Kentucky Not Concerned About Defensive Line Injuries

by:Nick Roush•07/18/24•

RoushKSR

Spring practice did not produce significant long-term storylines for the Kentucky football team, with one exception. Injuries to the defensive line added up, forcing Mark Stoops to reformat the spring game by eliminating tackles to the ground.

At the time, Stoops was unwilling to divulge too many details. He remained optimistic that most of the absences were only for the spring, but the status of a pair of players this fall is uncertain.

“We really felt really good about the depth of our defensive line. Took a little hit in the spring and even at one position (nose guard),” Stoops said.

“Josiah Hayes and Tavion Gadson — a young guy we’re really hopeful, looking forward to seeing him — and both of them took an injury in the spring. We’ll see when they get back, but we feel like we have some depth and some guys are stepping up and working hard. It’s pretty good to anchor it with Big No. Zero with Deone in there. We feel like we’ll be alright.”

One must feel confident about a defensive line when it’s anchored by Deone Walker. Nevertheless, Kentucky made a move this spring by adding JUCO transfer Dennious Jackson to fortify depth at nose guard. He has not yet arrived on campus.

How much Jackson will be able to contribute is unclear, which begs the question, will they have to ask Walker to play some in the A-gaps this fall?

“I’m prepared to play anything. They can move me around however they want. I can play a wide-9, I can drop back. I’m prepared to play nose, the field end, boundary end and I don’t care,” Walker told KSR.

“We also got a bunch of guys — Kahlil Saunders, big Keeshawn Silver, even Tre’vonn Rybka — all of them, they can play wherever. And that’s one big thing that we’ve been working on with our D-line coach, just being able to place anybody anywhere and not having any type of drop-off.”

Kentucky Cranking up the Pass Rush

Even though he has the size to play the position, Kentucky wants to avoid forcing Deone to fight double-teams inside. It limits his greatest asset, the ability to rush the passer against offensive tackles who can’t use size to win those battles. Walker will play a critical role in the Kentucky pass rush and he believes his teammates are ready to create chaos in the backfield this fall.

“We got a bunch of guys. JJ Weaver, he’s really stepped up his game. Octavious Oxendine, Kahlil Saunders has made a big jump as well. But then we even got some freshmen with Jerod and Jacob Smith. B-Rob, Brian Robinson, he’s a big guy, and I can tell that he’s getting it down.”

Another player not mentioned by Walker should add a ton of juice to the pass rush. Tyreese Fearbry popped in the Gator Bowl. The former Top 200 recruit has the length and quick twitch to bend the edge, something the Cats haven’t consistently had since Josh Allen was in Lexington.

“Tyreese did make some plays last year, and we need him to. We need that edge rusher. We need JJ Weaver to really be consistent. He’s shown flashes for years. He’s been around a while with a lot of experience, and we expect a lot out of JJ,” said Stoops.

“But Tyreese is stepping up and we need him to. We need to get back to having that edge pressure and at times be able to rush four and get the pressure you need and play coverage behind it. It’s obviously a mixture and a balance there that we’re always fighting.”