"That man is crazy." TE Josh Kattus is bringing the intensity ahead of year two

Josh Kattus only hauled in seven receptions as a true freshman in 2022, but the future is incredibly bright for the 6-foot-4 tight end.

After appearing in 11 games a season ago, including three starts, mostly as a blocking tight end, Kattus is back with even bigger expectations in year two where he’ll now be playing under offensive coordinator Liam Coen. The Cincinnati (OH) Archbishop Moeller product broke out as a potential star in the back half of the 2022 campaign, recording all of his stats in his final four games of the season with Kentucky. He finished with seven receptions for 125 yards, good enough for 17.9 yards per catch.

The only thing that has prevented Kattus, a former three-star recruit, from being the talk of the offseason was an injury, which he fully overcame during the last couple of months. He went from sporting the inactive red practice jersey to the active blue one for Saturday’s closed scrimmage.

“Matter of fact, it was one of the practices a while back now that Kattus was in there, just mixing it up like he does, blocking somebody that’s a foot taller than him and a hundred pounds more,” Stoops said on Saturday. “But he’s scraping and getting it done. Then I’m like why the hell does he have a red jersey on? If he’s gonna do this, either he’s cleared or not cleared. And I’m no doctor, I’m not taking him out of the red until a doctor says, but he was cleared to do a certain drill. And I’m like well if he’s cleared to do that, he’s cleared to do anything. Sure enough, about 15 minutes later he came out with a blue shirt on. Been a blue shirt ever since.”

“It was a long time coming,” Kattus added.

Kentucky is once again going to have a talented and deep tight end room — Kattus among the best. He’s one of the most effective blockers on the team and proved at the end of 2022 to be a reliable pass-catching option. He’ll even be valuable in the running game for the Wildcats moving forward. “Positional versatility” is the buzzword phrase often associated with Kattus. But maybe it should be “crazy”.

“Kattus is crazy. I can say that right now, Kattus is crazy,” Kentucky junior linebacker Trevin Wallace said on Saturday. “He just screams out of nowhere, you’ll be like that man is crazy. Kattus is real crazy and he brings that intensity. If you slacking he’s gonna hit you in the mouth. It’s real good to have someone like Kattus.”

Stoops wouldn’t go as far as to say that Kattus is crazy, but he did acknowledge the tight end’s intensity and how it rubs off on his teammates in a positive way.

“The guys respect it. Josh is a guy that they feed off of,” Stoops said. “They see the way he plays and he’s committed. He’s scrappy, he’s tough, he does really good, he plays hard.”

Truthfully, when you play college football, especially in the Southeastern Conference, it probably helps to be a little bit crazy — to have an edge on the field that gives you an added dose of confidence. Kentucky fans won’t have to worry about that being an issue with Kattus. It comes naturally to him.

“You got to bring it every play,” Kattus said. “We’re playing against great opponents, you gotta bring that physicality. You expect that from all 11 guys on the field, each and every play, and that’s how you’re gonna string together big drives. But just bringing the energy, and bringing it each and every play.”