Three thoughts from the spring game

[UKErik]

I'm usually pretty optimistic heading out of the spring game. I thought Saturday offered a pretty sobering dose of reality though. Three thoughts on the Cats spring performance;

1. UK's defensive line. My goodness. I'm not sure where to start. Clearly, this unit is going to seriously struggle. SEC opponents are going to run the football at will against UK's front seven. UK's pass rush was pretty much a joke last year. More of the same is awfully likely. This is especially frustrating because I think the secondary is actually pretty good. Unfortunately, that won't matter much with no pass rush.

2. UK's offensive tackles. My goodness. UK looks like they'll be alright at the guard and center spots, but tackle is another story. I'll say the same thing now that I said three months ago. If Meadows is on the field, UK is in deep trouble. And honestly, I can't see Mosier holding up in one-on-one pass block situations. But....

3. ...Eddie Gran is going to rely more on the running game, which could be a strength. I don't know that this line is going to be especially good at either run or pass blocking, but I'm betting they're better when running the ball. Mosier/Meadows pass blocking one-on-one gives me nightmares. Hopefully, Leavitt and Young are both the real deal and develop quickly.

Three schedule thoughts;

1. Don't take Southern Miss for granted. Sure, USM lost some key guys on offense, but they return a QB that passed for 4,476 yards last season. The Cats d-line will face a huge test right away. They won't be able to let this guy just sit in the pocket with all day to throw.

2. Kentucky has its issues, no doubt. But so does Vanderbilt. And Missouri. And South Carolina. And possibly Mississippi State. Can Stoops take advantage (three of these games are in Lexington)?

3. Is there a path to six wins? If UK goes 3-1 in the four SEC games I mentioned, sure. Maybe UK stays healthy and those teams don't. Maybe UK catches breaks that they rarely catch. Who knows, but I think there are 7-8 opponents on the schedule that Kentucky "could" beat. That probably means a 5-7 or so finish.

GBB!!!

 

[vhcat70]

LB's are young - but talented I think. Net, they will ultimately improve the run D & pass rush. Ware is a decent rusher I'd say. Yes, inside DL is a problem. Have I ever told you we need more/better DT's? Well, I do.

I think you cut up Mosier way too much. I do think we'd be better with him at RT & Leavett at LT, but that assumes TL comes on to be the player we thought we were signing. But since our interior OL is a strength, we ought to be able to run. But, I've about given up on Horton having an impact, JoJo is so so, King is little, & who knows where Boom's head is.

Not sure why you're worried why a 5-7 team would take SM for granted. If they beat us, it won't be for that imo. But OK.

 

[School boy]

On the money with the guard and center spot. The middle of that o'line looked good.

Not ready to give up on our run defense. I have hope and think they are better this season. But it didn't show on this game.

 

[BigBlueTuckian]

Not a good sign that UKErik isn't at least a bit optimistic.

Not sure why you didn't discuss Leavitt more; his play was atrocious. Ware owned him and Ware isn't even in the best ten DEs in SEC. Wait until he lines up against the guys at UGA, Bama, Florida, and UT. With pass rushers like them, Barker will need to mature in a hurry.

 

[Levibooty]

I'm hoping our DL will get the DT transfer from Nebraska to help shore up the middle. He appears to be the combination of talent and experience we sorely need. I also am hoping that a combination of schedule, DB's who can play man coverage, and steep learning curve with our LB'rs will work in our favor buying us time while experience accumulates and our front seven gels into a cohesive unit that can stop the run and pressure the QB. I think if we can rely on our back four enough to let the front seven concentrate on the run we may be able to work through this. I am aware that this is a dicey proposition but I think the DL is going to need help from as many sources possible this next year.

 

[Levibooty]

Not a good sign that UKErik isn't at least a bit optimistic.

Not sure why you didn't discuss Leavitt more; his play was atrocious. Ware owned him and Ware isn't even in the best ten DEs in SEC. Wait until he lines up against the guys at UGA, Bama, Florida, and UT. With pass rushers like them, Barker will need to mature in a hurry.

