Spring Briefing: Can Jamarion Wilcox and Dante Dowdell revive Kentucky's run game?

Preparations for the 2024 college football season are already underway at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility. In a few short weeks, cleats will be hitting the grass practice fields and/or the turf at the Nutter Field House as Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops oversees his 13th team at Kentucky.

The Wildcats will be hopeful that tailback can become a positional strength once again.

Kentucky has always been at its best under Stoops when there was a star tailback in the backfield. Benny Snell Jr., Chris Rodriguez Jr., and Ray Davis all became first-team All-SEC selections and Day 3 draft picks after reaching a 1,000-yard rushing season. Boom Williams also rushed for over 1,000 yards in 2016. A.J. Rose left Lexington with 1,971 career rushing yards.

The Wildcats could always lean on the tailback position. That wasn’t the case in 2024. Despite getting a valiant season-long effort from Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, the offense suffered due to the lack of playmaking and dependability at running back.

That must change for offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan and running backs coach Jay Boulware.

In KSR’s Spring Briefing series, we will cover every position on Kentucky’s roster before spring practice begins. Next up is tailback where UK is invested in the top two backs becoming impact performers for this offense.

Spring Briefing: Another year, another QB1 at Kentucky

The Room

Jamarion Wilcox (5-10, 190, Redshirt Sophomore)

The Douglasville (Ga.) South Paulding product was a big recruiting win for Kentucky in the 2023 high school cycle and everyone got to see the potential when Wilcox received carries in 2024. The explosive tailback rushed for over 100 yards against a very good Tennessee run defense, forced 30 missed tackles on 92 carries, and flashed the ability to grind out tough yards against Georgia and Texas. Wilcox has star potential, but there were also maturity and dependability issues with the young player last season. That led to Mark Stoops addressing an inability to keep cleats on as a reason Wilcox was being taken out of games. But the talent is undeniable at this point.

Dante Dowdell (6-2, 227, Junior)

Kentucky’s big-ticket transfer addition came as a bit of a surprise. The Nebraska tailback entered the portal on Dec. 16 and committed to Kentucky on Dec. 20. The two-time transfer will be on his third school after beginning his career at Oregon. A former blue-chip recruit out of Picayune (Miss.) High, Dowdell isn’t a big-play producer, but was the best short-yardage tailback in college football last season playing in the Big Ten. Dowdell will give UK some much-needed size in the backfield.

Jason Patterson (5-10, 203, Redshirt Freshman)

The Sneads (Fla.) High product led the state of Florida in rushing yards (2,721) as a junior in 2022. Patterson played in four games in his first season at Kentucky preserving his redshirt. The high three-star recruit — and former Cincinnati commit — rushed for 45 yards against South Carolina and 38 yards against Auburn. The second-year player enters spring practice as RB3.

Tovani Mizell (6-0, 213, Redshirt Freshman)

A former Georgia commit, Mizell committed to Kentucky over North Carolina after his official visit in June. The class of 2024 product missed his senior season at Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Western due to a knee injury. The young tailback was not fully cleared for contact until the middle of last season. Spring practice will be an opportunity for Mizell to make a splash in a position room without much depth.

Top Storyline: What does Kentucky get from Jamarion Wilcox?

Kentucky’s offensive staff went to work in the transfer portal. The Wildcats added potential four new starters on the offensive line, went addition-heavy at wide receiver, found a new starting quarterback, and addressed depth at tight end. Jalen Farmer, Josh Kattus, Jager Burton, and Ja’Mori Maclin are some returning starters expected to play roles but this will mostly be a free agent unit.

Will that be the case at tailback with Dante Dowdell or will Jamarion Wilcox have the top role? The most likely answer is a committee approach, but the dependability of Wilcox is something everyone will be watching closely.

The young tailback proved that he is an SEC-caliber player last season but fumbles (3 in 92 carries) and behind the scenes accountability were issues. Will the light come on for Wilcox in year three? Kentucky may have its next All-SEC player if it does.

An argument can be made that Wilcox is the most important player on Kentucky’s offense. The Wildcats need to find some stars and the redshirt sophomore has some star potential.

What to Watch: How Dante Dowdell could fix the short-yardage offense

Kentucky finished the season ranked No. 120 nationally in third down conversion rate (33.8%) and No. 110 nationally in red zone touchdown percentage (52.9%). Goal-to-go offense was a massive issue. Short-yardage at-large was a big problem. Kentucky finished the season ranked No. 103 nationally in yards per rush (2.88) when faced with a third-and-short (three yards or less) situation.

This is a problem that has to get fixed. Kentucky added the best short-yardage tailback in college football to fix the problem.

Dante Dowdell led college football in short-yardage rushing success rate (88.9%) on third down. That should upgrade the offense. Dowdell scored 12 times in the red zone for Nebraska last season. That should upgrade the offense.

The Big Ten transfer adds some needed size and power to the lineup. We might not get to see that short-yardage thunder in action this spring, but Dowdell’s presence could make people in and around the program feel better about Kentucky’s biggest offensive weakness in 2024 not becoming a weakness in 2025.

Bold Prediction: Kentucky adds another tailback from the transfer portal after spring practice

The vibes will be positive around Dante Dowdell and Jamarion Wilcox being Kentucky’s clear top 1-2 punch at tailback, but the lack of depth will be concerning. That will lead to Kentucky going to the transfer portal when it opens in April to address the position.

Expect the Wildcats to add a veteran piece with experience to come in and compete with Jason Patterson for the RB3 role in fall camp. Kentucky simply needs more body at this attrition-heavy position. UK is one or two injuries away from being in real trouble at tailback. Kentucky needs this position to be good and cannot afford to let unavailability eat up the offense.

Roster-building is not done at tailback.