Marquan McCall taking "day by day" approach as he considers future

Marquan McCall is one of 22 Wildcats that will participate in Saturday’s Senior Day ceremony ahead of the season finale at Kroger Field against New Mexico State. The monster in the middle of the defense is nearing the end of his fourth year on Kentucky’s campus, but an extra year of COVID-19 eligibility could bring him back for one more year. Wednesday night he gave no indication if he’s leaning one way or another.

“I’m just soaking everything in, day by day. I got a lot of questions to ask,” he said. “I’m just taking it all in, going day by day with everything.”

Entering the season few expected McCall to return for the 2022 season. Those expectations slightly changed when an injury against Florida sidelined him for more than a month. McCall played just 19 snaps in his return to the field against Vanderbilt. His lengthy absence will not play a factor in his upcoming decision.

“I missed a lot of games, a couple games. They were important but if you watch film, you know what I can do and what I can’t do. I don’t really let that determine whether I stay or not. It’s all in God’s hands at the end of the day,” said McCall.

NFL scouts are not bothered by the time he missed. They’re more interested to see how he performs following the injury. In an extensive profile in The Athletic, Jim Nagy and the Senior Bowl scouts shared insight on NFL prospects. They believe the former four-star recruit from Detroit has more upside than fifth round draft pick Quinton Bohanna, under the right circumstances.

“This is the first year he’s finally figured it out — how to prepare, how to train. It’ll be interesting to see what he looks like when he comes back from his injury. What has he been doing in the down time? That’ll be a big indicator for me how he plays if he does come back later in the season from a conditioning standpoint.”

Andy Dengler tells The Athletic

In addition to his talent, McCall has another thing going for him: his intangibles. An infectious personality, the Big Bully plays with an edge and provides much-needed juice to the defense.

“I just feel like if nobody else brings it, somebody has to, so I try to be that somebody that brings it everyday, all day. It’s not just Saturdays. I bring it Monday through Saturday. Being there, somebody could be having a bad day. They see me amped up, they see me with all the juice and it makes them want to be juiced up and hyped too. I just try to make sure we’re all on the same page.”

A beloved member of the BBN, McCall has a decision to make. If the season finishes according to plan, Saturday could be the last chance we’ll get to see Bully at Kroger Field. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Dort, White Preview Senior Day

In addition to McCall, defensive coordinator Brad White and Cedrick Dort spent some time discussing the upcoming matchup against New Mexico State and what this Senior Day means to the Kentucky football program.