I think you have to give Leavitt a pass this early. I'm not saying he will or will not work out but it is very early to be giving up on a guy most SEC schools would have taken in a heartbeat.

 

[Stenchymouse]

The wind will definitely be taken out of the football program's sails if we struggle again this season.

4 years and still can't win 6 games...

That would suck!

 

[JHB4UK]

understand the pessimism, but I think having our far far most talented running back, wide receiver, and offensive tackle (Boom, Baker, Young) added in to the starting offense will make a big difference in us moving the ball & scoring points when the actual games kick off in the fall

just like last year, smart fans will spend all offseason teaching the fans & indirectly the team to respect our non-power 5 out of conference opening opponent. last year Lafayette, this yr Southern Miss. Eric's Scheduling point #2 is the most important....easy to focus on UK's faults as UK fans, but Mizzou is going to be dreadful this year. South Carolina no better. I feel very confident the 5 games we won last year are wins again this one. Just gotta finally nail down 1 or even better 2 more somewhere.

 

[Mr Schwump]

I'm usually pretty optimistic heading out of the spring game. I thought Saturday offered a pretty sobering dose of reality though. Three thoughts on the Cats spring performance;

1. UK's defensive line. My goodness. I'm not sure where to start. Clearly, this unit is going to seriously struggle. SEC opponents are going to run the football at will against UK's front seven. UK's pass rush was pretty much a joke last year. More of the same is awfully likely. This is especially frustrating because I think the secondary is actually pretty good. Unfortunately, that won't matter much with no pass rush.

2. UK's offensive tackles. My goodness. UK looks like they'll be alright at the guard and center spots, but tackle is another story. I'll say the same thing now that I said three months ago. If Meadows is on the field, UK is in deep trouble. And honestly, I can't see Mosier holding up in one-on-one pass block situations. But....

3. ...Eddie Gran is going to rely more on the running game, which could be a strength. I don't know that this line is going to be especially good at either run or pass blocking, but I'm betting they're better when running the ball. Mosier/Meadows pass blocking one-on-one gives me nightmares. Hopefully, Leavitt and Young are both the real deal and develop quickly.

Three schedule thoughts;

1. Don't take Southern Miss for granted. Sure, USM lost some key guys on offense, but they return a QB that passed for 4,476 yards last season. The Cats d-line will face a huge test right away. They won't be able to let this guy just sit in the pocket with all day to throw.

2. Kentucky has its issues, no doubt. But so does Vanderbilt. And Missouri. And South Carolina. And possibly Mississippi State. Can Stoops take advantage (three of these games are in Lexington)?

3. Is there a path to six wins? If UK goes 3-1 in the four SEC games I mentioned, sure. Maybe UK stays healthy and those teams don't. Maybe UK catches breaks that they rarely catch. Who knows, but I think there are 7-8 opponents on the schedule that Kentucky "could" beat. That probably means a 5-7 or so finish.

GBB!!!

Re the DL...a glance of the official stat sheet of the scrimmage shows the Blue DL, the line thought to be the starters at least now, COMBINED for a total of....ONE assist in the tackle department. No sacks, no TFL, no solo tackles but from Elam, Meant and Miggins all they could muster was ONE paltry assist. By count the White team ran 55 plays, one would think the Blue DL could've at least accidently tripped and fallen on someone at least once. Of course maybe they did, that's where the one assist came from. There's going to be many long Saturdays this fall if people don't step up and make plays.

 

[Comebakatz3]

JUCO plays are often hard to figure out. Some of them come in and almost immediately adjust to the speed and size and they do pretty well. One example of this is Za'Darius Smith. He came in his junior year and played pretty darn well. He slumped a bit his second year, or didn't improve, but he was still pretty solid. On the other hand, you have a guy like Cory Johnson junior and he actually did all right. He played in all 12 games, but he was not someone who blew up. Then, his senior year it all came together. He got used to the size and speed and was one of our leading tacklers.

