Brad White says Alex Afari gives Kentucky options on defense

Kentucky is sorting out a lot of defensive personnel questions this spring. With several pieces moving around, DC Brad White has a lot on his plate determining who needs to be where. However, he says that’s the best thing about sophomore defensive back Alex Afari because his versatility allows him to be just about anywhere.

White went all in on breaking down where you could potentially see Afari during press last week. While laughing about the fact that he doesn’t want to reveal all his secrets, he did credit the underclassman for being a flexible enough piece. In his eyes, that alone is going to unlock new ways for the UK defense to play.

“I think his permanent home is somewhere out there,” White joked. “I don’t want to give all my stuff away.”

“The nice thing about Alex is he gives you a lot of different options. (Alex) gives some versatility and plays some different areas. He can play sort of all over the field,” said White. “He can play in the box, he can play in coverage, he can go ahead and match receivers. Could even play some half-field. We can do a lot of different deals.”

“When you have that kind of guy? It’s going to give us the ability to have some sort of unique looks that maybe we haven’t had in the past,” White said.

Afari arrived in Lexington last year after coming from just up the road in Cincinnati, Ohio. He came in as a four-star and a Top-250 prospect per the On3 Industry Rankings.

During his first season, though, he flashed potential that could end up far exceeding that ranking. Kentucky’s staff gushed about Afari fairly often last season. That’s because he went on to produce 21 tackles and a sack in 2022. Still, it was also because of that versatility they saw in 2022 as he spent several of his 266 snaps as a nickel or linebacker rather than as a cornerback.

There’s nothing much better when it comes to players than a swiss army knife. ‘Do it all’ prospects may need some refining to see if they can be great at one thing rather than good at everything but, in Afari’s case, White has no intention of messing with that. He plans on fully deploying him as the weapon he can be in order to let him make a major impact on defense again for the Wildcats this fall.