Mark Stoops confident Kentucky's experience will offset NFL Draft departures

Tuesday was the deadline for NFL teams to trim their rosters to 53 players, and all six Kentucky Wildcats drafted this past spring made the cut with their respective programs. Jamin Davis (Washington) and Kelvin Joseph (Dallas) were shoo-ins, but Quinton Bohanna (Dallas), Brandin Echols (NY Jets), Phil Hoskins (Carolina), and Landon Young (New Orleans) also survived the chopping block, a testament to what Mark Stoops has built in Lexington.

On the first SEC Teleconference of the season this afternoon, a reporter asked Mark Stoops how he plans to replace all of that talent. After bragging on his former players, Stoops said he is confident Kentucky’s experience will fill the void, especially on defense.

“We are definitely equipped for replacing that. We greatly appreciate those players and they will definitely be missed. I’m so proud of all those guys. I want to say every guy we had drafted last year made a team and that’s quite an accomplishment. We’re so proud of them. And a guy like Chris Westry who graduated a few years ago and has been on the practice squad, he’s active this year as well. Just can’t say enough about what these guys have done for us. Brandin Echols is with the Jets and he’s having such a good preseason. All those guys. Of course, Mike [Edwards] went to the Super Bowl last year. I could go on and on about the players who left and how proud I am of those guys.

“The nice thing about our defense this year is we still have quite a few players with a lot of experience. You look at Josh Paschal, you look at Marquan McCall, Abule Abadi-Fitzgerald, Jordan Wright, those guys have played a lot of football. We’re a little bit inexperienced at inside linebacker. You have DeAndre Square, who has played a ton of ball for us, and after that, there’s maybe a little bit of inexperience but some unbelievably talented players. You’ve got Jacquez [Jones] transferring from Ole Miss, you’ve got Jared Casey, a highly-recruited guy that’s going to get his opportunity. I’m super impressed with the two freshmen we brought in, Trevin Wallace and Martez Thrower. Those guys have really caught our eye at inside linebacker so the future is bright for those guys. As talented of guys as we’ve brought in at inside linebacker. 

“And then we have great experience on the back end. Cedrick Dort has played a ton of football. Yusuf Corker could have gone out a year ago and he has great experience. Tyrell Ajian played all last year so we feel like we have a ton of experience defensively.”

If you look at Kentucky’s Week 1 depth chart, ten of the eleven starters on defense are seniors. Not too shabby.

Other notes from Mark Stoops’ turn on the SEC Teleconference…

Stoops anxious to show off changes on offense

Like all of us, Stoops is ready for football. In his opening remarks, Stoops said the Cats are anxious to get on the field after a long offseason of transition and fall camps.

“Looking forward to getting started. It’s just that time of year. It’s been a lot of work. We have some transition going on in our program with a new offense, new offensive coordinator so it’s been a lot of of work in the spring, through the winter and this summer and through camp so we’re anxious to get going. I feel like we are definitely improving each and every day.”

When asked specifically about the changes on offense, Stoops pointed out that for the first time in three years, Kentucky had a different QB1 in fall camp, Will Levis.

“It’s certainly different,” Stoops said of the new offense. “We have a different quarterback for the first time going through camp in three years. With Terry [Wilson] having such a successful sophomore year, then he got hurt as a junior, came back as a senior. It was kind of the same look with our quarterback for three years. That’s certainly different and different style. So, put that all together, it’ll certainly be a different look.” 

Condolences to the Bowden family

Kentucky opens the season vs. ULM on Saturday. Terry Bowden is in his first season as the coach of the Warhawks. His father, legendary Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden, passed away earlier this month. Stoops used his turn on the call to pay respect to the late, great coach.

“Looking forward to hosting ULM and Coach Terry Bowden. [I] have great respect for the Bowden family. My condolences once again to the entire family. I had an opportunity to work at Florida State for three years and walked by Coach Bowden every day. Of course, it was a bronze statue of him but great respect for him. Rich Rod on the offensive side of the ball will present a problem like always. I’m sure they’ll go extremely fast and he does a great job so just looking forward to the challenge of hosting (Louisiana) Monroe.”

Dare brings Depth

Stoops fielded a question about Dare Rosenthal, the offensive tackle who transferred in from LSU this summer. His praise for Rosenthal is nothing new, but comforting all the same.

“It’s really good to add Dare to the roster, that’s for sure. Certainly a guy that’s extremely talented. Great length, has SEC experience. You’re always looking for quality offensive linemen. We certainly take pride in being a physical football team and with the addition of him, it really helped us and gave us some depth as well.”