Malachi Wood Showing Progress During Redshirt Season

Bowl prep provides extra opportunities for underclassmen to receive extra reps in practice. We can get a slight glimpse into what the future may hold for the program and Malachi Wood is showing the Kentucky coaches exactly what they need at offensive tackle.

Malachi Wood was not the most sought after prospect in Kentucky’s 2023 recruiting class. The 6-foot-8 Madison Central athlete had incredible length, but he looked more like a basketball player than an offensive lineman. There were legitimate questions about his ability to fill into his long frame. Since moving to Lexington he’s done just that.

“He’s a different one. He’s built in a lot of ways of what you’re looking for at the highest level of football and continuing to gain his lower body strength, his core strength,” said offensive coordinator Liam Coen.

“When you’re that long it’s sometimes hard to get in and out of your stance fast. He’s just gotten better and better. Obviously the length is something we can’t coach that he has in his body and makes it exciting to be able to work with him moving forward.”

Malachi Wood is Putting in the Extra Work

During a redshirt season it is easy to just get by. The additional workload of being a college student-athlete can be overwhelming. It’s hard to remain engaged when you aren’t preparing to play on Saturdays. Malachi Wood has not missed an opportunity to improve.

“Mal has improved night and day,” said starting left tackle Marques Cox. “I work with him at least a couple times a week where me and him just go and talk about technique and stuff like that. He’s improved well beyond his measure and there’s still so much he can improve on. But he’s really done a great job and I’m really proud of him for being one year into college.”

“He just continues to get better, he really does,” added Coen. “He’s dedicated himself to changing his body, dedicating himself to his craft. He works at it post-practice. He’s doing the right things to try to help himself continue to get better. He’s a great kid, no issues, just the type of kid you want to have in your program that you look forward to really working with him this spring when the bullets are flying a little more live for him and putting him in a position to truly see his competition against opponents with a better skillset. I’ve been really pleased with Malachi.”

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Addressing a Need at Offensive Tackle

Liam Coen mentioned multiple underclassmen that he wants to see perform in bowl prep, but their development does not dramatically change the future outlook of the program. On National Signing Day you will notice one enormous absence from the high school and transfer portal ranks at offensive tackle.

To put it plainly, Kentucky swung and missed on too many offensive tackle prospects. They received a one-year extension on their offensive tackle problem when Cox gave them a lifeline by returning for a super senior season. Looking deeper into the depth chart, there aren’t many other options. It’s still early in his career, but if Wood can develop into a starter this year’s recruiting misses at offensive tackle will not turn into glaring problems for the program.

“Once his technique gets down, he can add the meanness and aggressiveness afterwards,” said Cox. “The world is his oyster.”

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