First Down Kentucky: Elite must be Elite
Kentucky has wrapped fall camp and shifted into game prep mode at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility. Mark Stoops‘ team faces a difficult schedule but has built a well-rounded roster with some clear star power. Now the Wildcats need those stars to play like stars.
To reach this team’s ceiling, Kentucky must get special performances from its special players.
“You need your elite players to play like elite players. If you wanna be an elite defense those guys show up,” Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White told the media on Thursday. “They lead from the front and that’s what we need.”
The Wildcats need Deone Walker, J.J. Weaver, D’Eryk Jackson, Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Zion Childress, Maxwell Hairston, and others to make big plays on game day. There is a lot of confidence that those plays will happen once the game begins.
KSR’s First Down Kentucky is taking a closer look at some of those players after the final media availability session of the preseason.
Deone Walker is ready to go
Deone Walker is the best player on Kentucky’s football team. That is known and has been established. Now the Wildcats need him to play like the best player consistently. With great expectation comes great responsibility.
Kentucky will unleash the dominant defensive tackle one week from Saturday and defensive coordinator Brad White is ready to see what that looks like in 2024. White wants what all of Big Blue Nation wants.
“I want to see what everyone wants to see. We want to see a dominant defensive lineman,” White said. “We want to see that can absolutely alter a game.”
“I think he’s ready to do that. He’s been dialed in. We’ll just let him play, but he’s in a really good spot. I’ll tell you that.”
Walker has been generating some first-round draft buzz and could become a true difference-maker for Kentucky’s defense this fall.
J.J. Weaver can also make a difference
Class of 2019 J.J. Weaver is now in year six at Kentucky. The Louisville (Ky.) Moore product has played a lot of football for the Wildcats and has flown under the radar during fall camp but the expectations have not changed inside the football building. Kentucky will ask a lot out of Weaver this fall.
“People haven’t really talked about JJ this camp,” Brad White said. “We understand the difference he can make in a game.”
Kentucky’s defensive coordinator has seen an “increased maturity” in Weaver. The veteran is now able to move on to the next play quickly and keeps an even-keel mindset. Kentucky believes that could pay off this season. White says that Weaver is playing with freedom and that’s what his game has been missing.
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The super senior will play a big role at Jack linebacker for Kentucky again this fall.
Dennious Jackson might not be ready to contribute
The injury bug infiltrated Kentucky’s defensive line room in the spring and knocked out Josaih Hayes and Tavion Gadson for the season. That hurt Kentucky’s nose tackle depth in a serious way. The Wildcats attempted to address the need in the transfer portal before ultimately pivoting to the junior college market.
Kentucky added Evans (Ga.) Lakeside product Dennious Jackson after he spent two seasons at Contra Costa (Calif.) College. The expectation was that Jackson could help provide some interior depth in year one. That might not happen.
“He has a long way to go,” White told KSR about Jackson on Thursday.
The emergence of redshirt freshman Kendrick Gilbert has given the defense another option at defensive tackle. As of right now, it does not look like Jackson will be a part of the defensive line rotation this season.
Tampering is still an issue in college football
On Wednesday night, news broke that Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz and wide receivers coach Jon Budmayr have been suspended for the season-opening game versus Illinois State for recruiting violations. Those violations were due to the recruitment of Michigan quarterback transfer Cade McNamara.
Tampering is still against the rules and the NCAA is attempting to punish teams and coaches for the illegal act. Miami (Ohio) head coach Chuck Martin went out of his way on Thursday to make sure everyone knew that Alabama tampered, and stole kicker Graham Nicholson.
Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer quickly shot down the allegation, but we all know what is happening right now. Player movement is rampant and transfer decisions must happen very quickly. Coaching staffs are doing what they have to do to make sure their roster is filled with free agents. Some coaches are upset about it and the NCAA will attempt to enforce rules if you get caught.
Players are not supposed to be contacted until they are in the transfer portal but a ton of players have representation now. The train has already left the station and the tampering will likely continue. So do not be surprised if you see some more tampering punishments dished out in the future.
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