, but he hasn't strictly closed the door on it, according to what Rigg said.
C.J. Conrad and Darryl Long will be sophomores next year when Rigg is a true freshman. Greg Hart will be eligible. I'm not sure Rigg would be 'needed' to play as a true freshman -- would have to wait and see. Add a redshirt year, whatever he gains in the next year now, and it's hard for me to believe he's not going to get a lot bigger. I think he could could conceivably play as a 6-foot-6, 260-pound blocking tight end, but we'll see. You saw C.J. Conrad in the backfield a lot and while Rigg's doing that now he's awfully big for that role. Either way, I think he'd have the potential making of a great tackle, too. So it's all good either way, I'd imagine.
Finally, Luke Fortner. It's just been widely assumed he will play guard but that's only because Drake Jackson's clearly a center and Tate Leavitt and Landon Young are clearly tackles. But there's really nothing to say he couldn't play tackle or backup at center because he's got experience at both positions.
Because Fortner has such a high football IQ it's possible he could play any position on the line, and he could provide depth at a number of positions up front. That adds to his value long term.
I've also been hearing, for a long time, that Tobias Gilliam may be a nickel back in the eyes of the staff, right now, but he could also end up at a number of different spots in the secondary.
Florida Trio Has Connection
This week I promised more on the connection between elite 2018 Kentucky commitment Jermaine Eskridge and 2017 four-star Rivals250 players Zachary Carter and Devan Barrett.
Apparently the three friends, Tampa kids, are all very close. Carter told me that both Eskridge and Barrett are "(his) boys".
Notably, Carter said that Eskridge has been telling him in earnest that he's solid with Kentucky and doesn't plan on changing his mind. Take that for what it's worth but it sure seems like Eskridge is getting to know some of the Kentucky players, currently, via Twitter. I'm not that old (30) but I don't understand really "getting to know someone" via Twitter messages, but that's how kids are doing it these days, and recruits in large part.
Barrett might be a Florida lean at this point and Carter did recently indicate the Gators are in the top spot on his list. Florida may prove to be, in the long run, UK's toughest competition for Eskridge. Maybe. Too early to tell. But Carter has Kentucky in his top four and his early recruitment is a bit reminiscent of Denzil Ware's, as I've said before.
Tip of the hat to Vince Marrow, Chad Scott, Derrick Ansley and Andy Buh, among all the others, as guys that have been putting in a ton of legwork in the early going, getting the UK brand out there with a lot of '17 recruits.
Quick 2016 Update
I believe Kentucky is stronger with KaDerrion Mason than I previously believed after speaking with him. He likes UK a lot and with Kentucky and Mississippi State the only two officials he's sure he will take I think he's got to be considered a guy that's a very serious option.
Haven't heard anything new on Georgia commit Chauncey Manac, for those wondering.
Finally, the 2016-2018 visitor list for the Kentucky-Florida game is going to be staggering. We'll have that this week.
Stock Rising: Several 'Undervalued'?
No, we're not concerned about flips. Here we're talking about what recruits are doing on the field, beyond what we've mentioned in our write ups before.
Zy'Aire Hughes, Benny Snell, A.J. Rose, Ja'Quize Cross -- these guys are not among Kentucky's more heralded commitments, but they just keep producing at a very high level.
Hughes has been very quiet for several months now, although he did touch base with me recently and indicated that everything's okay with his commitment to UK. He had a big game for McCracken Co., last week and has apparently been progressing nicely as a wide receiver.
Snell's improved speed and penchant for breakaway touchdown runs is adding a new dimension to his game. He's a better pass catcher than he's been able to show at Westerville Central this year and I have always been a fan of his game, believing that his steady, patient, balanced running style might be unspectacular but it works.
Rose is having a bit of a breakout year in his limited action thus far, and while he's doing it at quarterback you can see the attributes that will make him a feared runner at Kentucky. He's going to be comfortable doing everything the UK coaches ask him to do, from splitting out (as you saw multiple running backs do at the same time last week against Lafayette) to downhill running. He has breakaway speed at a level that Snell does not, and while he doesn't run with the same kind of power he has his own brand of it.
Finally, Cross. He camped out in the opponents' backfield a few times last week, following a strong performance against Alabama's big guard commit the previous week.
If Chris Westry and the true freshmen seeing the field right now tell us anything it's that it's way too early to draw conclusions on which players are going to see the field early or make the biggest impact. So file that reminder away while we're talking about the headliners -- who deserve the attention they're getting.
Flood of 2017 Updates: Sorting It Out
So ... we kind of went overboard with 2017 updates this week. I just thought it would be a good time to hold absolutely nothing back, to get some of the nation's elite recruits with UK offers on the record, and see if anything interesting came out.
