Kentucky Wildcat Football: Offensive position battles headed into camp

 

Going into camp, the depth chart will be shaken up plenty as different players vie for a starting job. Some positions will see a fierce competition, and some are basically decided, but the addition of the freshmen has complicated things for the camp for just about everyone. Here’s where things stand (in my eyes).

QUARTERBACK
The favorite: Maxwell Smith (SO)
The dark horse: Morgan Newton (SR)
Others: Patrick Towles (FR), Jalen Whitlow (FR)
The race: ON FIRE

Smith has to be considered the favorite to win out as the team’s starting signal caller, but things aren’t that simple. Morgan Newton is an experienced option that still has time to live up to his lofty expectations coming out of high school and will be in his fourth year in Randy Sanders’ system. Towles is probably the future at the position but will be green, and Whitlow is a super-athlete that provides a different wrinkle to the offense. Smith will have his hands full to say the least.

RUNNING BACK
The favorite: Josh Clemons (SO)
The dark horse: DyShawn Mobley (FR)
Others: CoShik Williams (SR), Ray Sanders (JR), Jonathan George (JR), Justin Taylor (FR)
The race: HOT

A lot is going to depend on Clemons’ recovery from the knee injury that cut his freshman year short, but the competition here should be tough too. Clemons proved he was a dynamic runner as a freshman, but George is a tough back to bring down, Sanders is as versatile as they come, CoShik is always a viable option, and Mobley and Taylor have potential to boot. Watch out for Mobley here, who will be UK’s biggest back in recent memory at 225 pounds.