Out of desperation we need Leavitt to be more like Smith than Johnson. We need him to come in and be a guy that at the very least plays solid. If he doesn't then we have to have Young come in and be that guy. If neither of them can adjust quickly then this offense will have to do a lot of things to improve our blocking. We might have to try to move the pocket to get the quarterbacks out in space more. We'll also have to use a lot of chips from the running backs and might not be able to use the tight ends in the passing game as much as we'd like to.

 

[BlueRaider22]

You've made some pretty hard assumptions about a Spring Game. As one our best posters Erik you know better.

 

[3kidsandme]

It was a spring game the dline did not play that bad. If it was as awful as people are acting don't you think stoops would have said something other than we played well upfront. King and Johnson accounted for most the yardage running zone read with no adjustments. Will we give up some rushing yardage YES so will every other sec team. Nobody stops sec running games.

 

[DACats86]

I would not get too low or too high based on a spring game.

 

[katfanuno]

I didn't see anything Saturday to make me think this team can do any better than 5-7, no tackles dline is, well a joke. Backers look to be athletic and fast, secondary is Legit. Unfortunately it's going to be another wait until next year type of year.

 

[Mr Schwump]

I would not get too low or too high based on a spring game.

Although critical of the DL play I'll agree with this. Spring games are so tightly scripted it takes more than the average fan's eye to get much out of it. Remember a few springs ago when Rashad Cunningham caught like 8 passes for 100+ yards? How did that work out? Still, tough not to be worried in certain areas.

 

[ukalumni00]

Will not be shocked if someone like Hart is put in the backfield to help block. Big guy who appeared to be really physical. Will allow Conrad to be more involved in the passing game. If I am Drew Barker, I am praying Landon is the real deal because I did not see anyone else at tackle that wowed me. Just do not see anyway Leavitt is going to really contribute this year. He was exposed in a big way by Ware and really good DE's are all over that SEC schedule next season. The dline did not do a lot of special stuff. They just flat out beat the tackles several times around the edge. I will remain on the side that it is a talent issue at that position, but I am starting to wonder about coaching at that position as well.

Year 4 and Stoops has not been able to recruit more difference makers on the interior dline. On paper, Elam was the savior, but so far is still out of shape and simply does not look like he really wants to be great. Maybe Looney can help but as a true freshman will be hard. Meant is who he is at this point (playing to his lower ranking). Hopefully Miggins has that elevation in his game that prior Stoops JUCO's have had. Middleton and others seem to be ghosts rights now because they are either injured or do not jump out at you. I do not think the overall Dline is in a dire situation, but a lot of unknowns and will be a crucial summer for these guys to get better. Really need the younger guys like Daniel and others to take the next step. Maybe Stoops catches a break and someone like Bannerman who is very fast off the edge can make some noise as a true freshman.

If there was a summer where lineman on both sides of the ball need to live at Nutter this is it.

 

[Levibooty]

I'm of the mind that strength is not our OL first issue. I think quickness and agility should be the OT's primary focus for improvement. Anybody agree with me on that?

 

[Dan71268_rivals210055]

I'm never too excited or not with this game.
The offense was ultra vanilla which you would expect. The defense had its moments but will not be a strong unit. The thing I looked for was
if guys were in a position to make plays and it looked to me that more times than not a play could be made on either side of the ball. Secondary looks good and linebackers will improve with time. The defensive tackles got a good push but it remains to be seen just how good they can be.

 

[CatDaddy4daWin]

I just think it's really hard to say either way how this team ultimately performs in September. Tackle will improve immensely when Leavitt gets comfortable and Young gets here.

The Dline is probably our weakest link right now unfortunately but that doesn't mean they can't get better. Thought our LB's looked really promising so if the line can do there job and give the LB's chances to make tackles they will. Love what I saw out of Ware, he is going to be a beast this year. Really hurts that we've lost both Hatcher and Tubman, two guys who were potential All-SEC type performers who never made a difference.

