Film Room: Jadon Lafontant

College football programs can never take a break from building for the future in the trenches. Kentucky went to the transfer portal in the offseason to address issues along the offensive line but still needs to find quality additions in high school recruiting. After receiving a commitment from Jadon Lafontant on Monday, guard recruiting may be done for the Wildcats in this cycle.

The Greenwich (Conn.) Brunswick School product took official visits to Pittsburgh and Boston College before making a mid-week stop at Kentucky. In Lexington, the unranked prospect decided to end his recruitment despite having remaining official visits scheduled with Duke and Vanderbilt.

COMMITTED‼️@UKFootball pic.twitter.com/PJRVTC0eE7

— Jadon Lafontant (@JadonLafontant) June 19, 2023

Wide receivers coach Scott Woodward and offensive coordinator Liam Coen have logged a northeast recruiting win for Kentucky. Jadon Lafontant will join fellow commit Aba Selm at offensive guard in this class. Let’s find out what the former will bring to Lexington.

Lafontant has legit next-level size, finishing ability, and good movement skills. Those are real things to build from moving forward.

Creating movement

Football can get very complicated when you consider that there are 22 players on the field at the same time, and each has a different job. However, it can also be a simple game. Scheme can help hide flaws and take advantage of the defense’s weaknesses, but this will always be a sport for big people and played by big people. At the point of attack, someone must win. Jadon Lafontant won a lot on his junior tape and has some skills that should translate to the next level.

Playing right guard, Lafontant consistently creates movement at the point of attack.

Facing a 3-tech defensive tackle in an RPO concept, Lafontant shows power to uproot and finishes the play downfield with a textbook pancake block. On what appears to be an inside zone concept, Lafontant does not need help against a 2-tech (face-to-face vs. guard) and quickly creates movement providing a big running lane for the tailback. On another zone rep, Lafontant eliminates the interior defender before climbing to the second level to eliminate the backside linebacker with a knockdown block.

The guard prospect consistently shows power. That comes from size and strength. All of that should translate to the next level. Lafontant is a big guard (6-3, 315) with length who can strike and has good enough footwork to make plays away from his area. That size also shows up in pass protection as it can be very hard to get around Lafontant.

When Lafontant keeps his weight back, his length and wide frame will allow him to recover, and his overall play strength should allow him to anchor against power rushers. There is plenty to like about Kentucky’s newest commitment.

Another box checked in 2024

When Kentucky landed blue-chip quarterback Cutter Boley, that addressed the need for quarterback in this cycle. When Kentucky added Jadon Lafontant, that addressed the need at offensive guard.

Eli Cox (redshirt senior) and Kenneth Horsey (super senior) could each be entering their final season in Lexington. Ohio State transfer Ben Christman (redshirt sophomore) is next in line at guard and has multiple years of eligibility remaining. Koby Keenum (true freshman) appears to be a guard all the way. There could be starting spots up for grabs almost immediately in 2025. Lafontant and Aba Selm could both be in a spot to seize a playing time opportunity.

The latest Kentucky offensive line addition has great size, finishing ability, and play strength. A translatable skill set that can be a good fit in any offense.