J.J. Weaver could be ultimate x-factor for Kentucky football

J.J. Weaver’s ACL injury came at the worst time.

The Louisville (Ky.) Moore High product was in the midst of his best run as a collegiate player. The redshirt freshman edge defender was fresh off a solid performance on the road against Alabama and had some eye-popping moments against Florida. The former blue-chip recruit had logged 33 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss in nine SEC games. Then the injury came.

Weaver missed the final two games of Kentucky’s season and has been rehabbing since surgery. However, the redshirt sophomore appears to be ahead of schedule and that has the coaching staff excited even though the program is taking things slowly at the moment.

“J.J. is ahead of schedule,” Mark Stoops said at media day. “He’s working extremely hard. I stayed on J.J. from day one just to make sure he stayed up with that, starting with his range of motion, and then his strength and all those things. He’s putting it together. I don’t know. I don’t want to force that. He’s doing a very good job. But you also have to make sure you give that ligament time to heal. He has a bright future, and I have a tendency to try to be more cautious with those type of guys than force them back into it.”

#LongLiveMyPops #ForFreddie pic.twitter.com/v5ORvwSx8G

— JJ Weaver (@jjtimeee) July 30, 2021

When projecting the defense for 2021, there is no denying the importance of Weaver. Currently, the Wildcats only have five edge scholarship players on the roster and redshirt senior Jordan Wright is the only one with extensive playing experience in the SEC. Weaver is essential to the defensive operation this fall and defensive coordinator Brad White confirmed that on Friday.

“The first thing that pops in my mind for J.J. is maturity,” White told the media. “From where he came to where he is now — he was sort of a quiet, to himself young man when he walked in and he learned what it looks like from the Josh Paschals, from Jamin Davis, from watching Josh [Allen] sort of afar, about what it looks like to be a professional and to be able to hone your craft. And what he does — the time that he puts in, the commitment in his rehab — he is elite level and he’s ready when the time comes to come back from that, he is going to come back as good and better — long term — than he was last year.”

“We all know when he got hurt, he was a dominant force on that football field. Nobody looks at the score, but if you just look at the film, when J.J. played in that Alabama game when J.J. played in that Florida game, he was as dominant as a football player as anybody on that football field.”

Those are some big words from Weaver’s position coach and the defensive play-caller. However, there is no downplaying his importance. At 6-foot-5 and 241 pounds, the physical presence that Kentucky needs at the point of attack to go along with the athleticism needed to rush the passer is something that Weaver has. If the high ceiling player can get healthy, it can be a total gamechanger for the Kentucky defense. His presence could prevent the Wildcats from ranking 113th nationally in sack rate again.

“When you have a difference-maker upfront, it changes the complexion of the game,” said White.