Kentucky Underclassmen to Watch in the Blue-White Game

Can we be honest with one another for a moment? As exciting as it will be to watch the Wildcats do work at Kroger Field this Saturday at the Blue-White Game, we’re not going to receive too much revealing information about the 2022 Kentucky football team. Rich Scangarello may give us a trick play or two, but for the most part the offense and defense will keep it vanilla.

We might see a lot of points. We might see scores from a few stars, but they will not be on the field for long. The Blue-White Game provides an opportunity for underclassmen to shine for maybe the first time at the Kroge. Before he was a first round pick, Jamin Davis led the White team in tackles as an unheard of redshirt freshman. Not every one of these guys will develop into a first round pick, but one of them will surely transform into a star. These guys have had a good spring and could provide some pop Saturday at 1 pm ET on SECN+.

No. 6 Dane Key

The early enrollee from Frederick Douglass has not played like a wide receiver that should still be in high school. Wearing Josh Ali‘s old number, Dane Key is a lot bigger than last year’s second-leading receiver. He uses his size well on the outside and has enough juice to blow by defenders. Key and his former Douglass teammate, Dekel Crowdus, will get at least one or two long balls tossed their way.

No. 25 Jordan Lovett

With Taj Dodson and Vito Tisdale sidelined this spring, Lovett has received valuable reps at strong safety. A ball hawk that picked off a ton of passes at North Hardin High School, Jordan Lovett is going to make a backup quarterback pay for making the wrong read. An active defender with good instincts, No. 25 will be at the right place at the right time to make a big play.

No. 89 Chris Lewis

Kentucky will take a few deep shots to let the quarterbacks’ arms get loose. They also want to keep things vanilla and nothing is more basic than a nice fade down the sideline. This is where the redshirt freshman factors in. The biggest outside pass-catcher available, UK called Chris Lewis‘ number multiple times in the red zone with Beau Allen under center last year. I suspect the same will happen in the Blue-White Game.

No. 78 Kiyaunta Goodwin

First and foremost, if you’ve never seen Kiyaunta Goodwin in person, do yourself a favor and arrive early to get up close to the former five-star recruit. You cannot appreciate his size until you witness it firsthand. You’ll notice once he enters the game that he’s not just some lumbering oaf either. Even though expectations should be tempered, Zach Yenser is telling Goodwin to prepare like he’s starting on opening day in September. The enormous athlete is hitting some early checkpoints. His spring game performance could tell us how close he is to receiving significant playing time this fall.

No. 95 Jamarius “Spider” Dinkins

The nose guard known simply as “Spider” was a pleasant surprise when he arrived on campus last fall. After shedding some weight, he looks lean in the middle of the UK defense. Even though nose guards don’t get a ton of glory, Jamarius Dinkins will be wrecking run plays late in the Blue-White Game.

No. 16 Deuce Hogan

A hose, rocket, missile, bazooka, cannon — whatever you want to call it, the quarterback from Iowa has a big arm. The strength of Deuce Hogan‘s arm has never been an issue. Accuracy and his knowledge of the playbook might be a problem in the Blue-White Game. That’s an explosive recipe for the end of the scrimmage. I can’t wait to watch it unfold.

No. 24 Elijah Reed

A late take for the Cats in the 2022 recruiting class, PRP product Elijah Reed was considered a project of sorts. After all, he did not start playing cornerback until about a year ago when he used a COVID waiver to play a fifth season of high school sports. A fast learner, he’s taken to the position well. His athleticism has impressed some coaches in practice, potentially making way for a solid debut at Kroger Field.

No. 34 Trey Dennis

There’s always one little, fast walk-on that forces you to check the roster. Zach Johnson eventually turned that into a scholarship as a special teams playmaker. This year’s candidate is a Lexington Sayre product who showed some wiggle in the open spring practice. If Trey Dennis isn’t the one, there will surely be at least one guy you haven’t heard of making impressive moves during Saturday’s Blue-White Game.