Four Wildcats named to Preseason All-SEC teams

A quartet of football Wildcats has earned significant offseason honors as we inch closer to the start of the Will Stein era.

Phil Steele‘s annual college football preview dropped this week, and in it, he included his preseason all-conference selections. Four Kentucky players were among the three Preseason All-SEC teams, headlined by a couple of Second Team members. Three of them are offensive pieces, with one on the defensive side.

• C Coleton Price (Sr.) | Second Team
• TE Willie Rodriguez (Jr.) | Second Team
• DB Ty Bryant (Sr.) | Third Team
• OL Lance Heard (Sr.) | Third Team

Four Cats named to Phil Steele's 2026 Preseason All-SEC 🌟😼@C_Price72 @w_rodriguez10 @Ty_Bryant32 @lanceheard2 pic.twitter.com/UUKCKCQttd

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) June 11, 2026

Price and Heard are both portal imports and will serve as key pieces to Kentucky’s Big Blue Wall going into the season. Having two of the top offensive linemen in the conference to protect quarterback Kenny Minchey seems pretty good.

Price comes from Baylor, where he started 30 games at center. He was on the Rimington Trophy Watch List last season, allowing just one sack across 526 total pass block snaps. That earned him a spot on the All-Big 12 Offensive Linemen Second Team by PFSN College.

Heard transferred from Tennessee (and was previously at LSU). With the Volunteers in 2025, the 6-foot-6, 330-pounder started every game at left tackle. He’s started 24 college games, giving up just three sacks throughout his career in the SEC. Stein told the Rotary Club of Lexington on Thursday that Heard is a future first-round NFL Draft pick.

But the returning Wildcats — both natives of the Bluegrass State — are just as important for Stein in his debut season.

Bryant, a Lexington product, was a full-time starter for Kentucky last season, leading the team in total tackles (76) and interceptions (four). During his three-year college career, Bryant has registered 162 tackles with 4.0 tackles for loss. In total, he has five career interceptions, two pass breakups, and two forced fumbles.  

Rodriguez was another important returner for Stein’s offense. The Covington native logged 23 catches for 310 yards with one touchdown as a true sophomore last season. His best outing came against Vanderbilt: a career-high six receptions for a career-best 78 yards. Those six catches were the most by a UK tight end in one game since CJ Conrad in 2015.