Eli Cox opens up on position change on Kentucky's offensive line

After years of putting a fantastic offensive line out on the field, that streak came to an end for Kentucky in 2022. From coaching changes to new faces and beyond, they never truly figured it out from the start and it impacted how they played all season long. Now, with Liam Coen back in Lexington as offensive coordinator, senior Eli Cox says the whole group is focused on making sure it doesn’t happen again.

Cox addressed a position change for him during a media availability to end last week. To him, it makes no difference considering there’s familiarity there and the decision could comparatively help to benefit others. However, the biggest thing is finding a way to make the offensive line better overall. With that in mind, Cox is game with whatever shape that takes.

“That’s up to Coach Coen. It’s something he’s been looking at playing,” said Cox. “I know y’all have seen Jager (Burton) playing a little center. I played right guard in ’21 when Coach Coen was here. So I think there’s a little familiarity with him and me playing right guard in his offense. It’s something that’s gonna be beneficial for Jager.”

“We need to build depth across the offensive line. We struggled with last year. That’s no surprise to anybody,” Cox said. “If the formula we had last year wasn’t working, what can we do to tweak it? Is it better for me to play guard or Jager to play center? That’s what spring ball is about. If it’s not, we’ll switch back. If it is, we’ll keep it. Whatever gets the best five guys out there is what we’ll end up doing.”

In 2022, Kentucky finished 127th in the nation in sacks allowed with 3.62 per game. The Wildcats also finished 112th in tackles for loss allowed. Add in the fact that they finished outside the Top-100 nationally in sack rate and stuff rate and it’s no wonder the UK offense struggled to move the ball.

Of all the things that were holding it back, constantly being behind the chains or losing on crucial downs was an especially big part of it.

Now, in order to correct it, Cox says the offensive line is up for anything if it means they put a better unit back on the field in ’23. Between that and Coen being back to help clean some of that up, Kentucky’s line is hoping to be back to normal next season as one of the program’s strengths.