Since you brought it up, spring is when positions are worked out and jobs are usually won. Greenberg is a junior. AFAIK he is with our team in bowl preps. Leavitt, a juco tackle, came to Kentucky in poor shape as many jucos do, so they redshirted him. Many redshirts get looks at other positions, Leavitt's position will get decided in spring ball. Same for Fortner, redshirted and due for eval in March. The thread was about Cole Bentley, and the flap is about extra star awarded to Bentley last week. Developing offensive linemen isn't about stars, it's about frames, feet, conditioning, hard work. Kentucky has 3 offensive linemen who were 4 stars and 1 was a 5 star, but they aren't starting. Our all-SEC center was a 2 star, our left tackle was a walk-on. According to Bentley himself, Stoops didn't offer a scholarship because we aren't recruiting guards this year. Haynes, Stallings, GAA, Stenberg, Jackson are underclassmen. Strategy used by Stoops and Schlarman is to recruit high school tackles and move some inside after spring evals. GAA, Haynes, Stenberg began as tackles. Naasir Watkins, Austin Dotson must prove they can be SEC tackles. Looks like they want Thayer Munford or Zalontae Hillery for the last offensive line scholarship. As someone stated earlier, Dolcine can play inside or outside, and being recruited in case they don't get Munford or Hillery.
Cole Bentley
- Thread starter bigbluewildcat84
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Re Greenberg, Leavitt, and Fortner...I'm just passing along what has been reported on this very site over the past few months. Take it for what it's worth. BTW, Greenberg went thru Senior Day activities and yes, he's in bowl preps...season's not over yet.
Wasn't it Cole Bentley that "recruiting talking heads" were praising at the US All American Game as a young sophomore from KY?????
As for him not being from the state of Ky but from Red Jacket, W. BG Va. I would counter with what the hell difference does it make if he is from planet Pluto? At the time when his commitment went down, UK's window of space opportunities was not as clear cut as it is now!!!
As for him not being from the state of Ky but from Red Jacket, W. BG Va. I would counter with what the hell difference does it make if he is from planet Pluto? At the time when his commitment went down, UK's window of space opportunities was not as clear cut as it is now!!!
Bunchy is an incumbent starter on a good Kentucky offensive line. Chances are Bunchy starts at center in 2017 with Drake Jackson as his backup. At some point, Jackson probably becomes our starting center, maybe not in 2017. The rest of our 2017 offensive line will be returning starters. Mosier at left tackle, backed up by Young. Haynes at left guard, backed up by Stenberg. GAA at right guard. Meadows at right tackle. Backups on the right side TBD by spring competitions that should involve Leavitt, Fortner. Also possible that Young becomes our starting left tackle and Mosier slides over to be our starting right tackle.
Getting the best on the OLine is important. Stallings has been really good at guard. The question will be whether his backup is better than Drake playing center.
Could Drake slide into the guard position for some quality snaps, whilst waiting for the Center spot?
If we have the Jimmy's and Joe's, why not go 10 deep, again, like we did in '16? Spread the snaps, stay fresh for the 4th quarter, and arguably minimize each individual's risk of injury by spreading the snaps.
If we have the Jimmy's and Joe's, why not go 10 deep, again, like we did in '16? Spread the snaps, stay fresh for the 4th quarter, and arguably minimize each individual's risk of injury by spreading the snaps.
The connection between center and QB is really important. I don't know whether Toth never came out because he was awesome or because that connection is key and rotation could mess with it.
We have continually rotated the offensive linemen. Last year, 2015, the only offensive linemen that didn't leave the game were Toth and Jordan Swindle. This year we rotated every single position except for center. So, I imagine the staff will believe that we can and will rotate every single position next year. So, Jackson will get plenty of quality snaps whether he is at center or at guard.
Just as an observer on this one, I understand that he is deep in blue country, but he's not native so there's not that connection.
Secondly, if I'm a player, I look at early opportunity for playing time. Fact is UK is much more talented and deeper than UofL on the O line right now. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you have a 5 star freshman as a reserve this year.
If I"m Bently, I see an opportunity to come and play right away, maybe even start at UofL versus sitting or redshirting at UK.
That matters to kids these days. If you heard Jacksons interview after the Heisman tonight, he said one of the biggest reasons he chose UofL was that they would let him come in and compete at QB right away. Other schools wanted him to switch positions or sit behind someone. Jackson saw that he had the chance to play early at UofL and went there. Wouldn't surprise me if Bently had a similar thought process. UofL's line sucks. Half of them are graduating. He sees an opportunity to enroll early, participate in spring drills and earn significant playing time in the fall.