I believe having a QB like Johnson on the roster is not only going to help us offensively in certain situations but it's also going to help the defense prepare better for these option QB's like Lamar.

Overall, I saw a team that is getting better. Outside observers have confirmed as much. The offense could help out this defense immensely with a power running game and a capable QB.

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

I'm usually pretty optimistic heading out of the spring game. I thought Saturday offered a pretty sobering dose of reality though. Three thoughts on the Cats spring performance;

1. UK's defensive line. My goodness. I'm not sure where to start. Clearly, this unit is going to seriously struggle. SEC opponents are going to run the football at will against UK's front seven. UK's pass rush was pretty much a joke last year. More of the same is awfully likely. This is especially frustrating because I think the secondary is actually pretty good. Unfortunately, that won't matter much with no pass rush.

2. UK's offensive tackles. My goodness. UK looks like they'll be alright at the guard and center spots, but tackle is another story. I'll say the same thing now that I said three months ago. If Meadows is on the field, UK is in deep trouble. And honestly, I can't see Mosier holding up in one-on-one pass block situations. But....

3. ...Eddie Gran is going to rely more on the running game, which could be a strength. I don't know that this line is going to be especially good at either run or pass blocking, but I'm betting they're better when running the ball. Mosier/Meadows pass blocking one-on-one gives me nightmares. Hopefully, Leavitt and Young are both the real deal and develop quickly.

Three schedule thoughts;

1. Don't take Southern Miss for granted. Sure, USM lost some key guys on offense, but they return a QB that passed for 4,476 yards last season. The Cats d-line will face a huge test right away. They won't be able to let this guy just sit in the pocket with all day to throw.

2. Kentucky has its issues, no doubt. But so does Vanderbilt. And Missouri. And South Carolina. And possibly Mississippi State. Can Stoops take advantage (three of these games are in Lexington)?

3. Is there a path to six wins? If UK goes 3-1 in the four SEC games I mentioned, sure. Maybe UK stays healthy and those teams don't. Maybe UK catches breaks that they rarely catch. Who knows, but I think there are 7-8 opponents on the schedule that Kentucky "could" beat. That probably means a 5-7 or so finish.

GBB!!!

I have learned to take spring games with a grain of salt. Our leading rusher the last 4 spring games barely took a snap during the regular season, Gurley, Marshall, Sony nor Chubb take many snaps in spring games. UK with a new OC I have to assume ran a very vanilla offense and showed just enough to say they had a scrimmage. Kirby said we did that on both sides of the ball, we threw for tons of yards, near 700, and anyone with any sense knows if Chubb is healthy we ain't passing for 700 yards a game. It is something for the fans to see, get excited or worried about the season. Kirby wanted us to put on a show for the near 100k that showed up and we threw it all over the field. Almost everyone thinks Eason will be our starter, maybe first game buy for sure by 3rd, anyone but Lambert is my thought, even the walkon who led the second team offense to a TD against the 1 defense.

To sum it up, I think you are being a little too critical from a glorified practice, if you were the other way and saying 10 wins, I would think you were being a little too optimistic for a glorified practice. UK has some very talented skill guys, building a very good OL, still lagging a little at DL and possibly LB, key spots certainly, but much improved overall than in recent years.

 

[Tskware]

We have some good players, and in some areas, I think Stoops has really elevated the overall talent of the team, secondary, TE and receiver being prime examples

That being said, our defensive front 7 is no where near what it was even at the last years of the Brooks era, eg, Cory Peters, Jarmon, Myron Pryor, Woodyard, Danny T, Ventrell Jenkins, Braxton Kelly. Thus, as usual, it is a pretty safe bet that our defense will not be very good in 2016, that is pretty clear.

