Darian Kinnard tabbed as consensus All-American

Darian Kinnard is going to leave Kentucky as one of the all-time greats. The senior offensive lineman received one of the greatest individual honors he could, being named as a consensus All-American.

The 6-foot-5, 340-pounder out of Knoxville is now just the second offensive lineman out of Kentucky to earn consensus All-American status. Kinnard joins Sam Ball, who did the same back in 1965. Kinnard is the 12th Wildcat in program history to earn consensus All-American honors. This is also the third time in the last four years that Kentucky has produced a consensus All-American.

Kinnard joins an impressive list of Bob Gain (1950), Babe Parilli (1950 and 1951), Lou Michaels (1956 and 1957), Sam Ball (1965), Art Still (1977), Tim Couch (1998), James Whalen (1999), Derek Abney (2002), Josh Allen (2018), Lynn Bowden (2019), and Max Duffy (2019) as UK’s consensus All-Americans.

CONSENSUS All-American: No doubt about it for @Darian_70!

Absolute legend of the #BigBlueWall #ForTheTeam 😼🏈 https://t.co/Xkx9W82jtE

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) December 17, 2021

Below is more information on Kinnard’s terrific 2021 campaign, courtesy of UK Athletics.

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To be named to the Consensus team, players have to be listed on the first team for more than half the All-America teams used in the compila­tion. If no player meets this criterion at a position, a player can be selected if named first team on at least two of the All-America teams. Second and third teams are used to break ties. In the case of a true tie, all players are listed. Five organizations are used to compile the consensus team — American Football Coaches Association, Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, The Sporting News and Walter Camp Foundation.
 
Kinnard, a 6-foot-5, 338-pound mountain from Knoxville, Tennessee, earned first-team All-America honors from four of the five – FWAA, Walter Camp and the AP. He was a second-team All-American by The Sporting News.
 
Kinnard led Kentucky with 30 knockdown blocks in 12 games for the 22^nd-ranked Wildcats this season. Pro Football Focus evaluated Kinnard as one of only three Power Five tackles to grade at 85 or better as both a run and pass blocker. He was awarded the Southeastern Conference’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy, just the second Kentucky player to win the award, which annually has been given to the SEC’s top blocker since 1935.  He also was a semifinalist for both the 2021 Rotary Lombardi Award, given to an offensive or defensive lineman who combines outstanding performance on the field with the character and discipline of NFL Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, and the Outland Trophy, given to the nation’s most outstanding interior lineman.
 
Postseason Awards for Kinnard:
First-Team All-America (AFCA, AP, FWAA, Walter Camp, Phil Steele, CBS Sports, Reese’s Senior Bowl)
Second-Team All-American (The Sporting News, PFF, The Athletic)
First-Team All-SEC (AP, PFF, Coaches, Phil Steele)
2021 Jacobs Blocking Trophy
 
Kentucky (9-3, 5-3 SEC) is headed to Orlando, Fla., for a school-record sixth straight bowl appearance. The No. 22 Wildcats have accepted a bid to play in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl and will face No. 15 Iowa Jan. 1 in Camping World Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. ET on ABC, ESPN Radio and the UK Sports Radio Network.