Preseason All-SEC Team

Kentucky has six players named to the Preseason All-SEC Team. The surprise player might be Mike Hartline being named 3rd team. If he lives up to this billing we might be in good shape especially now that the flap over the rumble with the Tennessee players has proved to be less than what was spread about on the blogs and boards. Congratulations to the players for representing UK so well.

1st Team
DB Trevard Lindley

2nd Team
LB Micah Johnson

3rd Team
DL Corey Peters
QB Mike Hartline
OL Zipp Duncan
C Jorge Gonzalez

http://www.secsports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=2&url_article_id=12867&change_well_id=2

Cats in preseason top 25

The Cats are ranked 25th by Vegas Insider in their Preseason Top 25. SEC teams Florida #1, Ole Miss #6, Alabama #8, LSU #10 and Georgia #18 are also ranked.

25-KENTUCKY…Rich Brooks has been looking for a playmaker in Lexington and might have found one in versatile soph Randall Cobb, who sparked the Wildcat “O” on occasion at QB last fall, but appears ready to make a bigger impact in ’09 at WR or perhaps in direct-snap situations. Cobb’s presence might also make it a bit easier for mechanical QB Mike Hartline to become involved in more big plays this fall. But it’s on defense where the Wildcats ought to excel, with several honors candidates still in the fold (including potential NFL draftees LB Micah Johnson & CB Trevard Lindley) despite star DE Jeremy Jarmon being declared ineligible in spring. A forgiving non-conference slate makes a fourth straight bowl trip very likely.

http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/story.cfm/story/871681

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.

Fidler leads Blue Team to Win over White….28-23

Randall Cobb caught four passes for 70 yards, and his 26-yard TD reception on the game’s first drive, set the tone for the Blue team, which held off the White 28-23 at Commonwealth Stadium. “If that guy is on the bus you’ve got a chance,” UK offensive head coach Joker Phillips said.

The UK staff has been disappointed that none of the young receivers have stepped up this spring, but a “walk on” made the most significant contributions for a squad that has been thin on kids who can catch a football.

Nick Melillo, made a name for himself yesterday…The 6’2”, 215 lb, former Trinity star, caught 4 passes, 2 of which went for touchdowns, to help keep the game close. Rich Brooks was effusive in singing his praises, “One guy stepped up from nowhere and made some plays and that was Melillo, so guess what, he’s going to move ahead of some scholarship players right now. He deserves a look and deserves to move up the depth chart.”

Mike Hartline had a sub-par performance missing on 8 of his first 9 passes, but in all fairness, the Blue Team was stacked with such defenders as Jeremy Jarmon, Trevard Lindley, Micah Johnson, and Danny Trevathan, and the offense had Cobb. Between missing the long passes, and seeing the short ones dropped by the receivers, Mike had a difficult day with his playmaking, even though he would wind up with superior numbers on paper to Fidler…

Will Fidler, the oft forgotten backup to Hartline/Cobb, had his best day ever as a wildcat, leading the Blue team on a 12 play 93 yard scoring drive on the Blue’s first possession, that set the tone of the game, and contrasted with the difficulties that Hartline was having completing a pass early on, even though Fidler competed only 4 more passes the rest of the way.

Brooks reportedly had a meeting with the Newton family this weekend, whose son, Morgan, is one of two high profile QB’s recruits the cats have signed for the fall. Brooks is said to have stated: “GET READY” when speaking to Morgan and his dad, which indicates that Rich has no problem throwing the freshman signal caller into the thick of the QB race.

Brooks told the Newtons that Morgan absolutely had a chance to be the starter in the fall.

PLAYER STATISTICS:
RUSHING
White – A. Smith, 18-67; Conner, 10-33; Bowland, 1-4; McCaskill, 1-minus-11
Blue – Allen, 16-96; C. Williams, 7-56, TD; Cobb, 1-6

PASSING
White – Hartline: 17-33, 208 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
Blue – Fidler: 10-24, 110 yards, 2 TD, INT

RECEIVING
White – Melillo, 4-43, 2 TD; A. Smith, 3-54; Drake, 3-22; Bowland, 2-17; McCaskill, 2-17; Conner, 1-29; Adams, 1-18; Boyd, 1 -8
Blue – Cobb, 4-70, TD; Grinter, 2-26; Roark, 1-9, TD; Bogue, 1-7; Allen, 1-0; C. Williams, 1-minus-2

“PRO DAY” NFL LOOKS IN ON WILDCATS

Wednesday morning at the annual “Pro Day” workout for professional scouts, the 2008-2009 UK Football Seniors put their talents on display…Nutter Field House was the site, and while there weren’t as many scouts there as there was last year when we had six seniors, there were representatives of 18 professional teams and the Kentucky Horsemen…

Myron Pryor is the highest ranked Wildcat on the board and he expects to go in the middle rounds or as early as the third round…HE was pleased with his drills… “I went up there focused and had a mind-set that I was better than anybody else out there,” he said. “The main thing I’m working on now is getting in shape. The rest of it I think I have pretty much down.”

