UK BIG 7 set to make Waves This Year in SEC Football

Here are 7 players that methinks might be difference makers for this year’s UK squad, in no particular order, except for the #1 slot. I’m sure you have your own 7, more or less, so feel free to add or subtract….:)

7. Danny Trevathan: From his coach Chuck Smith, “Trevathan is athletic, fast, and physical. He looks to be a future star. He’s not started a game yet, but once he gets a taste of SEC play and progresses like I think he will, he has a chance to be one of the great linebackers at Kentucky.” Danny runs very fast and hits very hard, two attributes that a LB must have. Danny returned a kick 31 yards in Spring Game…A linebacker!

6. Winston Guy: A physical specimen who said that he really did not understand what it took to be an SEC type player when he arrived on campus last fall. Rich Brooks has called Guy the most talented defensive back he’s signed at Kentucky. Guy looked the part this spring at free safety. He is doing the work now and the possibilities are there for him to be one of the “Greats” at UK before he is done. Has that rare combination of size, 200+ lbs, and speed 4.4 forty… Back at his natural position at Safety he should make big waves this year.

5. Micah Johnson: Micah was Coach Brooks first high-profile recruit at UK. A bigger hitter at the middle spot you will not find. Just a man-child waiting for his draft numbers to go up. Had 11 tackles in the spring game.

4. Chris Matthews: Some of us like the outrageous numbers he has put up, not only catching a football, but his raw athletic ability. Has great hands, and just outruns people catching the football. He is going to make the UK QB job much easier. Caught 80 balls last year and is the second rated Juco WR by Rivals, behind Halo Carpenter…., AND, from a raw athletic standpoint…, How many 6’5 210lb receivers will UK have this year who run 4.4 forties? Nuff Said.

3. Dequin Evans: I had Jeremy Jarmon here, before it has been ruled that he is ineligible to play this year. This makes it even more important that someone from our stable of players at the Defensive End postion step up and make a big splash at that spot. Dequin has all the tools. Evans (6-2, 275) is rated the No. 15 junior college prospect in the nation by Rivals.com as well as one of our 4 Star athletes. He was a teammate of Chris Matthews. Did I mention he ran a 4.6 forty according to Scout…That is truly smoking for a man his size!

2. Randall Cobb: Talk about Mr. Everything, what can you say about him that has not been said? Joker says “If he is on the bus, you got a chance”. Look for him to excite the fans once again this year, as we break out the “Wildcat Package” and snap a few balls toward Randall. Remember he has a gun for a left arm, and out there in the flats he can see exactly where he is throwing.

1. Trevard Lindley: The quiet man. He lets his game speak for itself. Probably would have been selected before Jeremy and Micah in the NFL draft, he choose to come back for his senior season. Coach Rich Brooks says he is one that you can just “leave on an island” out in coverage and not worry about him.

Brooks to Retire? Waiting On Two Young QB’s ?

Who knows when Rich Brooks will retire? He certainly deserves to stick around a few years to reap the spoils of what he has wrought. He took a team on probation and build it into one that has been to 3 consecutive bowls. No small feat in UK football history. Now, we would all loved to have done more, but realistically the sheer numbers of great players it takes to play in the SEC was lacking. That is what Brooks, Joker and Co. have done…Built up the player base to be competitiive.

Now, I am seeing that on the recruiting trail. With the two big-armed freshmen coming in, and the amount of publicity that has had on the recruiting trail, we are seeing 4-Star players use one of their visits to come to UK…Once we get them here, from all accounts I have read both that the UK staff have a lasting impression on them, not to mention the state-of-the-art facilities.

Joker has divided the country finding recruits in states that we weren’t that strong in before. He is mostly responsible for making inroads into LaGrange Ga. where such great ones as Wesley and Braxton came from, as well as a couple this year. Joker is slowly building a great relationship in SC where we snagged Cartier Rice, Gene McCaskill, Matt Lenz, Taylor Wyndham and others

Joker and Chuck Smith snatched the best player out of the state of Indiana, the 4 Star QB, Morgan Newton, 6’5″ 220 4.5, and took the best running back in the state for good measure, Dakotah Tyler 200lb 4.4 forty…..Joker and the boys are definitely going after the great athletes, and they are getting some looks. Recruiting has gotten progressively better, and I think Rich Brooks wants to stick around a couple of years, to see how his freshmen QB’s do and beat UT and some others on our hit list…