Talent development was on full display for Kentucky at NFL Draft

Under Mark Stoops, Kentucky has a “recruit and develop” motto that the Wildcats try to live out daily. That has shown up in the win/loss column.

Despite not always producing top-25 recruiting classes, the Wildcats have gone 33-17 since the beginning of the 2018 season with a pair of top 25 finishes. Those wins are not happening by default as the NFL is starting to recognize the talent that is coming through the Kentucky football program.

Since that 2018 season ended, Kentucky has produced 17 draft picks with Wan’Dale Robinson, Josh Paschal, Luke Fortner, and Darian Kinnard each hearing their names called at the 2022 NFL Draft. Now Kentucky is starting to be seen as one of the best developmental programs in college football that is consistently getting players to the next level and punching above their recruiting weight class.

ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg spoke with Mark Stoops for his NFL Draft recap with intel from coaches all across college football and the Kentucky head coach confirmed that the development plan is essential for his program to achieve consistent success.

“We’re not a team loaded with four and five-star recruits,” Stoops said. “We have to develop our players. Our players embrace that. We have some things in place that really make our players very self-aware of their strengths and their weaknesses, and we work extremely hard at it. I’m proud of them and our staff and the way we develop our players.”

In the beginning, the defense stood out as the first seven draft picks for Stoops at Kentucky were on that side of the ball. However, that development has leaked into the offense as Kentucky has produced five draft picks off the offensive line since the 2019 NFL Draft, and eyes are now going towards the skill talent in Lexington as the Wildcats have made a college home for the Sean McVay/Kyle Shanahan offense.

Wan’Dale Robinson became the program’s highest offensive draft pick at No. 43 overall in the second round since Tim Couch was selected by the Cleveland Browns with the top pick in the 1999 NFL Draft. Will Levis seems to have a great shot at becoming the program’s next first-round pick, and it would be the first since Couch came off of the board over two decades ago.

As Kentucky continues to climb the ladder in the SEC, the program is hitting necessary checkpoints. In the recruiting class of 2022, the Wildcats were able to sign two top-100 prospects — Barion Brown and Kiyaunta Goodwin — in the same year for the first time in the Stoops era. The Wildcats have a winning formula and folks around college football and the NFL are starting to take notice.

“The brand of football Kentucky plays is special,” an anonymous SEC assistant told Rittenberg.