Kentucky Wildcats 2008 Football Outlook
Outside of the running back position, there simply are not very many apparent offensive threats.
QB: Andre Woodson is gone. In his wake, Curtis Pulley admittedly fell apart. Was it the pressure? Was it the attention? Whatever it was, Pulley is no longer on the team. This is Mike Hartline’s position to lose. It will not be difficult for Hartline to improve on last season’s stat line: 4/6 for 34 yards and an interception. To say that he does not have solid SEC game experience would be a vast understatement. Hartline is capable of playing in this league. A steady drop back passer, Hartline is not much a threat to tuck the ball and run. In order to bring him along at the position, Kentucky must be able to run the ball effectively. To further hurt the team, Kentucky did not take a true quarterback in last season’s signing class. Incoming freshman Randall Cobb was a solid dual threat quarterback on a very good high school team; however, Cobb has been listed most recently in the “athlete” position. Freshman Tyler Sargent and Sophomore Will Fidler are currently listed as Hartline’s backups.
RB: Even without Rafael Little, look for Kentucky to have a good year running the ball. Derrick Locke could start for nearly any team in the SEC. Locke, 94-521 yards and 5 TD’s a season ago, will be every bit as good as Little. Senior Tony Dixon and Jr. Alfonso Smith will also share carries at the tailback position. Look for bowling ball Moncell Allen (5′ 7″, 230) to carry the rock in short yardage situations. In order to be successful, Locke must have 175-200 touches this season.
Receiver: Gone are Keenan Burton, Steve Johnson and Jacob Tamme. It is not difficult to imagine the gaping hole that is present. Dicky Lyons Jr. had a good year playing the #3 slot, but will need to step it up this season. Beyond Lyons is an unknown void. Top freshman recruit Aaron Boyd could have an immediate impact. Kyrus Lanxter and DeMoreo Ford will both get looks as well. Other true freshman, Eric Adeyemi and EJ Fields will be evaluated at WR. Adeyemi could possibly red shirt due to size issues (listed as 6′, 163) and Fields is a converted Safety. Expect a noticeable drop off at this position this season.
OL: Three of the four interior linemen return for the Cats this season: Garry Williams, Zipp Duncan, and Justin Jeffries. 25% of the top 20 recruits coming in are Offensive Linemen. Look for Kentucky to gain depth at this position as the season goes along.
DL: The Cats return an experienced defensive line. Led by Jeremy Jarmon, UK should be able to continue to lower their rush yards per game allowed. Look for Myron Pryor and Corey Peters to lock down the inside while Jarmon and Nii Adjei Oninku start at end. The defensive line must be able to hold the line of scrimmage for this defense to be successful.
LB: Wesley Woodyard, a true leader, is gone; however, five of six return for the ‘08 season. Keep your eye on #4, Micah Johnson at MLB. Johnny Williams should start at SLB and Braxton Kelley should be at WLB at the start of the season. This group is the heart and soul of the entire defense.
DB: Although no household names abound on this unit, look for this year’s group to be the best in some time. Trevard Lindley and Paul Warford should be the starters at the beginning of the season. Warford has hopefully put his violation of team rules behind him. FS Marcus McClinton and SS Ashton Cobb are both solid and have 31 starts between themselves.
Defensively, the Cats can hold their own. Only time will tell if the offense is capable of staying on the field for sustained drives. This team can not allow itself to get into any track meet style games this season. In past years, Kentucky won games by sheer offensive production, but this year is a different story. By losing so much offensive firepower, we look for Kentucky to be hard pressed to duplicate last year’s 8-5 record. BUT, and this is a large ‘but’, UK’s schedule is extremely soft (3 “gimmes”: Norfolk State, MTSU and W KY; Louisville is very beatable). There are four possible wins right there. Only time will tell.
Photo copyright B Granger
