How Liam Coen's Offense & Two Former Wildcats Prepare Luke Fortner for the NFL Draft

Luke Fortner has a leg up on his peers in the 2022 NFL Draft, thanks to his offensive coordinator and a couple of former teammates.

As the All-SEC super senior nears completion of his MBA, his third degree at the University of Kentucky, he is also preparing for the NFL Draft. Considered one of the five best interior offensive linemen in the class, the former right guard and center was invited to participate in the Senior Bowl last week.

A prestigious NFL prep event in Mobile, it gave Fortner a chance to rise up draft boards. In addition to interviews with NFL front office personnel, he was tasked to learn the Detroit Lions’ scheme in one week’s time, then execute it on Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Fortner was fortunate he spent a year learning from Liam Coen. This week on 11 Personnel, he shared just how similar the Wildcats’ offense is to what we will see on Super Bowl Sunday.

“It’s absolutely similar. Everyone in general runs the same things, right? at that level most people run the same plays we run. But what will be interesting is being able to put a name to those plays, especially knowing the Rams and the Bengals both running specifically what Coach Coen runs,” Fortner shared in a 40-minute conversation on the podcast.

“I can’t imagine being in, for example, Drake Jackson’s position and going into that Senior Bowl and not having what we had last year in terms of offense. Because the stuff they were talking about down there is all stuff I learned this past year. It’s something I’m really thankful for the opportunity to work with Coach Coen before I embarked on this, or otherwise I would be lost.”

In one year’s time, he learned the foundations of an NFL offense. It paid dividends last week.

Fortner’s Help from Stenberg, Drake

In addition to Coen’s playbook, he also got a little help from his friends. Big Blue Wall alumni Drake Jackson and Logan Stenberg are training in Lexington with Fortner this offseason. Stenberg was sidelined with a knee injury last season, but he came armed with knowledge of the Lions’ playbook. Jackson also had experience with Dan Campbell’s system, participating in Detroit’s training camp this summer.

“It was big having Drake Jackson around and Logan Stenberg around. They were both with the Lions and I knew I was going to have the Lions’ coaches (at the Senior Bowl). So they gave me a crash course of, ‘This is what they call this. When they’re saying this, they’re referring to x-y-z.’ Having that was big.”

The two provided insight into terminology and gave him a heads up on what to expect. Jackson’s experience at center also saved Fortner from an early slip up or two.

“The Wednesday before I was going to leave, Drake was like, ‘Have you snapped with an NFL ball?'”

Luke responded, negatively. “I forgot it was different. I didn’t even think about it.”

Drake replied, “We should probably do that before you get out of here.”

Fortner got his hands on The Duke before departing Lexington, then came ready to play in Mobile. He’ll continue to train with Drake until it’s time to go to Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine in early March.