ZERO Kentucky Wildcats on Preseason Coaches All-SEC First Team

If this Kentucky football team needs bulletin board material, the SEC football coaches will happily oblige. Tuesday afternoon the Preseason Coaches All-SEC teams were unveiled. There were zero first team selections from Mark Stoops’ Kentucky football team.

If you continue to scroll through the list of preseason All-SEC selections from the coaches, you will eventually find a few Wildcats. DL Deone Walker and EDGE J.J. Weaver made the cut for the second team on defense, while IOL Eli Cox was picked to the third team offense.

The ‘disrespect’ card was also played after the media’s picks were unveiled earlier this summer. Cox, Weaver and Walker were the only players included and none of them were first team selections.

Even though Kentucky is not receiving a ton of preseason love from the prognosticators, the computer rankings believe Kentucky is a borderline top 25 team. They received votes in both the AP and Coaches Poll. ESPN’s SP+ ranks the Wildcats No. 24 overall and projects Kentucky to be a favorite in eight games this fall.

More on Weaver, Walker and Cox

Kentucky is expecting big things from their big guys in the trenches, particularly on defense. Over the weekend Mark Stoops shared he had to take Walker out of UK’s second scrimmage because he was too dominant. At Monday’s kickoff luncheon in Louisville, the Kentucky head coach shared his enthusiasm from Weaver’s offseason progress.

“J.J. has been a steady guy for us for years, as you know. I’m looking forward to him having a really big season. He needs to make a big jump, just for him personally. He’s always been a good player for us, but he’s gained weight, he’s worked really hard, he’s had a great camp and I expect him to have a really good season,” said Stoops.

Cox has appeared in 30 games, including 22 starts. This fall he’s moving back to his natural position at right guard after one year at center.

Preseason Coaches All-SEC First Team

Who made the cut ahead of the Wildcats? Take a closer look for yourself.

OFFENSE
QB	Jayden Daniels	LSU
RB	Quinshon Judkins	Ole Miss
RB	Raheim Sanders	Arkansas
WR	Malik Nabers	LSU
WR	Antwane Wells*	South Carolina
WR	Ladd McConkey*	Georgia
TE	Brock Bowers	Georgia
OL	JC Latham	Alabama
OL	Tate Ratledge	Georgia
OL	Will Campbell	LSU
OL	Amarius Mims	Georgia
C	Sedrick Van Pran	Georgia
AP	Ainias Smith	Texas A&M

DEFENSE
DL	Mekhi Wingo	LSU
DL	Mykel Williams	Georgia
DL	Nazir Stackhouse	Georgia
DL	Maason Smith	LSU
LB	Dallas Turner	Alabama
LB	Harold Perkins	LSU
LB	Jamon Dumas-Johnson	Georgia
DB	Kool-Aid McKinstry	Alabama
DB	Malaki Starks	Georgia
DB	Javon Bullard	Georgia
DB	Dwight McGlothern	Arkansas

SPECIAL TEAMS
PK	Will Reichard	Alabama
P	Kai Kroeger	South Carolina
RS	Kool-Aid McKinstry	Alabama
KOS	Mitch Jeter	South Carolina
LS	Wesley Schelling	Vanderbilt