Not sold at QB either. We really have only one option (Barker) and he did make two really sweet throws on Saturday, but also some pretty bad ones as well. If he comes on, he may be pretty good this fall. The JUCO is by no means an SEC caliber passer, not even close so far as I can see, but he is pretty quick, maybe we can get a few packages in that he can run for a change of pace. Our OT position is really bad right now, which is not going to help our young QBs. A walk on is starting, and are counting on a true freshman to come in to start right away. I did not think Leavitt played all that bad, so maybe he will improve over the summer and take one OT spot.

Finally, the schedule is just over our heads this year to be any better than 6-6, Bama, Florida Tennessee, and Georgia are pretty much sure losses, then at Louisville will be a tall order as well. That means we have to go 6-1 in the other seven games to break even. I don't know, would take a lot of good breaks to get there, at least IMO.

 

[SanAntonioCat_rivals376502]

Re the DL...a glance of the official stat sheet of the scrimmage shows the Blue DL, the line thought to be the starters at least now, COMBINED for a total of....ONE assist in the tackle department. No sacks, no TFL, no solo tackles but from Elam, Meant and Miggins all they could muster was ONE paltry assist. By count the White team ran 55 plays, one would think the Blue DL could've at least accidently tripped and fallen on someone at least once. Of course maybe they did, that's where the one assist came from. There's going to be many long Saturdays this fall if people don't step up and make plays.

This was a plain vanilla scrimmage. I'm not sure what fans expect.

 

[jauk11]

Re the DL...a glance of the official stat sheet of the scrimmage shows the Blue DL, the line thought to be the starters at least now, COMBINED for a total of....ONE assist in the tackle department. No sacks, no TFL, no solo tackles but from Elam, Meant and Miggins all they could muster was ONE paltry assist. By count the White team ran 55 plays, one would think the Blue DL could've at least accidently tripped and fallen on someone at least once. Of course maybe they did, that's where the one assist came from. There's going to be many long Saturdays this fall if people don't step up and make plays.

Sounds like it is now or never for a lot of our posters.

Time to dust off the old pads and get back on the field if you ever played DL, sounds like a lot of you could step right into a starting role.

LOL

Nothing personal, just get tired of so many posters bashing our young players, it isn't their fault they are the best we have, and I blame a lot of that on UK milking the football money cow dry for decades. There aren't enough 300 pounders that can move to go around, and teams like Bama and Florida stockpile them, in 10 Florida had about five of those five stars on their roster, similar to what Bama has now..

 

[jauk11]

I still think we win 6 this year, and can win 7------if our QBs only prove to be "adequate", but we will probably have to win a couple of "shootouts" to do so. We have some glaring deficiencies at some positions right now, but we have some positions where we should have the best talent (or close to it) that we have ever had.

The coaches need to earn their hundreds of thousands of dollars at some positions, or their half a millions at the coordinator positions.

 

[CatDaddy4daWin]

Team will still have all summer and then Fall Camp to get better. The players are there for us to put out a competitive team. But our margin for error is thin. We have got to play like it's senior night every night.

Special teams has got to give us something though. We have to force turnovers and we have to get sacks. Simple as that. We cannot continue to get nothing from special teams or not get tackles for loss/sacks. Good teams excel in those areas.

Nervously optimistic but we have got to see some progress this year. Win one more game than you did last year. Keep this momentum going.

 

[JHB4UK]

Bama, Florida Tennessee, and Georgia are pretty much sure losses, then at Louisville will be a tall order as well.

This time last year everyone thought Auburn was a top 3 team, Florida would be terrible, Mizzou might surprise and repeat as east champ, and maybe even Superior & South Carolina would make one last great run. reality hit the road & all those opinions were completely wrong.

happens every year in college football, teams everyone assumes will be great and are preseason ranked top 10 are tremendous flops. I've no doubt the same will be true of 1 or 2 those 5 teams that you indicate as losses we should already accept will occur.