University of Kentucky senior linebacker Braxton Kelley ran the 40-yard dash for NFL scouts, but the biggest story may be that senior running back, Alphonso Smith ran a 4.27 forty. Official times were suspect, since each Scout had his own stopwatch, but that is in keeping with some of the, “4.2 range of times”, that Smith has notched…The fastest graduating senior on the board was David Jones who posted a 4.34 forty time…

Rich Brooks said Jeremy Jarmon, Trevard Lindley, and Micah Johnson, all who tested NFL waters, along with junior defensive tackle Corey Peters, should give the Cats a strong 2009 draft class. Johnny Williams, Gary Williams, and Liberty Bowl Hero Ventrell Jenkins also worked out for the Pro Scouts.

Three of the Wildcat seniors Myron Pryor, Tim Masthay, and safety Marcus McClinton had been worked out previously by The Scouts in February at the official NFL combine. Those players joined in for the additional evaluation.

The NFL Draft is scheduled for April 25-26, and Rich Brooks thinks that the 2008 seniors will add to the success of the UK senior class of 2007. Seven senior Wildcats from the ’07 team were drafted or signed as free agents, six of whom made it onto a roster in the NFL.

Football numbers Up…Offers Fly Out…

When it comes to the numbers, this year’s group of 3 & 4 star designated recruits UK has signed to LOI’s far exceeds any in recent years. It is obvious to me that our 3 consecutive bowl trips have led to some improved numbers in the recruiting arena, on paper. We can always count on Rich Brooks, Joker and Co. to deliver that little known recruit that turns out to be a star and I expect this year will be no exception…

Comparing UK’s recruiting this year, verses year’s past, reveals the discrepancy in the numbers this year, and that is The Good News. Consider that we only had 1-4 star player last year, Aaron Boyd, and 8-3 star players…This year, even with Morgan Newton not getting that 4th star, we have 3-4 star players and 16-3 star players….That is double the 3 star players and 3 times the 4-star….Definately our finest recruiting in decades!

It is hard to tell how good some of these 3-star players will be, especially Morgan Newton. In 2006, considered by many to be a great year – including the recruitment of Micah Johnson as a 4-Star, along with Corey Peters – We had 9-3 star recruits, so again, not in recent memory have we had a class such as this!

Now it appears that Brooks and Joker are keeping the proverbial pedal to the metal, and offering kids early once again…Miles Simpson, he of 6’2” grace and speed, of 6A Power Simon Kenton High, is on everyone’s wish list…Only a junior, he will have America in his back door before he is done. Maybe we need to get Micah to start recruiting him early, along with Chris Collinsworth’s son from the Northern Area of the Commonwealth. We let Shawn Alexander get away from there, and Miles is in that M-O-L-D…

UK is beginning to attract kids nationally with the program, and its unique position in the SEC as the northern-most school don’t hurt when recruiting in Indiana and Ohio where we are South of them, yet still in the SEC! Morgan Newton’s father mentioned location as being a “big factor” in his son’s attending UK as well as the chance to play QB in the SEC!

Indeed, the very thing we complain about – how tough the SEC IS – is our greatest benefactor in many cases…Kids see that the SEC is the toughest conference around, producing multiple consecutive champions, and they have a shot to be on national TV and play early.

Rich Brooks & Joker grabbed Two – Four star players from the juco ranks the last week of recruiting… These kids usually go elsewhere to play…Not any more…!

Pryor named D Player of the week

Myron Pryor was named defensive player of the week by the SEC.

Pryor figured in two defensive touchdowns in Kentucky’s 27-2 victory at Louisville.
Pryor knocked loose a fumble that Ashton Cobb returned 28 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter that gave the Wildcats a 10-0 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Pryor scooped up a fumble and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown.
Pryor also made a key play in the second quarter on a 4th-and-1, combining with Micah Johnson for a stop of no gain, turning the ball over on downs.
He also had three tackles with one for a loss (-3).