Secondly, if I'm a player, I look at early opportunity for playing time. Fact is UK is much more talented and deeper than UofL on the O line right now. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you have a 5 star freshman as a reserve this year.
If I"m Bently, I see an opportunity to come and play right away, maybe even start at UofL versus sitting or redshirting at UK.
That matters to kids these days. If you heard Jacksons interview after the Heisman tonight, he said one of the biggest reasons he chose UofL was that they would let him come in and compete at QB right away. Other schools wanted him to switch positions or sit behind someone. Jackson saw that he had the chance to play early at UofL and went there. Wouldn't surprise me if Bently had a similar thought process. UofL's line sucks. Half of them are graduating. He sees an opportunity to enroll early, participate in spring drills and earn significant playing time in the fall.
This has already been well explained. Kentucky is not recruiting guards this year. Bentley said so himself. We have two-deep solid linemen at every position. So why the obsession with Bentley? Is it because someone gave him another star? We already have linemen with 4 and 5 stars, and we are still in the running for Thayer Munford.
I think that was true at the time Stoops said it but he didn't anticipate so many open scholly's. We are now recruiting a 2 star OG committed to UCF (Dolcine) who doesn't look like he could hold Bentley's jock. I think the staff did offer Bentley but he told them he is signing with UL and we moved on, again.
There is no limit to the number of kids that can early enroll. You may not be able to count them back against the previous years class if you don't have room, but they can still start early anyway and in this case count towards the 2017 class.
Good point. My problem is and has been that he picked UL and it is personal to me because of my Pike County roots. Years ago no one even mentioned UL up there. But times do change. If UK didn't want him or he didn't want UK I would prefer he had gone to West Virginia. The Mountaineers are not a bad program and since he was there that would make more sense. But recruiting is recruiting and this is the young man and his family's decision and I respect that..
That sure isn't what I see. Stoops wants to finish his class with 1-2 more defensive linemen, 1 more offensive tackle, 1-2 more receivers, maybe 1 more linebacker. Stoops already has Austin Dotson and Naasir Watkins, but he wants another offensive tackle because there isn't much depth and Mosier, Meadows will be seniors next year. He wants Thayer Munford but would be glad to flip Zalontae Hillery from Miami. Stoops is recruiting Dolcine as a 3rd contingency but won't sign him unless he misses on a lot of other players. Dolcine is listed as a guard but might be a right tackle in our system. This is due diligence, not prioritization. You can probably forget about seeing Dolcine here. Cole Bentley was never going to receive a Kentucky scholarship offer this year, and Stoops was honest with him. Dotson was more interested in Kentucky's camps than Bentley. Dotson has long arms, Bentley doesn't. In the middle of our offensive line, Stallings, Haynes, GAA are returning starters and Jackson, Stenberg are future starters. Coach Schlarman has moved former tackles like GAA, Stenberg, Haynes inside to guard. Even Toth was a former tackle. Fortner probably moves inside in March. Eddie Gran wants to run a prostyle offense with a pocket quarterback like Danny Clark or Jarren Williams. Linemen with longer arms and frames are desirable. Under the circumstances, I think Stoops deserves a lot of credit for his recruiting decisions, especially running backs and offensive linemen.
According to Ben Roberts we are close to flipping Dolcine. I am confused with this offer but I'll trust the coaches I guess.
I dont know what "close to flipping Dolcine" means. Our coaches are not going to discuss this with Ben Roberts or any reporter. They are prohibited from doing that by Barnhart's department rules and by NCAA rules. That kind of information could come to a reporter from the player himself or from his high school coach, but not from a UK source. Munford and Hillery visited UK this month. Multiple people have been told Stoops wants tackles, not guards. I can see a possible reason for Stoops to take a guard in this class, but the need for tackles is more urgent. But in the end, if Stoops likes Dolcine better than he likes Cole Bentley, I have no problem with that. Stoops has a very good track record as a recruiter, especially running backs and offensive line. Many people still haven't learned to take star rankings with a grain of salt. Just because some website gives Bentley 4 stars, that doesn't mean he will be a better college football player than a prospect from Florida that our coaches like better.
There is also an article on 247 saying Dolcine is close to flipping so there's got to be something to it.