Here's the long and short of it.
I think Jacob Phillips and Gentry Bonds of Tennessee, Danny Davis, Javonte Richardson and Jaylen Harris of Ohio, Joshua Paschal of Maryland, Ambry Thomas of Michigan, and Zachary Carter of Florida are among the big names to watch. I'm restricting that to the four stars that we ran full updates on in the last week. Obviously Jedrick Wills would be in that category, too, and there are plenty of other four-stars the staff is in the process of building relationships with. And that says nothing of high three-star types that like Kentucky a lot.
Rivals100 OT Tony Gray, Rivals100 linebacker Markail Benton, Rivals250 linebacker Kendrick Haynes -- these guys are long shots, no doubt about it. I'm not ruling out the possibility (except in maybe Benton's case), but they're long shots.
Still, I believe Kentucky's 2017 class has the potential to rank very highly. That will largely depend on whether players like Yeast, Warren and Hudson are able to elevate themselves to four-star status, but I think the '17 class could end up with more four-star commitments than any Stoops class other than the '14 haul.
Position Changes?
Craig Yeast told me in a recent interview that he really believes his son, UK commit Russ Yeast, may have the defensive backfield in his future. He's playing quarterback right now because he's the best athlete at Fremont (Ohio) Ross, and the elder Yeast believes in the best high school player playing quarterback. But he believes that his son's physicality, cover skills and footwork make him a prime candidate to be an outstanding defensive back even if he doesn't have elite size.
Just tonight I reported on the possibility that Justin Rigg could move to offensive tackle. He doesn't necessarily want to, but the good news is he's not against it. I'm not saying it will happen, but he knows it's a possibility. Marrow isn't selling it, but he hasn't strictly closed the door on it, according to what Rigg said.
C.J. Conrad and Darryl Long will be sophomores next year when Rigg is a true freshman. Greg Hart will be eligible. I'm not sure Rigg would be 'needed' to play as a true freshman -- would have to wait and see. Add a redshirt year, whatever he gains in the next year now, and it's hard for me to believe he's not going to get a lot bigger. I think he could could conceivably play as a 6-foot-6, 260-pound blocking tight end, but we'll see. You saw C.J. Conrad in the backfield a lot and while Rigg's doing that now he's awfully big for that role. Either way, I think he'd have the potential making of a great tackle, too. So it's all good either way, I'd imagine.
Finally, Luke Fortner. It's just been widely assumed he will play guard but that's only because Drake Jackson's clearly a center and Tate Leavitt and Landon Young are clearly tackles. But there's really nothing to say he couldn't play tackle or backup at center because he's got experience at both positions.
Because Fortner has such a high football IQ it's possible he could play any position on the line, and he could provide depth at a number of positions up front. That adds to his value long term.
I've also been hearing, for a long time, that Tobias Gilliam may be a nickel back in the eyes of the staff, right now, but he could also end up at a number of different spots in the secondary.
Florida Trio Has Connection
This week I promised more on the connection between elite 2018 Kentucky commitment Jermaine Eskridge and 2017 four-star Rivals250 players Zachary Carter and Devan Barrett.
Apparently the three friends, Tampa kids, are all very close. Carter told me that both Eskridge and Barrett are "(his) boys".
Notably, Carter said that Eskridge has been telling him in earnest that he's solid with Kentucky and doesn't plan on changing his mind. Take that for what it's worth but it sure seems like Eskridge is getting to know some of the Kentucky players, currently, via Twitter. I'm not that old (30) but I don't understand really "getting to know someone" via Twitter messages, but that's how kids are doing it these days, and recruits in large part.
Barrett might be a Florida lean at this point and Carter did recently indicate the Gators are in the top spot on his list. Florida may prove to be, in the long run, UK's toughest competition for Eskridge. Maybe. Too early to tell. But Carter has Kentucky in his top four and his early recruitment is a bit reminiscent of Denzil Ware's, as I've said before.
Tip of the hat to Vince Marrow, Chad Scott, Derrick Ansley and Andy Buh, among all the others, as guys that have been putting in a ton of legwork in the early going, getting the UK brand out there with a lot of '17 recruits.
Quick 2016 Update
I believe Kentucky is stronger with KaDerrion Mason than I previously believed after speaking with him. He likes UK a lot and with Kentucky and Mississippi State the only two officials he's sure he will take I think he's got to be considered a guy that's a very serious option.
Haven't heard anything new on Georgia commit Chauncey Manac, for those wondering.
Finally, the 2016-2018 visitor list for the Kentucky-Florida game is going to be staggering. We'll have that this week.
