KSR Today: Recapping a busy Monday, NFL Roster Cut Day
Good morning, BBN. I trust you slept well. I wrapped up a very busy day with another episode of Peaky Blinders, so it took me a little bit longer to wind down, but it was worth it. The only thing better than Cillian Murphy as Thomas Shelby may be Tom Hardy as Alfie Solomons. What an incredible cast — and shoutout to subtitles for helping me decipher the Birmingham lilt.
I digress. We’re four days from Kentucky Football and, as mentioned, there’s a ton going on. Let’s hop right into it.
Quick Hitters from Stoops’ Monday Press Conference
Mark Stoops held his first weekly press conference of the season yesterday, and while we technically did hear about Chris Rodriguez‘s suspension, it wasn’t quite in the detail that we’d hoped. The SEC’s top returning rusher was not listed on the Week 1 depth chart and Stoops confirmed he and super-senior linebacker Jordan Wright will miss the first game. While Stoops suggested Wright will return for Kentucky’s trip to Florida, Rodriguez’s fate remains uncertain.
“I expect a few of them will have multiple game suspensions but I don’t know.,” Stoops said. “I’ll address it next week.”
Why the continued mystery? One reason Stoops’ hands are tied is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. As much as we all would like Stoops can’t provide more details into this complex situation without violating players’ federal rights. Add in gamesmanship and we’ll probably just be doing this dance on a game-by-game basis.
In Rodriguez’s absence, Kavosiey Smoke gets the nod at RB1, followed by Ramon Jefferson. At quarterback, Deuce Hogan will begin the season backing up Will Levis. David Wohlabaugh is slotted as the starter at left tackle. You can see the entire depth chart below, or just read Roush’s main takeaways from it.
Want more? Stoops’ entire press conference is below, along with Nick Roush and Adam Luckett’s instant takes.
Stoops says he and Calipari squashed their beef
Stoops made a little more news as the day went on. On his first call-in show of the season, Stoops said that he and John Calipari squashed all that “basketball school” beef in about “two minutes” (when Stoops finally accepted his call, that is).
“There’s no issue at all. I don’t think either of us has really spent much more time worrying about that or thinking about that. You know, Coach Cal and I — I want nothing but the best for him and all of our programs. I know he feels the same way. We moved on in about two minutes.”
It must have been an interesting two minutes, but with football so close, I think everyone is beyond ready to just move on. Hurry up, games.
Rich Scangarello after practice tonight
We’ve got more football updates coming for you tonight when Rich Scangarello and members of the Kentucky offense step up to the podium to chat with reporters after practice. We’ll be in the house to bring you what you need to know on the site and, as always, you can view all the post-practice interviews on the KSR YouTube channel.
NFL Roster Cut Day
Today is the final day NFL teams have to trim their rosters to 53 players before the season begins. As you can see in the post directly below this one, the Miami Dolphins already parted ways with Lynn Bowden after two seasons. Bowden shined in the preseason, so hopefully, it doesn’t take him long to find a new home. On Monday, Yusuf Corker was cut by the New York Giants. We’ll keep rolling out the updates as they come in.
Want to have dinner with Will Levis and Drew Franklin?
Kentucky’s starting quarterback is hosting a preseason dinner with fans tonight starting at 7 p.m. at Lockbox at 21c Museum Hotel in Lexington. Our own Drew Franklin will moderate a Q&A session during the dinner, which includes a Slider Bar featuring pulled pork, fried chicken, cheeseburger, and vegetarian and vegan options. A few more tickets are still available so click here to reserve your spot before they’re gone.
A busy night on the KSR YouTube Channel
If you’re not having dinner with Will and Drew, pull up the KSR YouTube Channel, where we’ve got a great night of content planned. First, the KSR Football Podcast crew will share their season preview at 5 p.m. At 7 p.m., KSR’s panel of writers and personalities will reveal our annual season predictions. Finally, at 8 p.m., Jack Pilgrim and Shawn Smith will go live for a mailbag edition of the Sources Say Podcast. They’ll be taking your questions live on air, so keep make sure you’re subscribed to receive a notification when the show starts.
Tour the Kentucky Football Practice Facility
Speaking of great video content, the UK Sports Video staff continues to churn it out as well. On Sunday night, it was the hilarious skit featuring Rich Scangarello and Steve Zahn. Yesterday, it was this in-depth tour of the football practice facility that has me ready to reconsider my college eligibility. Surely the Kentucky Football team has a spot for a 30-something grad student who can (kinda) run and rides an indoor bike.
Men’s Soccer beats Seattle 1-0
Elsewhere on campus, the No. 8 Kentucky Men’s Soccer team moved to 2-0-0 on the season with a 1-0 win over Seattle. Danny Evans scored the lone goal for the Cats midway through the first half thanks to an assist from Eythor Bjorgolfsson. Over the weekend, the Cats beat the University of Illinois-Chicago 2-0. They’ll return to action vs. Belmont Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at The Bell.
Matthew Mitchell stops by Kentucky WBB practice
The Kentucky Women’s Basketball team had two very special visitors yesterday. First, the March Madness WBB College Road Trip stopped through to chat with Kyra Elzy for a segment we’ll see at some point down the line. Then, former coach Matthew Mitchell came by for a visit.
Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.
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