Kentucky freshmen making immediate impact "bodes well" for future of program

When Kentucky football opens the 2022 season on Saturday against Miami (OH), they’ll do so with seven true freshmen on the depth chart, including a pair of wide receivers on the starting line. It’s an unusually talented group of rookies in Lexington — arguably the best that head coach Mark Stoops has brought in during his tenure with the Wildcats.

They’ve all earned their spots at this stage in the year. This isn’t a case of a lack of talent in front of them, either. Several redshirt freshmen have also assumed starting roles ahead of the season opener. The experience they’ll all gain will be invaluable on and off the field in the coming years as their development takes off.

“It bodes well for the future of the program,” New offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello said on Tuesday about having so many impact freshmen. “Coach (Vince) Marrow and the whole staff did an outstanding job recruiting last year. I think they’ve taken the program to a level where we’re all experiencing those types of players can come in here. It’s exciting. It’s exciting for now, it’s exciting for the future, and we’re gonna build on that.”

Of the seven true freshmen in the rotation, four-star wide receivers Dane Key and Barion Brown are listed as starters. Key and Brown were highly regarded out of high school and will have big shoes to fill in the place of Wan’Dale Robinson, who is now with the New York Giants. A decent percentage of Kentucky’s offense (and Will Levis‘ overall production) will be reliant on a pair of fresh 19-year-olds.

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They won’t be the only two to see the field, though. Five-star offensive lineman Kiyaunta Goodwin is the backup at left tackle while four-star prospects Keaten Wade, Deone Walker (a preseason true freshman All-American, according to On3), Josh Kattus, and Alex Afari are also second-string backups at their respective positions.

Reports out of summer and fall camp are that the rookies look noticeably different than previous groups of freshmen. The overall talent is a step above what it has been, which isn’t a knock on previous classes — this group is just that good. It also helps to have plenty of veteran leaders surrounding them who can point them in the right direction or correct any mistakes.

Those are lessons that they can carry over to the next generation of Wildcats.

“I try to give (the freshmen) advice when I can. I don’t like to be the spotlight but if I can give advice to young guys and show them a better way then I’m gonna do that,” Auburn offensive line transfer Tashawn Manning said on Tuesday.

But eventually, the first-year guys will have to go out and perform on the field. It won’t be perfect, especially early on, but the learning curve shouldn’t be too much to handle for a group this talented.

“All you can do is take them through the walkthroughs, take them through the practice, but until the lights come on — and even with rookies in the NFL it doesn’t matter — you really don’t know,” Scangarello, who previously coached with the San Francisco 49ers, added. “My gut feeling is some of these guys that played in big games in high school, they’re mature, and that’s why they’ve earned the opportunity as freshmen to play because they have good football sense. So you hope that it sinks in pretty quickly and they ease into it without too much nerves. But for everyone it’s different.”

With three of Kentucky’s opening four games this season coming against non-conference opponents, the first third of the schedule will give a much clearer picture as to which freshmen are truly ready to make an impact come November. If the rookies can be legitimate contributors from day one, it puts Kentucky not only in great shape this year, but for years to come.