Kentucky football will stay old with blend of super seniors, transfers in 2022

In the last week, the Kentucky football team has gotten a lot of good news. On both offense and defense, the Wildcats are getting seniors back for a final ride in the Commonwealth.

As Mark Stoops and his program look to continue to close the gap with Georgia in the SEC East, Kentucky must find any advantage possible. Kentucky has closed the gap on signing day with improved high school recruiting, but the Bulldogs are consistently signing top-five classes under Kirby Smart. Therefore, the Wildcats must find some other places to close the gaps.

With the transfer portal, Kentucky has been able to find some instant starters, but that is also a tool available to the Bulldogs and the other elites in college football.

However, Georgia tends to lose a lot of players early to the NFL Draft. Kentucky does not. The best way for the Wildcats to close the gap might be by getting old and staying old.

Thanks to the extra year of eligibility issued by the NCAA for those student-athletes that participated in the 2020 season, football teams can now bring veterans on for an extra super senior year. That is starting to pay off for Kentucky.

Add that in with a couple of key returning seniors, and the Wildcats could be building towards another special season in 2022.

Returnees and transfer additions raise the floor on offense

On signing day in December, transfers Tashawn Manning (Auburn) and Tayvion Robinson (Virginia Tech) were the first two new additions announced from the portal for the 2022 season. Manning will be a super senior, and Robinson will be a fourth-year senior when spring practice begins in a month.

Adding veteran pieces from the waiver wire was key, but getting some other parts back gives Kentucky a chance to have a special season.

Before the Citrus Bowl, quarterback Will Levis announced that the former Penn State transfer will be back for his redshirt senior season in 2022. On Monday, tailback Chris Rodriguez Jr. made it public that the Metro Atlanta product will be back for a redshirt senior season in Lexington.

Wan’Dale Robinson is off to the NFL and leaves some big shoes to fill. However, the returnees will help close that gap. With a proven quarterback in a proven system utilizing one of the best tailbacks in college football will be a good place to start.

Elsewhere, there will be other redshirt seniors ready to help. Kenneth Horsey (OL) and Keaton Upshaw (TE) are other suspected starters. Kentucky also could get Dare Rosenthal back for his redshirt senior season.

From an explosiveness standpoint, the Wildcats have some legitimate questions to answer as a lot is unproven at the wide receiver position. However, Kentucky is now strong at every other spot thanks to senior depth. That should raise the floor and give Kentucky great efficiency on offense.

Defensive front seven is doubling down with veterans

Recently, Kentucky’s defensive line has gotten a lot of talk. Ohio State transfer Darrion Henry-Young was added on Monday, and the newcomer helps fill a position of need for position coach Anwar Stewart.

The Wildcats look to be a legit two-deep at each position along their three-down front and that has people excited. Yet, the surrounding pieces are where the real excitement should be.

The party got started over the weekend when EDGE Jordan Wright announced that the South Florida product will be back for a super senior season. Shortly after, off-ball linebackers Jacquez Jones and DeAndre Square also made their intentions known of returning for next year.

The Wildcats now have their erasers at the second level.

Square will be a master for the defense and will serve as an extra coach on the field. Teaming up with Jones will give Kentucky an excellent one-two punch at Mike and Will. Meanwhile, D’Eryk Jackson and Trevin Wallace can be used to create a true platoon for new position coach Mike Stoops.

On the edge, Wright will get to team up with redshirt junior J.J. Weaver to give White multiple pass-rushing threats off of the edge. Add in his ability to drop into coverage as a high-quality zone defender, and the Wildcats have a multi-dimensional player that is a proven havoc creator.

The Wildcats have some major questions to answer in the secondary before the 2022 season arrives, but the pieces in the front seven should help the Wildcats solve some issues.