'I've been thinking a lot about that': Kentucky is making some tweaks to help the cornerback position

Kentucky enters November with some big-time problems on pass defense. The Wildcats rank No. 128 in yards per pass allowed and No. 130 in yards per dropback allowed. The pass defense has been a massive issue for this football team. Tennessee exposed that weakness to the tune of 396 passing yards on just 20 completions.

The Cats got beat consistently over the top by Vols. Earlier this season, Ole Miss and Georgia had a ton of success with the quick perimeter passing game when UK’s cornerbacks struggled to tackle. Now that group struggled to win against Tennessee’s vertical passing game. A position that head coach Mark Stoops and defensive coordinator Brad White believed would be a team strength has been the opposite in 2025. The Cats need to find some answers.

“It hasn’t always been a problem for us. So we just gotta get back to how we play. Make sure we’re playing effectively,” Stoops said about the cornerback position. “You gotta look at things schematically. We’re injured at that position. So can we do the things we’re asking them to do? And look at some things that way that can help them as well.”

Starting cornerback DJ Waller Jr. has not played since Week 1. Terhyon Nichols has started every game since but was injured against Tennessee. The sophomore’s status for Auburn is up in the air. UK added Maryland transfer Kevis Thomas to the room via the transfer portal in the offseason but had some big struggles both against Eastern Michigan and Ole Miss when put in the game in September. After that, true freshman Grant Grayton and junior Nasir Addison are the only other players to see the field at this position.

JQ Hardaway (38 tackles, one interception) has been a constant as an everyday starter but this room is currently in a tough spot after him. The plan from the offseason has been blown up. UK made a bet on development and continuity while investing in some other positions via free agency. That has backfired.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about that, too. You need more, obviously. We need more depth,” Stoops said about this position room. “To the question I answered postgame about the strength of the secondary, I mean, I felt like we had three really quality — three guys we consider starters. Now all of a sudden, you get down two of them, and it doesn’t help when you’re playing Tennessee and Auburn and so on.”

If Kentucky doesn’t have Nichols, the staff will have to start Addison or Grayton or switch some personnel around in the backend. Could Jantzen Dunn or Quay’sheed Scott move from nickel out to cornerback? It feels like anything is on the table this week as UK is short-handed at this critical spot on defense.

Kentucky has gone back to the drawing board, but this could just be a positional unit that will not get corrected until the offseason. A spot that was supposed to lead the Kentucky team has struggled through seven games.