We've talked a lot about Kentucky's overhaul of the offensive line. By the time the current high school commits enroll that room will be more than 50% made over from when this offseason began.
But the running back turnover is just as significant. And there is absolutely no telling how the room is going to shake out over the next year or two. If you ask me who's going to start this year I couldn't tell you. Maybe it will be JuTahn McClain, maybe Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, but probably a rotation and a committee which would definitely include those two, probably Ray Davis usage in some situations where they could use some tough, experienced running, probably Ramon Jefferson if he's healthy, and perhaps Jamarion Wilcox as a change of pace who could give them some juice. I think La'Vell Wright needs to prove it to be mentioned in that group as we're anticipating carries, but 1 through 5 there isn't a whole lot of different on paper at this point.
Boulware helping them to lock down Wilcox in the last recruiting class is a good sign and he has attracted attention from a number of talented running backs in 2024. The early signs are strong when it comes to UK's recruiting efforts at running back.
Here are Kentucky's main running back targets...
Johann Cardenas - Mentioned a while back that he decommitted from Texas Tech and it was not a "mutual parting" as these sometimes are. It followed an offer from Oregon which seemed to change his perspective on recruiting. The 6'0, 215-pound back has been clocked at 4.47 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He rushed for 1,041 yards on 108 carries with 13 touchdowns last year and proved himself to be an excellent receiver with 20 catches, 330 yards, and five additional scores out of the backfield. Cardenas had more than 500 receiving yards as a running back the year before that.
About half a year ago Cardenas had ACL reconstruction surgery and he's already been participating in track meets again.
Kentucky offered at the start of this month and Cardenas has landed offers from BYU, Missouri, and Tulsa since then. Georgia Tech is a school that offered right before Kentucky. He has an official visit to Kentucky scheduled for June 16th and I'm unaware of other official visits that might be planned.
Obviously UK will be interested in his health if they haven't resolved any concerns about that yet. Good sign that he's running again already. Good speed for a back at his size.
Tovani Mizell - Mizell is a speedy former UGA commit who has plans to officially visit North Carolina (6/9) and then Kentucky (6/16) next month.
His athletic background includes honors already: On a 4x100 state championship track team, 10.94 seconds in the 100 meters, first team all-city, and Adidas Frosh All-American. It's probably worth mentioning that Mizell has been at several different high schools but I haven't heard anything about what prompted that. I do know that North Carolina and Tennessee have both been actively recruiting him since and Georgia parted ways so it's not as though Kentucky's out on a limb going after him.
Jay Boulware has developed a strong connection with Mizell and Liam Coen coming back as offensive coordinator is something else that appeals to him.
Duke Watson - Here's a name that recently emerged on Kentucky's recruiting board. Boulware has been to visit Watson's high school twice and Coen himself went down last week. That's when the offer went out. Watson told Cats Illustrated in recent days that he has an official visit scheduled to Penn State (6/9). He mentioned that Ole Miss, Kentucky, NC State, and UCF are some of the other schools that want him to officially visit.
My understanding is that Kentucky does like Watson quite a bit. But they would probably also take a bigger back if they could convince Watson to get on board. That's due to the fact that the last back they took isn't a bruiser (Wilcox) and strong runners have had a lot of success at UK. Don't anticipate they will get far away from that.
Watson has also been a track guy. He had nearly 1,700 yards and 14 touchdowns last season, also proving himself to be a capable receivers (17 catches, 184 yards).
Jason Patterson - Also dealing with a very versatile and athletic prospect here. He plays basketball and runs track in addition to playing football. Runs in the 10.9 second range in the 100.
Patterson does not have an official visit scheduled to Kentucky yet to my knowledge, but he does have official visits scheduled to Rutgers (6/2), Boston College (6/9), Cincinnati (6/16), and Stanford (6/23). It will be interesting to see if Kentucky is able to get him up on a visit because he's the kind of physical, tough runner who could be interesting for them.
