Class of 2024 offensive signees flash during Kentucky Fan Day

Kentucky inked a top-25 recruiting class in the 2024 recruiting cycle. The eight transfers added on offense will make a bigger impact this season, but a couple players could be key depth pieces and develop into pillars for the offense down the road. The Wildcats appear to have found some hits.

KSR had our Nike Air Max’s on the ground for the duration of Saturday’s workout at Kentucky Fan Day. Now we are unpacking what we saw on the practice fields outside of the Joe Craft Football Training Facility. We are starting with the offense where some young talent shined.

Hardley Gilmore IV looks like WR4

Hardley Gilmore IV was a reclassification in the 2024 recruiting class but still a notable four-star recruiting win for Kentucky. The young wideout showed up at the Gator Bowl practices in Jacksonville and immediately stood out. The buzz continued during spring practice despite a coaching change on offense.

The hype train is not slowing down. Gilmore currently looks like WR4 for Kentucky.

The true freshman was rotating in with the ones behind Barion Brown, Dane Key, and Ja’Mori Maclin. Gilmore was frustrating some cornerbacks with his aggressive blocking and has flashed some good route-running and ball skills when given opportunities.

We saw Bush Hamdan tinker with Key in the slot, Brock Vandagriff hit Brown on a vertical throw during team period, and Fred Farrier made some impressive plays against Kentucky’s second-team defense, but Gilmore’s usage was the biggest takeaway from Saturday.

The young wideout will have a role in year one and a key future piece for this offense.

A closer look at Kentucky’s offensive line depth

Bush Hamdan told KSR on Friday that he liked the offensive line depth on Friday and we got to see that play out over the last two days. On Saturday, I took a closer look at the trenches to see how things were playing out.

Malachi Wood (left tackle), Aba Selm (left guard), Koby Keenum (center), Dylan Ray (right guard), and Anfernee Crease (right tackle) were running with the twos. A young true freshman really stood out.

The Independence (Ky.) Simon Kenton product more than held his own during team period and won an individual rep against redshirt junior defensive lineman Khalil Saunders in one-on-one pass pro. Selm is well-built in the lower half and dropped anchor against the powerful defensive lineman while showing strong hands.

Selm is an early enrollee who has quickly carved out a spot in Kentucky’s two-deep. Buy stock on this young player.

Elsewhere, Kentucky’s starting offensive line remained the same, and Florida transfer Jalen Farmer immediately stood out. The redshirt sophomore is a big guard with good length and good positional size. The hand striking is currently inaccurate, and that hurt Farmer in individual drills as his hands were outside the numbers as defenders got into the right guard. However, you can see the power and potential. Farmer needs some refinement, but is a safe bet to open the season as a starter.

Brock Vandagriff shows command but deep ball accuracy is erratic

Kentucky has much riding on Georgia transfer Brock Vandagriff at quarterback. The Wildcats have turned to the former five-star recruit to run the show in Lexington. Vandagriff had some issues with accuracy on some deep ball on Saturday but flashed good command of the offense.

The redshirt junior is doing a good job getting his unit aligned pre-snap and getting the football snapped with efficiency. In the passing game, Vandagriff is protecting the football and taking what the defense gives him. On a play-action rep, Vandagriff fired a seed into Dane Key on a dig route between tight coverage. On that throw, the quarterback flashed the accuracy and velocity that will be needed to make tough throws at this level.

The zone read element was also shown again today. There are still unknowns with the new Kentucky starting quarterback, but we’ve seen the tools and scheme fit over the last two days. Deep ball accuracy doesn’t appear to be a strength at the moment, but a new offense still needs time to gel.

Gavin Wimsatt impresses

Kentucky did not add Rutgers transfer Gavin Wimsatt to the roster until May, but it has not taken the redshirt junior long to receive quality reps in practice. The former four-star recruit is running with the twos and played well on Saturday.

Wimsatt hit a deep over route and a go ball on Saturday in addition to showing off some of his athleticism in the zone read game. We’re expecting the Big Ten transfer to have a role as a wildcat quarterback, but that is hard to see at the moment since the quarterbacks are not live. But it’s clear that Wimsatt is a fit for the offense.

The veteran adds some athleticism to the position and can be a real threat running the football. The same could be said for Brock Vandagriff. QB run is coming to the offense, and we’ve seen some of how it could be used over the last two days.