Kentucky Center Eli Cox Tabbed to Outland Tropy Watch List

The next great Kentucky center is teed up for a big season in Lexington. Before it begins, Eli Cox is on the Outland Trophy Watch List.

Like Kentucky’s last center, Luke Fortner, Cox is sliding down from offensive guard to snap footballs to Kentucky’s quarterback. Last year the Nicholasville, Ky. native was named a midseason All-American by the AP and ESPN. Nine starts into the season, his 2021 campaign was ended abruptly by a left hand injury. Prior to the injury, he earned SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors for his performance against LSU and scored a touchdown by jumping on a fumble against Missouri.

Cox was able to return for spring practice. The early reviews are in. Despite losing a center in the third round of the NFL Draft, Kentucky should not miss a beat on the Big Blue Wall.

Eli Cox is one of 89 interior linemen selected to the Outland Trophy Watch List. Selected by the Football Writers Association of America, last year Georgia nose guard Georgia Jordan Davis took home the honor. Kentucky has one previous Outland Trophy winner, Bob Gain in 1950. It is the third-oldest major college football award given annually. The recipient of the 2022 Outland Trophy will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards, live on ESPN on Thursday, Dec. 8. 

2022 Outland Trophy Watch List

C Steve Avila, TCU	G A.J. Gillie, Louisiana	G Lokahi Pauole, UCF
G Clark Barrington, BYU	OT Anton Harrison, Oklahoma	OT Nolan Potter Jr., NIU
DT Kyon Barrs, Arizona	C Sincere Haynesworth, Tulane	C Jake Renfro, Cincinnati
G T.J. Bass, Oregon	OT Cooper Hodges, App State	G Layden Robinson, Texas A&M
OT Cooper Beebe, Kansas State	DT Siaki Ika, Baylor	DT Jaquelin Roy, LSU
DT Keeanu Benton, Wisconsin	DT McKinnley Jackson, Texas A&M	G Brendan Schlittler, Liberty
OT Connor Bishop, Army	DT Desjuan Johnson, Toledo	C John Michael Schmitz, Minnesota
DT Bryan Bresee, Clemson	OT Paris Johnson Jr., Ohio State	OT Peter Skoronski, Northwestern
G Marco Brewer, Oregon State	OT Broderick Jones, Georgia	DT Jacob Slade, Michigan State
G Nick Broeker, Ole Miss	OT Dawand Jones, Ohio State	OT Everett Smalley, Air Force
DT Jalen Carter, Georgia	DT Calijah Kancey, Pitt	G Sidy Sow, Eastern Michigan
G Caleb Chandler, Louisville	OT Jaxson Kirkland, Washington	OT Cole Spencer, Texas Tech
DT Elijah Chatman, SMU	C Willie Lampkin, Coastal Carolina	OT Austin Stidham, Troy
DT Will Choloh, Troy	OT Quantavious Leslie, WKU	DT Dante Stills, West Virginia
C Eli Cox, Kentucky	G Josh Lugg, Notre Dame	C Ricky Stromberg, Arkansas
OT Braeden Daniels, Utah	G Christian Mahogany, Boston College	C Malik Sumter, Georgia State
DT Tyler Davis, Clemson	C Ahofitu Maka, UTSA	DT Junior Tafuna, Utah
DT Gervon Dexter, Florida	DT Scott Matlock, Boise State	DT Leonard Taylor, Miami
C Trevor Downing, Iowa State	OT Jordan McFadden, Clemson	OT Kadeem Telfort, UAB
DT Cory Durden, N.C. State	C Manase Mose, North Texas	OT Joe Tippmann, Wisconsin
DT Justin Eboigbe, Alabama	DT Myles Murphy, North Carolina	OT O’Cyrus Torrence, Florida
G Emil Ekiyor, Alabama	DT PJ Mustipher, Penn State	DT Tuli Tuipulotu, USC
DT Ikenna Enechukwu, Rice	OT Zion Nelson, Miami	C Alama Uluave, San Diego State
G Warren Ericson, Georgia	C Drake Nugent, Stanford	G Andrew Vorhees, USC
OT Alfred Edwards, Utah State	OT Dylan O’Quinn, Cincinnati	OT Carter Warren, Pitt
C Alex Forsyth, Oregon	OT John Ojukwu, Boise State	DT Daymond Williams, Buffalo
OT Blake Freeland, BYU	C Olusegun Oluwatimi, Michigan	OT Dylan Wonnum, South Carolina
OT Aaron Frost, Nevada	OT Alex Palczewski, Illinois	G Hunter Woodard, Oklahoma State
C Jacob Gall, Baylor	C Jarrett Patterson, Notre Dame	G Zak Zinter, Michigan
OT Connor Galvin, Baylor	OT Patrick Paul, Houston