Injuries have hindered RB La'Vell Wright, but opportunity for playing time is there

With Chris Rodriguez off to the NFL after being drafted by the Washington Commanders, Kentucky is still searching for a clear-cut RB1 ahead of the 2023 season. While none of the current running backs on the Wildcats’ roster appear to have the talent that C-Rod blessed Kroger Field with for years, there are a handful of reliable options in the backfield for offensive coordinator Liam Coen to roll out.

Most notably, Kentucky dipped into the transfer portal this offseason for Vanderbilt running back Ray Davis, who rattled off over 1,000 rushing yards with the Commodores in 2022, including a 129-yard performance in a win over his new team. Super senior Ramon Jefferson is finally set to make his Kentucky debut after transferring to Lexington last year but missing the 2022 season with an injury. A third transfer, NC State’s Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, is earning plenty of praise during training camp and could be in line for immediate playing time.

It doesn’t stop there though. Freshman Jamarion Wilcox joins Kentucky with the potential to suit up right away while senior JuTahn McClain has been steady in a backup role for the ‘Cats over the years. But the odd man out since he arrived as a former three-star high school recruit has been North Hardin product La’Vell Wright, who holds just 238 rushing yards to his name as a college player.

The issue for Wright has never been his skillset, but his availability — or lack thereof at key moments. Small injuries here and there have added up, limiting his playing time during his first two seasons in Lexington. That’s unfortunately carried over into the early days of fall camp, where Wright was once again on the mend. But with a few weeks until the season opener, he’s now healthy and trying to wiggle his way into the rotation. The opportunity is certainly going to be there for more reps in 2023.

“La’Vell is a great kid that has been nicked up in his career, was nicked up again this training camp,” Coen said on Tuesday. “So I hadn’t really seen a ton of La’Vell throughout this training camp. He just kinda got back into the mix and he’s a guy that, when you do have to tackle, he can definitely shine at times. The more we can get out of La’Vell Wright, the more he’ll play. But that’s really more so up to him and his availability and his consistency to be available for us to play each week.”

Wright, heading into his redshirt sophomore campaign, appeared in all 13 games a season ago for Kentucky as a redshirt freshman, but tallied just 120 total yards on 39 carries with no touchdowns. Compare that to his true freshman season when he appeared in a mere two games but produced better stats with 118 yards on nine carries and one touchdown — granted, 41 of those yards came on one play in the midst of a blowout over Louisville.

In short, there has been little consistency from the Bluegrass native.

But it’s clear Wright is trending in the right direction. Starting quarterback Devin Leary, who has dealt with a series of injuries in his own right, is noticing the improvement too. The next step for Wright is putting it all together once the season begins.

“La’Vell did really good things today, he keeps getting better,” Leary said following Saturday’s closed scrimmage.