 

[anon_7tbtqcx308nxh]

I have learned to take spring games with a grain of salt. Our leading rusher the last 4 spring games barely took a snap during the regular season, Gurley, Marshall, Sony nor Chubb take many snaps in spring games. UK with a new OC I have to assume ran a very vanilla offense and showed just enough to say they had a scrimmage. Kirby said we did that on both sides of the ball, we threw for tons of yards, near 700, and anyone with any sense knows if Chubb is healthy we ain't passing for 700 yards a game. It is something for the fans to see, get excited or worried about the season. Kirby wanted us to put on a show for the near 100k that showed up and we threw it all over the field. Almost everyone thinks Eason will be our starter, maybe first game buy for sure by 3rd, anyone but Lambert is my thought, even the walkon who led the second team offense to a TD against the 1 defense.

To sum it up, I think you are being a little too critical from a glorified practice, if you were the other way and saying 10 wins, I would think you were being a little too optimistic for a glorified practice. UK has some very talented skill guys, building a very good OL, still lagging a little at DL and possibly LB, key spots certainly, but much improved overall than in recent years.

Agreed. In the 2013 spring game, WR Rashad Cunningham had 8 catches for 80 yards and a touchdown. In 2014, WR Thaddeus Snodgrass had 92 receiving yards.

Neither of those players had a single reception during either of those seasons.

 

[K_TIME]

Nothing personal, just get tired of so many posters bashing our young players, it isn't their fault they are the best we have, and I blame a lot of that on UK milking the football money cow dry for decades. There aren't enough 300 pounders that can move to go around, and teams like Bama and Florida stockpile them, in 10 Florida had about five of those five stars on their roster, similar to what Bama has now..

Not bagging on kids...it's really about Stoops is in year 4, while he has for sure upgraded the skill spots on offense and defensive secondary in those years. He was recruited some nice OL but they'll almost all been busts at college (Krok, Meadows, Richardson, LaRubio) and to be struggling this badly to be probable starting OT of Mosier (walkon) and Young (true Fr). That is not really getting it done.

Granted defensive line is hardest spot to really recruit...the development of Elam is not on par with all the S&C hyperbole fans were sold with Stoops and Korem. Miggins/Meant/Bell/Middleton, etc..just look a bit below the average DL UK has had the past decade. Certainly not an improvement over what Stoops inherited.

The program looks stagnant under Stoops heading into year 4. Spring drills showed nothing but a massive downer in Leavitt and we all speculated the DL was looking to be a mess...and they are for sure going to be that bad in 2016.

 

[ukalum1988]

I have learned to take spring games with a grain of salt.

To sum it up, I think you are being a little too critical from a glorified practice, if you were the other way and saying 10 wins, I would think you were being a little too optimistic for a glorified practice. UK has some very talented skill guys, building a very good OL, still lagging a little at DL and possibly LB, key spots certainly, but much improved overall than in recent years.

Agreed. The Spring Game is basically like an NFL pre-season game. Considering the recent past history it's easy for UK fans to be overly self-critical. With the exception of the DL, I think we're just as good or better at every position group than last year's team. How that will translate to wins and losses in the fall is the big question. It's kind of sad to say that I'm hoping for 6-6, but that's about the best I can reasonably expect.

 

[DACats86]

I'm really not sure what most of you all were expecting to see in a spring game? I'm guessing that since it was televised live, that it was one of the first ones you have ever seen?

 

[Tskware]

This time last year everyone thought Auburn was a top 3 team, Florida would be terrible, Mizzou might surprise and repeat as east champ, and maybe even Superior & South Carolina would make one last great run. reality hit the road & all those opinions were completely wrong.

happens every year in college football, teams everyone assumes will be great and are preseason ranked top 10 are tremendous flops. I've no doubt the same will be true of 1 or 2 those 5 teams that you indicate as losses we should already accept will occur.

So you want to take UK and give me UT, Georgia, Bama, or Florida straight up? If so let me know how much $ you can wire and I will set up an escrow agent to hold all our funds until December. [winking]

Just kidding, I suppose UL is a possible win only because we have played them tough the last two or three years (ignoring the unpleasant fact that they outscored us 38-3 in the last three quarters of the game last season). I will believe a win over Bama UT or Florida on the road when I see it.

