Alex Afari Jr. could become star in middle of Kentucky's defense

Alex Afari Jr. was a significant blue-chip recruiting win for the Kentucky football program in the 2022 high school cycle. The Cats held off Luke Fickell‘s Cincinnati to land the top-250 prospect. The plan was to play the West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West star in the secondary. But plans change.

After starting Afari at cornerback, Kentucky quickly shifted the young player into the hybrid linebacker/nickel position in Brad White‘s defense. The four-star prospect would played in 13 games as a true freshman and would earn three starts on a very good UK defense. Afari returned in 2023 and started 12 games as a sophomore. The young player recorded 49 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss in 555 snaps. Despite the production, Kentucky asked Afari to make a position change in 2024.

Afari still played snaps at his normal hybrid position but the junior officially moved to inside linebacker full-time once D’Eryk Jackson was lost for the season. Afari would start the final four games for Kentucky in the box and finished the year with career numbers in tackles (62) and tackles for loss (11.5) despite playing less than 500 defensive snaps. There were some up and down moments, but UK invested in Afari at the position.

His second season at linebacker got off to a strong start win Afari recorded 13 tackles, two tackles for loss, and one sack in 56 snaps in the win over Toledo. Afari notably played faster and looked like the best player on the field. The veteran just feels more comfortable after receiving playing experience and spending a whole offseason at the new position.

“I definitely feel more comfortable,” Afari told KSR on Thursday. “Putting some weight on, and been playing that position for two years now, so I know in the ins and outs of that linebacker spot.”

“Just trusting myself. Trusting my eyes. Trusting my keys and just playing faster and just exploding.”

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Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said that Afari “took another step” at linebacker after the impressive debut performance. White called the performance “probably his best game”. For a UK team that is looking for star power and big-time playmaking, Afari could be in position to be that in the middle of the defense.

“Really pleased with Alex’s performance,” said Kentucky’s defensive coordinator. “How fast he played. He did a nice job being violent at the point of contact on his tackles. Pulled his pin. Trusted the fact that he trusted his read and he went.”

Kentucky has a good track record at the linebacker position. The Wildcats have produced four draft picks in the Stoops era while undrafted players Jackson DeAndre Square, and Jordan Jones have received some type of All-SEC recognition. Afari could be next in line.