"Margins are tight" as Kentucky Offense Kicks Off Preseason Practice

We are only two days away from the first Kentucky football practice of the 2024 season. The Wildcats will kick things off Wednesday with the first of two helmets-only practices before the shoulder pads add a little extra pop to the preseason festivities.

This will be Bush Hamdan’s first SEC soiree since he was on the Missouri sideline back in 2021. The new Kentucky offensive coordinator is anxious to see which Wildcats step up to climb up the depth chart over the next month of practice.

“I think this is going to be one of the trickiest years since I’ve been coaching, and I say that because the margin of talent at so many spots is so slight,” Hamdan said on Monday’s Leach Report.

“I think about our wide receivers. There are guys that are extremely talented and need to work on playing more consistent. There’s guys that maybe aren’t the most talented in that room, but they’re extremely sharp, they’re tough, they know exactly what they’re doing.”

In other words, Kentucky’s top pass-catchers have viable competition pushing them to play more consistently, the biggest issue for the wide receiver room a year ago. If they don’t step up, Hamdan can rely on guys further down the depth chart to do their job. That isn’t the only position group where he likes the depth.

“Offensive line-wise, we feel comfortable. We’ve built depth there. There’s three tight ends that are really good players. The running back room is going to be an interesting room. I think when people watch our quarterbacks, you’re going to see three, four capable players. We’ll see who elevates themselves to really being the playmakers and taking this thing over, but I think the margins are pretty tight and there’s gonna be good competition and I think that’s how you know you have a good organization.”

Listen to Kentucky offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan on the Leach Report.

Kentucky has Quality Quarterback Depth

Kentucky has relied on the transfer portal to field quarterbacks and it’s done a fine job producing starters for the Wildcats. But as we saw back in 2022 once the starter went down, Kentucky was in trouble. While that’s the case for about every single college football program in America, a quarterback room should be deep enough to keep the boat afloat for 1-3 games. Hamdan believes he has enough options in the quarterback room if Brock Vandagriff is temporarily sidelined.

“It’s a very unique group, having four guys who all have intangibles and traits to their game that are probably different than the other guys. We’re extremely excited about our young quarterback Cutter Boley. I think he’s one of the more talented guys we’ve had in this program for a while,” Hamdan said Monday morning.

“Gavin Wimsatt‘s size, arm strength, and running ability will be a good addition for us. I always go back to Beau Allen, he’s a guy that can play the game. Goes to Tarleton, has an unbelievable year there. There were a lot of quarterbacks regardless of their ranking that would’ve gone there and maybe not played as well. This conference as you guys know, building depth, acquiring talent is so important and we’re certainly fortunate to have all those guys with us.”

That is a summary of Kentucky’s backup plan. The primary objective is let Brock eat. Hamdan can’t wait to see how Vandagriff grows as a player once he gets some live reps under his belt.

“There’s a certain level of toughness that he brings to the table with his size. He can make all the throws. He’s accurate. He throws a catchable ball. The unique thing about him, certainly in today’s game, is the athleticism piece, the ability to pull it down and run,” said the Kentucky offensive coordinator.

“I think it’ll always come back to decision-making and the consistency in that decision-making. We really believe he’s got all of the tools to be a successful quarterback in the SEC. Again, it’ll always come down to those first couple of games until you know exactly what you have.”

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