Although last year’s football season was a disappointment for the most part, one of the glaring bright spots was just how well Kentucky’s Freshman class performed.
Pro Football Focus ranked Kentucky’s Freshman class as the 8th best-performing class in the nation, and 5th amongst the SEC. Here is the full top 10 list:
LSU Tigers
Penn State Nittany Lions
Michigan Wolverines
Georgia Bulldogs
Texas A&M Aggies
Ole Miss Rebels
Clemson Tigers
Kentucky Wildcats
Texas Longhorns
Arizona Wildcats
Barion Brown
Kentucky’s leading receiver was true freshman Barion Brown. Brown caught 50 passes for 628 yards and 4 touchdowns.
However, Brown’s biggest threat came in special teams play. His ability to break off a huge kick return at any given time was unparalleled. He returned 16 kicks for a total of 440 yards (27.5 average), scoring one touchdown as well.
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Many were skeptical about how Kentucky would do with losing Wan’Dale Robinson to the NFL, but Barion Brown has been a very sufficient replacement thus far.
Dane Key
The former Frederick Douglass High School Bronco was the Cats’ primary red zone target in 2022.
Dane Key caught 37 passes for 519 yards and 6 touchdowns. Key’s 6’3, 194 lbs frame allowed him to out-physical most defensive backs to secure the ball for a touchdown.
Expect more of the same from Key: a lot of production, and ultimately, a lot of points. He is someone to be really excited about heading into the 2023 season.
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Deone Walker
Deone Walker is one of the more underrated pieces of this class. With a thinning defensive front, Walker is the glue that the UK defense needed last season.
Like any up-and-comer from Detroit, Walker exudes toughness and grit. He had 40 tackles (12 solo), 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble. Walker’s stats may not jump off of the page, but his value is certainly beyond the stat sheet.
His ability to cause mayhem up front will be relied on heading into 2023. The whole front seven will benefit from his raw talent and work ethic.
It Doesn’t Stop There…
La’Vell Wright (RB), Dekel Crowdus (WR), Jordan Dingle (TE), and Jager Burton (OL) showed us some serious potential as well. Any of those guys are capable of taking tremendous jumps in the 2023 season.
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Even Destin Wade, who was thrown in at QB against Iowa in the Music City Bowl, showed us some of his ability in the pocket. His mobility and his elusiveness flew under the radar as well.
All in all, the 2022 freshman class being ranked 8th in the nation by PFF isn’t some typo or error. These guys are legit, and expectations will be riding high heading into the 2023 season.
Take a look at the PFF rankings for yourself below:
With Cutter Boley recently committing to Kentucky and reclassifying, the next domino to fall could potentially be class of 2024 Covington Catholic Tight End Willie Rodriguez.
Rodriguez has told KY Insider that he is going to take an official visit at Kentucky on June 9 with Boley and another commit from Kentucky offensive line Aba Selm. Rodriguez says he is excited to see Boley and Selm.
“I can’t wait to meet to everyone on the official [visit],” says Rodriguez.
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Rodriguez also adding since Boley has committed to Kentucky, that they have been communicating together.
“For sure,” Rodriguez says. “[I] have already talked to him, it’s definitely very intriguing and very cool.”
During his visit, there are certain goals that he has in mind that he wants to accomplish when visiting the team.
“[I] definitely want to check out everything and see really how I will fit in the offense and how I will be used,” Rodriguez tells A Sea Of Blue. “I am very excited for the visit.”
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As for other official visits he has planned, he tells KY Insider that he will also be visiting Virginia Tech and he is still scheduling two other official visits with Ole Miss and Purdue, but at this time they have not been scheduled.
Rodriguez also tells us he plans to commit to a school during the summer, but once he is done with all of his official visits. Once we learn more details on his upcoming visit we will keep you all informed.
It has been an exciting offseason for the Kentucky Football team. Bringing back offensive coordinator Liam Coen has been huge in regard to recruiting and landing some of the country’s top transfers. Top Transfer QB Devin Leary headlines what 247Sports has as the 17th-best transfer class coming into next fall.
With that being said, where does ESPN’s FPI project the Cats to stand come the 2023 College Football Season?
The Wildcats come in ranked 28th in ESPN’s FPI, and are projected to win seven games at the most (7.2-4.9). While that isn’t super promising, Kentucky’s strength of schedule needs to be considered. According to ESPN, Kentucky has the thirteenth toughest schedule for the 2023 season, ahead of any program that has won a national title in the College Football Playoff era: Alabama (18th), Ohio State (23rd), Georgia (31st), and Clemson (59th)
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ESPN’s FPI does give Kentucky an 88.7 percent chance to win six games and be bowl eligible. In comparison, the Florida Gators are ranked 18th compared to the Cats’ ranking of 28th, and were given only an 82.2 percent chance to win six games.
The Wildcats are used to being underdogs and being slept on. In 2021, Kentucky was ranked 30th in ESPN’s FPI and finished the year with ten wins, a Citrus Bowl victory, and a final ranking of 18th in the final ESPN rankings. This year’s team will aspire to surpass expectations.
For much of the Mark Stoops era at Kentucky, the Wildcats have been successful without a high-level quarterback. That has changed of late as the transfer portal has helped Kentucky bring in Will Levis – who went on to be the 4th QB taken in this past year’s NFL Draft – and this year, Devin Leary – who was widely considered to be one of the best, if not the best, QB transfer available.
While the transfer portal has been great, those players usually come with only 1-2 years of eligibility remaining. Therefore, the staff has made it a point to start looking at the high school ranks for a QB.
On Thursday, Kentucky found that player, and in their own backyard with Cutter Boley from Lexington Christian Academy (LCA). At a live announcement at LCA’s auditorium, Boley chose Kentucky over Florida State, Michigan, Penn State, and Tennessee with a pair of custom Nike Air Force 1s.
It is safe to say that Coach Marrow enjoyed the news!
Wow Boom. Let’s go BBN.— CoachMarrowUK (@vincemarrow) May 18, 2023
Despite being a Kentucky native, it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that Boley would end up a Wildcat. While Liam Coen did build a strong relationship in his first season as Kentucky’s offensive coordinator, that relationship suffered with Rich Scangarello at the helm of the offense this past year. With Coen’s return, he was able to rekindle that relationship and get the commitment.
Rivals has Boley ranked as the 12th-ranked overall prospect and the second-best pro-style QB in the 2025 class, while 247Sports has him ranked 72nd overall and the sixth-best QB prospect. According to 247Sports, which dates back to 2000, Boley currently stands as the highest-ranked QB to commit to Kentucky.
While there is some disparity between the rankings, one thing is clear, Boley is highly thought of and it is easy to see why.
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Standing 6-foot-5, 203 pounds, Boley already possesses elite size. Add in his gunslinger mentality, impressive arm, and improvision and he is an intriguing package. This past season at LCA, he threw for 3,901 yards with 36 TDs and a 66 percent completion percentage. With that said, that gunslinger mentality can get him in trouble sometimes as he has thrown north of 20 interceptions in two seasons at the varsity level.
It should be noted that while Boley is listed as a class of 2025 prospect after reclassifying in the wake of the global pandemic, he will turn 18 this summer. He has confirmed that he will be reclassifying to the 2024 class and will enroll at Kentucky in January.