5 Players to Watch in the Kentucky Spring Showcase

Kentucky football spring practice will conclude on Saturday with the Spring Showcase. The format will depart from the traditionally televised spring scrimmage, but Kentucky fans will still get to see Mark Stoops’ new-look team battle 11-on-11 for an hour or more.

The Spring Showcase is free to the public and begins at 10 AM EST at Kroger Field. KSR will have boots on the ground to keep you updated from afar on the website and KSBoard, but for members of BBN who want to see this team in-person, here are a few new numbers to keep your eye on.

1 — Kendrick Law

Players in the trenches took up most of the offseason oxygen, but the former Alabama wide receiver was the most prolific skill player to join the Kentucky football team. The production didn’t pop off the page. Law averaged 11 receptions and 114.3 yards over his three seasons with the Crimson Tide. However, he isn’t built like most traditional slot receivers.

Law has the juice as an exceptional kick returner. What sets him apart is his physicality. That will come in handy while catching passes through traffic. No. 1 will be Kentucky’s top pass-catching target this fall and BBN will get a sneak peak of his skills on Saturday.

7 — DJ Miller

There is always one underclassman who shows up big in the spring game. Jamin Davis is the first that comes to mind. The twos will get plenty of run in the Kentucky Spring Showcase and this true freshman has potential to produce a few eye-opening plays.

Miller is a lengthy 6-foot-3 outside wide receiver who was a Top 500 prospect in Kentucky’s 2025 recruiting class. That length creates mismatches he can exploit, particularly in the red zone. He’s very raw and needs time to grow within the offense, but is perfectly capable of creating a few highlights in the Spring Showcase.

73 — Shiyazh Pete

In this long-time Kentucky football fan’s opinion, the best part of events like the Spring Showcase is that it allows the common fan to get a closer look at the team than from the upper deck on game day. Shiayzh Pete is a player you need to size up in person.

Listed at 6-foot-7, 321 pounds, the former All-Conference left tackle from New Mexico State is a mammoth of a man. The last player added from the transfer portal was a significant recruiting win. Even though the defense cannot tackle the quarterback, the Spring Showcase will give us a chance to see how well he holds up in pass protection.

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90 — Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace

We won’t get to see how great he is at tackling quarterbacks, but fans will get an opportunity to see what could be the best player for the Kentucky defense this fall.

It’s hard to draw a Kentucky player comp for Humphrey-Grace. On the edge of the defensive line, he plays with more twitch and bend than we’re used to seeing from UK’s traditional beefy defensive ends. A bonafide playmaker at the FCS level (17.0 TFLs, 9.5 sacks), we’ll be able to assess how that translates against the new Kentucky offensive tackles.

The Kentucky Running Backs

Jamarion Wilcox was one of the most talked about players during the 2024 season, and not always for the right reasons. Even so, we know No. 10 has plenty of explosiveness and potential to become a star for the Cats.

Kentucky brought in some thunder to complement Wilcox’s lightning. Dante Dowdell was one of the best short-yardage packs in America. He led the Big Ten in rushing touchdowns and will wear No. 2 in Lexington.

Jason Patterson has been an afterthought in this equation after he suffered an injury three games into his true freshman season. No. 26 looked like the best of them all during the one spring practice the media got to view.

How will these players be used? Who will receive the most touches? The Spring Showcase will not provide definitive answers but will give us a better idea of the pecking order ahead of the 2025 Kentucky football season.