 

[jauk11]

Not bagging on kids...it's really about Stoops is in year 4, while he has for sure upgraded the skill spots on offense and defensive secondary in those years. He was recruited some nice OL but they'll almost all been busts at college (Krok, Meadows, Richardson, LaRubio) and to be struggling this badly to be probable starting OT of Mosier (walkon) and Young (true Fr). That is not really getting it done.

Granted defensive line is hardest spot to really recruit...the development of Elam is not on par with all the S&C hyperbole fans were sold with Stoops and Korem. Miggins/Meant/Bell/Middleton, etc..just look a bit below the average DL UK has had the past decade. Certainly not an improvement over what Stoops inherited.

The program looks stagnant under Stoops heading into year 4. Spring drills showed nothing but a massive downer in Leavitt and we all speculated the DL was looking to be a mess...and they are for sure going to be that bad in 2016.

Our OL in 07 AVERAGED a 5.2-----and we had ONE 5.8, NO 5.7s, ONE 5.6, two LATE 5.5s, a two star and a FOUR POINT NINE to round out our offense. Brooks did a marvelous job spotting and developing underrated players coming off probation AND with our meager support (disgraceful, really).

This year we will have an offense that could easily start four stars (with SEVERAL on the bench) at every position except the OL, and could start a Remington candidate, a 5.7, a 5.8, a 5.9, and a FIVE STAR on the OL-----and we could replace that center with a four star and add another FIVE STAR to the OL in 17-----PLUS several of our 5.7s (at least one, grossly) were underrated, in most fans opinions.

Yeah, experience means a lot, ratings often miss, etc, etc, but isn't it hard to even try to imagine the increase in raw talent the past three years? With all the four stars and an OL (our weak spot for ages) that could/should AVERAGE a 5.94 in 17 (Bama territory, higher than their last years first string I believe, versus a 5.2 in 07) and a little experience (and growth from our coaches, fire them if they don't, LOTS of coaches will want to coach this talent instead of laugh at it competing in the SEC) shouldn't the future look a lot brighter now? If not this year, then surely next year.

Next step, the DL, and we need some wins for that, but for right now we need to stay the course and hope the coaching changes help a lot-----and I sure don't see them hurting us..

 

[SanAntonioCat_rivals376502]

Not bagging on kids...it's really about Stoops is in year 4, while he has for sure upgraded the skill spots on offense and defensive secondary in those years. He was recruited some nice OL but they'll almost all been busts at college (Krok, Meadows, Richardson, LaRubio) and to be struggling this badly to be probable starting OT of Mosier (walkon) and Young (true Fr). That is not really getting it done.

Granted defensive line is hardest spot to really recruit...the development of Elam is not on par with all the S&C hyperbole fans were sold with Stoops and Korem. Miggins/Meant/Bell/Middleton, etc..just look a bit below the average DL UK has had the past decade. Certainly not an improvement over what Stoops inherited.

The program looks stagnant under Stoops heading into year 4. Spring drills showed nothing but a massive downer in Leavitt and we all speculated the DL was looking to be a mess...and they are for sure going to be that bad in 2016.

Thank you for your continued support of UK football.

 

[Levibooty]

I think some on here hung their hat on Towles and when he turned out to be seriously mediocre they put Stoops (and possibly Barker) in their cross-hairs. I see remarkable improvement throughout the roster except for DL. Stoops would have to have recruited at an even higher level than he has to meet these demands this quick. You will only get on average maybe six impact players a year recruiting at a school the level of Kentucky if you recruit well! So do the math just how quick can a coach change a roster as much as Stoops needed to do. A two deep roster is 44 players, if you have to start from scratch just how quick can a coach turn the roster over in order to field a SEC competitive team? How fast will you get experience?

This roster has improved every year he has been here. I think the mistake of hiring Dawson was addressed very timely and the end result, Gran and Hinshaw is a net plus. I think the new coaches are going to be a very good change in this program for the better. I have been accused of being too negative about this team so I sure have not been one to P blue kool-aid. However I do see a whole lot of improvements in this program since Stoops got here and if a person can't see that then they aren't looking, in fact they are trying hard not to see.

