Kentucky WR Fred Farrier 'brings the juice' in spring practice

Maxwell Hairston knows a thing or two about top-quality wide receivers, he battles them all the time. Kentucky’s star cornerback, who picked off five passes last year and took two to the house, spoke to the media on Saturday about what he has seen thus far, two weeks into spring practice. When asked which player on offense or defense has surprised him the most early on, he threw out a player you might not have guessed.

The first name he jumped to was a wide receiver, but it wasn’t high-profile freshmen, Hardley Gilmore or Shamar Porter. It wasn’t even top-notch transfer, Ja’Mori Maclin. Instead, Hairston called out Fred Farrier II as the player who has stood out the most in spring practice.

“Fred Farrier brings the juice. He’s a great route runner; he catches the ball. Going up against him, as well as Barion [Brown] and Dane [Key], he’s really taken that [next] step too, already early in camp. Really, that whole receiver room has taken that next step.”

Hairston elaborated on what he meant when he said Farrier brings the juice.

“It’s not even necessarily just trash-talking, but having energy, going out there and encouraging teammates, lifting his teammates. If he drops the ball, he’s going to forget about it; next play mentality. And, you know, you can just see stuff like that. It’s starting to show up more and more, and I’m excited to go on [the field] with him, as with the whole team.”

Originally from Frankfort, Kentucky, and Franklin County High School, Farrier played his first three years of football at UAB before transferring home this season. During his time at UAB, Farrier started seven games and recorded 29 catches for 389 yards and two touchdowns.

He will have two years of eligibility to bring that same type of juice to Kentucky football.