What KSR learned at Kentucky's open spring practice
Saturday was a blustery day in Central Kentucky as Mark Stoops’ program opened its doors to a full spring practice serving as a replacement for the spring game. For two-plus hours, fans in attendance were treated to an extensive 11-on-11 scrimmage as the 2023 Kentucky team was seen in a public setting for the first time.
Defensive coordinator Brad White appears to have a defense that could do some special things while the offense remains a work in progress with Liam Coen re-taking over.
KSR was on-site for the duration of the event. Now it’s time to recap what we just witnessed.
Kentucky’s defense more than passes the eye test
Last week, the media was allowed to view practice and one of the bigger takeaways from that Tuesday morning was just how good Kentucky looked on the defensive side. The Wildcats have mass and length in the front seven to go along with some playmakers in the secondary.
The defense was even more impressive on Saturday.
In multiple series with the ones, Kentucky did not allow a touchdown and got one goal-to-go stop by forcing two Devin Leary incompletions. Deone Walker beat both Tanner Bowles and Paul Rodriguez with early pass rush moves to create two QB pressures. Kentucky’s run game produced little to no push and had no successful run plays that I spotted. Andru Phillips and Jordan Lovett each made a pair of big plays at nickel and Maxwell Hairston produced some ball production at cornerback.
There was much to like about this group.
Kentucky’s twos punched in a late touchdown to close the scrimmage, but overall, White’s defense won the day. The Wildcats were stout against the run, logged more than a few pass rush wins, and produced ball production in the secondary against a good quarterback. I would advise buying stock in this defense.
Devin Leary flashes go-ball touch
With 25-30 mph wind gusts, driving the ball down the field was a challenge for Kentucky’s offense. Add in the run game woes and not much went right for Liam Coen’s offense. However, NC State transfer Devin Leary flashed a skillset at quarterback that should get the Big Blue Nation excited.
The super senior connected on a go-ball down the sideline on the first series with Dane Key despite some very tight coverage by Maxwell Hairston. Leary placed the ball right over the cornerback’s helmet and Key reeled in a reception for the biggest play of the game. Expect more of these types of shot plays in the fall as Leary had not hidden from the fact that his favorite throw is a go.
Elsewhere, Kentucky utilized a plethora of RPO actions likely pulling from the package Leary ran at NC State. The quarterback looked comfortable operating out of these playfakes often showing flexibility and the ability to throw the ball from different arm angles. The quarterback looked like a middle infielder who was turning to get a throw lane to first base. Facing Kentucky’s zone coverage, Leary was forced to hit small windows with timing and did more than occasionally.
The offense had some struggles, but Devin Leary looks to be in control and flashed some translatable throws that will help the offense score points on Saturday.
Kentucky misses its tight ends
Part of the reason for so many struggles on the offensive end is that Kentucky is currently playing with a light deck at tight end. That position is going to have a huge two-way impact on the offense this season and players simply aren’t available.
Brenden Bates, Josh Kattus, and Jordan Dingle are expected to receive the lion’s share of the snaps this season at tight end and each is inactive for spring ball. That is making an impact on the offense.
In an outside zone scheme, many aiming points on the ground are directly tied to the tight end’s initial block. With only Izayah Cummings and true freshman Khamari Anderson available, this group is struggling to get anyone blocked. That is limiting the offense.
That’s not even getting into the missed impact in the passing game as Dingle might be the third-best weapon on the roster after Barion Brown and Dane Key. The Wildcats miss their tight ends.
Andru Phillips shines, appears to be the answer at nickel
Following the dismissal of redshirt junior Vito Tisdale, Kentucky had a void to fill at nickel. Andru Phillips appears to be the answer.
The redshirt junior is one of Kentucky’s starters at cornerback, but the coaching staff has the defensive back sliding inside in subpackages. Once there, Phillips has shown some playmaking production.
On Saturday, the defensive back produced a pass breakup in a goal-to-go situation and logged a tackle for loss on a quick screen. The former legacy recruit looks like one of Kentucky’s top defensive players at the moment and will have a huge role on this year’s team.
However, Phillips must be replaced when he shifts inside. Former Division II transfer Jordan Robinson and Cincinnati transfer JQ Hardaway each received some reps with the ones. Maxwell Hairston looks like the clear CB2 at the moment. The redshirt junior produced a pair of pass breakups during the scrimmage and flashed some tight man coverage. The Greater Detroit native looked like he belonged on the field. Losing Phillips at cornerback leaves a hole when UK shifts to nickel, but Hairston appears to be a player the coaching staff has some confidence in.
Improvements are needed on the offensive line
Now we must address the elephant in the room. Kentucky’s Big Blue Wall had some problems on Saturday.
The Wildcats were playing without starting left guard Kenneth Horsey and the personnel loss appeared to make an impact. Kentucky had issues in pass protection at left guard and got little to no movement in the run game. Keeping pockets clean was a continuous problem throughout the scrimmage, and that was made even worse by the fact that the offense was consistently falling behind the chains in standard downs due to the inefficient running game.
Kentucky will get some more help when the tight ends return, but the offensive line has some big improvements to make before the season gets here. The passing game has a chance to be very good, but the Wildcats are going to have some big-time issues if they can’t protect or run the football with efficiency.
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