 

[SanAntonioCat_rivals376502]

I think some on here hung their hat on Towles and when he turned out to be seriously mediocre they put Stoops (and possibly Barker) in their cross-hairs. I see remarkable improvement throughout the roster except for DL. Stoops would have to have recruited at an even higher level than he has to meet these demands this quick. You will only get on average maybe six impact players a year recruiting at a school the level of Kentucky if you recruit well! So do the math just how quick can a coach change a roster as much as Stoops needed to do. A two deep roster is 44 players, if you have to start from scratch just how quick can a coach turn the roster over in order to field a SEC competitive team? How fast will you get experience?

This roster has improved every year he has been here. I think the mistake of hiring Dawson was addressed very timely and the end result, Gran and Hinshaw is a net plus. I think the new coaches are going to be a very good change in this program for the better. I have been accused of being too negative about this team so I sure have not been one to P blue kool-aid. However I do see a whole lot of improvements in this program since Stoops got here and if a person can't see that then they aren't looking, in fact they are trying hard not to see.

Well said from a voice of reason.

 

[docholiday51]

I'm of the mind that strength is not our OL first issue. I think quickness and agility should be the OT's primary focus for improvement. Anybody agree with me on that?

I agree,getting to a speed rusher seems to be an issue.I'm not sure we can fix the mobility problem by fall.A bad as it may have been at OT it is probably better than last year.

 

[Deeeefense]

O-linemen is IMO the hardest position to project and not coincidentally has the lowest success rate of any position. If you get one starter or major backup out of every 3 O-linemen you recruit you are ahead of the game. high 3* and 4* fall short not just at UK but in most other programs as well. That's why we recruit big numbers of O-linemen. Maybe we have a couple of "sure things" coming in if there is such a thing - we'll see.

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

O-linemen is IMO the hardest position to project and not coincidentally has the lowest success rate of any position. If you get one starter or major backup out of every 3 O-linemen you recruit you are ahead of the game. high 3* and 4* fall short not just at UK but in most other programs as well. That's why we recruit big numbers of O-linemen. Maybe we have a couple of "sure things" coming in if there is such a thing - we'll see.

Thats 100% correct, UGA has had more guys not pan out at OL during the last 15 years than I can count, lots of them relatively high 4* guys. Part of it was coaching, part of it was missed evaluation and part of it was Richt not feeling the need to have a top knotch OL.

 

[DACats86]

I think some on here hung their hat on Towles and when he turned out to be seriously mediocre they put Stoops (and possibly Barker) in their cross-hairs. I see remarkable improvement throughout the roster except for DL. Stoops would have to have recruited at an even higher level than he has to meet these demands this quick. You will only get on average maybe six impact players a year recruiting at a school the level of Kentucky if you recruit well! So do the math just how quick can a coach change a roster as much as Stoops needed to do. A two deep roster is 44 players, if you have to start from scratch just how quick can a coach turn the roster over in order to field a SEC competitive team? How fast will you get experience?

This roster has improved every year he has been here. I think the mistake of hiring Dawson was addressed very timely and the end result, Gran and Hinshaw is a net plus. I think the new coaches are going to be a very good change in this program for the better. I have been accused of being too negative about this team so I sure have not been one to P blue kool-aid. However I do see a whole lot of improvements in this program since Stoops got here and if a person can't see that then they aren't looking, in fact they are trying hard not to see.

Very well said.

 

[K_TIME]

Thank you for your continued support of UK football.

Supported UK by paying to see last 4 SEC games that has seen UK down by more than 4 TDs heading into 4th qtr....

But you're right...the OT spots look just fine, the DL will show out when the lights come on, Barker will be that decisive leader we've lacked for nearly a decade and our pass rush will be that legit in 2016. And if we go 4-8/5-7 again...it's OK...things will be just fine.