He had a monster junior season with more than 2,700 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns, making him the most prolific back in all of Florida last year.
But the running back turnover is just as significant. And there is absolutely no telling how the room is going to shake out over the next year or two. If you ask me who's going to start this year I couldn't tell you. Maybe it will be JuTahn McClain, maybe Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, but probably a rotation and a committee which would definitely include those two, probably Ray Davis usage in some situations where they could use some tough, experienced running, probably Ramon Jefferson if he's healthy, and perhaps Jamarion Wilcox as a change of pace who could give them some juice. I think La'Vell Wright needs to prove it to be mentioned in that group as we're anticipating carries, but 1 through 5 there isn't a whole lot of different on paper at this point.
Boulware helping them to lock down Wilcox in the last recruiting class is a good sign and he has attracted attention from a number of talented running backs in 2024. The early signs are strong when it comes to UK's recruiting efforts at running back.
Here are Kentucky's main running back targets...
Johann Cardenas - Mentioned a while back that he decommitted from Texas Tech and it was not a "mutual parting" as these sometimes are. It followed an offer from Oregon which seemed to change his perspective on recruiting. The 6'0, 215-pound back has been clocked at 4.47 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He rushed for 1,041 yards on 108 carries with 13 touchdowns last year and proved himself to be an excellent receiver with 20 catches, 330 yards, and five additional scores out of the backfield. Cardenas had more than 500 receiving yards as a running back the year before that.
About half a year ago Cardenas had ACL reconstruction surgery and he's already been participating in track meets again.
Kentucky offered at the start of this month and Cardenas has landed offers from BYU, Missouri, and Tulsa since then. Georgia Tech is a school that offered right before Kentucky. He has an official visit to Kentucky scheduled for June 16th and I'm unaware of other official visits that might be planned.
Obviously UK will be interested in his health if they haven't resolved any concerns about that yet. Good sign that he's running again already. Good speed for a back at his size.
Tovani Mizell - Mizell is a speedy former UGA commit who has plans to officially visit North Carolina (6/9) and then Kentucky (6/16) next month.
His athletic background includes honors already: On a 4x100 state championship track team, 10.94 seconds in the 100 meters, first team all-city, and Adidas Frosh All-American. It's probably worth mentioning that Mizell has been at several different high schools but I haven't heard anything about what prompted that. I do know that North Carolina and Tennessee have both been actively recruiting him since and Georgia parted ways so it's not as though Kentucky's out on a limb going after him.
Jay Boulware has developed a strong connection with Mizell and Liam Coen coming back as offensive coordinator is something else that appeals to him.
Duke Watson - Here's a name that recently emerged on Kentucky's recruiting board. Boulware has been to visit Watson's high school twice and Coen himself went down last week. That's when the offer went out. Watson told Cats Illustrated in recent days that he has an official visit scheduled to Penn State (6/9). He mentioned that Ole Miss, Kentucky, NC State, and UCF are some of the other schools that want him to officially visit.
My understanding is that Kentucky does like Watson quite a bit. But they would probably also take a bigger back if they could convince Watson to get on board. That's due to the fact that the last back they took isn't a bruiser (Wilcox) and strong runners have had a lot of success at UK. Don't anticipate they will get far away from that.
Watson has also been a track guy. He had nearly 1,700 yards and 14 touchdowns last season, also proving himself to be a capable receivers (17 catches, 184 yards).
Jason Patterson - Also dealing with a very versatile and athletic prospect here. He plays basketball and runs track in addition to playing football. Runs in the 10.9 second range in the 100.
Patterson does not have an official visit scheduled to Kentucky yet to my knowledge, but he does have official visits scheduled to Rutgers (6/2), Boston College (6/9), Cincinnati (6/16), and Stanford (6/23). It will be interesting to see if Kentucky is able to get him up on a visit because he's the kind of physical, tough runner who could be interesting for them.
He had a monster junior season with more than 2,700 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns, making him the most prolific back in all of Florida last year.
