LaRosa's Kentucky Football Preseason Position Previews: Edge

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Josh Allen raised the bar for Kentucky’s edge defenders. Unfortunately, Josh Allen ain’t walking through that door. A year after finishing 113th in sack rate, Brad White is relying on a few former four-star prospects to crank up the pressure on opposing quarterbacks in 2021.

Time for Jordan Wright to Shine

Jordan Wright is a big play maker. The redshirt senior from Ft. Lauderdale has sprayed the stat sheet throughout his Kentucky career. He’s scored a touchdown in each of the two seasons he’s been a starter, something few defensive players can say. The first was a memorable dagger through the hearts of the Virginia Tech Hokies, scooping a fumble and taking it to the house in the final play of the 2019 Belk Bowl.

Here's Jordan Wright (@JayyDubb15) scoop up fumble to the house to seal the deal for the Wildcats. What a game! pic.twitter.com/hAJZSD60Vo

— Bradley McKee (@Bradley_B_Roll) December 31, 2019

In the second game of the 2020 season he was one of a handful of Wildcats that picked off a Mississippi State pass, skipping across the end zone to propel the Wildcats to a victory and earn SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors. Kentucky needs that Jordan Wright every single Saturday this fall.

Brad White has preached consistency to Wright since the coach came to Lexington from the Indianapolis Colts’ organization in 2018. Wright has all of the tools to get to the quarterback, but he has has struggled at times to “get home” and take the quarterback to the ground. In two years he has 11.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. Kentucky needs that much production, and maybe even more, from Wright in 2021.

J.J. Weaver Returns from Injury

“When he got hurt, he was a dominant force on that football field,” Brad White said at UK football media day. “If you just look at the film, when J.J. played in that Alabama game and when J.J. played in that Florida game, he was as dominant of a football player as anybody on that football field.”

Kentucky’s defensive coordinator summed up the outlook on Wright with that statement well. He could become Kentucky’s next great edge rusher, IF he’s healthy. Weaver tore his right ACL in his first career start against Florida while playing the best game of his career. Expectations for when exactly he will return have been tempered, but he is doing just about everything in practice except full 11-on-11 contact drills. I believe we will see No. 13 in the season-opener, just with a snap count as he eases his way back into football shape.

Supporting Cast

#55 Justice Dingle — The second-ranked player from the Commonwealth and a four-star prospect in the class of ’18, the Bowling Green product began his collegiate career at Georgia Tech. Not long after arriving in Atlanta, there was a coaching change that forced Dingle to move from outside linebacker to defensive end. Back to his more natural fit in Lexington as a stand-up linebacker, Dingle is a stout run edge defender that has a nose for the football, recovering three fumbles in his only full season of action.

#47. K.D. McDaniel — Limited to just five games last season as Boogie Watson’s back-up, the South Georgia product does not bring much experience to the table, yet he’s one of only a few in the room that has spent more than a season learning the Sam linebacker position.

#42 Marquez Bembry — A former JUCO prospect, Bembry mirrors Boogie Watson in that he’s played just about every linebacker position for the Wildcats. Late to the party in his first season after undergoing knee surgery in the spring, he was moved from outside to provide depth inside in 2020. Bembry earned a couple of starts and recorded 27 tackles in 11 games. Now needed to provide some juice to the outside linebackers’ room, unlike most of his counterparts, he has experience operating in open space, the most difficult tasked asked of the position.

Small Ball

As you can tell by now, this is a group that lacks experience and depth, particularly at the Sam position (a.k.a. the OLB that rarely lines up as a defensive end). To mitigate this problem, Kentucky will likely operate out of its “medium” package as the base defense. Adam Luckett explains it in greater detail, but to put it simply, the medium package subs out the Sam linebacker for a safety that isn’t afraid to play close to the line of scrimmage. Davonte Robinson and Vito Tisdale will rack up snaps from this set, allowing Stoops to get his best 11 players on the field at once.

Something You Didn’t Know

It’s pretty well-known by now that J.J. Weaver was born with six fingers on his right hand. What people do forget is that Jordan Wright was quite the hooper back in the day. He led Dillard High School to a state championship as a junior and could’ve played collegiately. A 6-foot-5 shooting guard, the big fella is a high-flying athlete.

😂😭 had to do it to my Ol Boy today💯🙌 pic.twitter.com/TS5RwMa3dw

— Jordan Wright (@JayyDubb15) February 25, 2015

One Big Question

Are there enough pieces?

Kentucky’s defense relies on the Jack linebacker to do a lot: rush the passer, create tackles for loss against the run and drop into pass coverage. The weight is even heavier on the shoulders of Wright and Weaver to do it all for a position that lacks depth. It’s even more worrisome as Weaver returns from an injury. The two have the talent to create chaos behind the line of scrimmage, but it’s much easier said than done.

One Big Prediction

“J.J. Weaver will finish top five in the SEC in sacks and TFLs.”

The injury talk has been a big caveat throughout the entirety of this preview. Throw that out the window and the prediction is clearly an obtainable goal. In 2019 Boogie Watson was one sack and one TFL from reaching this landmark, and no offense to Boogie, but Weaver is better. He can become a difference-making day one NFL Draft pick. Year three is going to be J.J. Weaver’s coming out party in Lexington.