Kentucky OL Ben Christman out for the season with injury

Kentucky didn’t get through fall camp completely unscathed. Ohio State transfer interior offensive lineman Ben Christman will miss the 2023 football season after suffering an injury during the preseason. Mark Stoops confirmed the news in his first weekly press conference of the season.

Christman transferred to Kentucky in May after two seasons at Ohio State. He redshirted his freshman year with the Buckeyes and saw action vs. Indiana as a redshirt freshman in 2022, playing nine snaps. The Akron, Ohio native was a four-star prospect and the No. 132 ranked recruit in the 2021 On3 Industry Ranking and considered the best offensive lineman in the state of Ohio, totaling 121 pancakes as a senior at Revere High School. He entered the transfer portal on April 26 after the Buckeyes wrapped up spring practice.

Christman was not expected to be a starter this season but Kentucky will still miss the depth on the offensive line. Stoops also said that offensive tackle Nik Hall is also “injured and out” for the year, echoing his comments from earlier this month that Hall would likely need to take a medical redshirt after suffering an injury in camp.

Watch the latest Mark Stoops press conference on the KSR YouTube Channel.

Battle at right tackle continues

Minutes before Stoops’ press conference, Kentucky released its Week 1 depth chart. There’s only one “OR,” at right tackle. USC transfer Courtland Ford and senior Jeremy Flax are still battling for the starting spot, and Stoops is anxious to see how they perform vs. Ball State.

“We just need to see where that position goes,” Stoops said of right tackle. “Both of them have a lot of talent. I think Jeremy has improved over a year ago and certainly Courtland has that ability. We just need to see the consistency and see him dominate like I believe he can. We’ve just got to take it into some games here and see how that goes.”

Five transfers have bolstered the Big Blue Wall. Thus far, Stoops is pleased with the unit’s performance in camp.

“I feel like we’re improved. I think that you’ve heard us talk about that. I’ve talked about it many times. We needed to improve. We had to address certain areas. We have.

“You see some guys getting back to their more comfortable positions. In particular Kenneth [Horsey], you know, playing guard and the experience that he has there and Eli [Cox] playing back at guard. We’ll have Jager [Burton] playing center. He’s been solid but he’s got to get some game reps under his belt now. And our tackles need to improve over last year and I think they will. We talked a lot about Marques [Cox]. He’s been very solid.”

Here’s the two-deep from today’s depth chart:

Left Tackle

1. Marques Cox (6-5, 311, Super Senior)
2. Dylan Ray (6-6, 305, S

Left Guard

1. Kenneth Horsey (6-3, 311, Super Senior)
2. Paul Rodriguez

Center

1. Jager Burton (6-4, 307, Redshirt Sophomore)
2. Tanner Bowles (6-5, 306, Redshirt Senior)

Right Guard

1. Eli Cox (6-4, 311, Redshirt Senior)
2. Tanner Bowles (6-5, 306, Redshirt Senior)

Right Tackle

1. Courtland Ford (6-6, 305, Redshirt Junior)
2. OR Jeremy Flax (6-6, 325, Senior)

Got thoughts? Take advantage of our KICKOFF SALE and subscribe to KSR+ to continue the conversation on KSBoard, the KSR+ Message Board. $1 for 1 month for new subscribers, or 50% off for an entire year.