Kentucky Wildcats football: Future NFL Cats

Every couple of years Kentucky fans have a player that they can get excited about when NFL draft time comes around. This year, it’s Larry Warford. The monstrous guard from Richmond Kentucky (expected to go anywhere in the first three or four rounds of the 2013 draft) and a couple years back it was Randall Cobb.
As exciting as this is for Kentucky’s fans, it’s also relatively rare. Possibly the most exciting aspect of the hiring of Mark Stoops is the potential for this to change in the near future. On the current roster, guys like Bud Dupree, Za’Darius Smith, and Avery Williamson, have a decent chance of getting drafted one day. However, this is the exception not the rule. It looks like the roster will be infused with talent over the next several years and we can get a little more excited about the draft as it rolls around. For now though, here are the top 10 guys on the current roster that have a decent shot at being drafted one day.

1. Za’Darius Smith
Smith is a freak of nature. He has the size and speed than NFL teams are looking for, and they made it plainly obvious that you can’t have enough pass rushers in the league. His ability to take down quarterbacks should make him a hot commodity. Granted, this is assuming he lives up to his potential.

2. Darrian Miller
The transition to a pass happy NFL has made athletic tackles like Miller that much more valuable. With more and more athletic pass rushers, guys like Miller are needed to protect franchise quarterbacks. With tight end athleticism and 3.5 years of starting experience in the SEC, Miller could be a big name when he enters the draft.

3. Bud Dupree
Dupree’s versatility has become more valuable in the past few years. His ability to play linebacker and defensive end make him an ideal fit for a team running the 3-4 defense as an outside linebacker. The more teams that choose to run this defense, the more valuable Dupree becomes.

4. Zach West
As tackles become more valuable, so do guards. West has prototypical size to play guard or center at the professional level and more importantly, also possesses the intelligence necessary. Being a potential four-year starter in the SEC won’t hurt his case either.

5. Avery Williamson
Similar to Dupree, Williamsons versatility is what makes him so valuable. Very few linebackers have experience playing inside in both before 3-4 and 4-3 schemes, and Williamson possesses the skill set to do both. Any teams needing a linebacker can feel safe drafting Williamson to fit their scheme.

6. Fred Tiller
Granted, he’s only a sophomore and has not played a ton, but I still think Fred Taylor is a future star. He started in several games as a true freshman against the country’s top receivers and played admirably. As he becomes bigger, stronger, and faster, he will become more valuable and as the league continues to progress towards the pass, defensive backs will become more valuable. It should be hard for teams to pass up a possible 3.5 year starter in the SEC at cornerback.

7. Jordan Swindle
Just like Miller, Swindle’s value is based mostly on his position and size. Although not as athletic is Darrian Miller is, he is a big powerful tackle that can play either side of the football and can pass block as well as run block. Being 6’8 is something that you can’t teach.

8. Dante Rumph
Defensive tackles seem to become more and more valuable every year and we see more and more of them picked up in the first round every year. Dante Rumph needs to have a big senior season, but if he recovers from injury, he has the size and skill set to play in the NFL. More importantly, he’s played against SEC competition for four consecutive years.

9. Steven Borden
Once thought to be nearly obsolete, the tight end position has made somewhat of a comeback in recent years. Borden Foods the role of an H-back, similar to Chris Cooley and Washington or Aaron Hernandez in New England. Borden’s combination of size, strength, and speed, make him a valuable asset to any NFL offense. This is all assuming his play lives up to his measurables though.

10. Khalid Henderson
Linebackers are getting faster and faster, and if there’s one place where Henderson stands out, it’s speed. If he can get a little bigger and stronger, he can be a prototypical week side linebacker and a 4-3 scheme. The thing hurting his value, is the transition of many teams from the 4-3 to the 3-4 defense, where he is not as good of a fit. However, as long as there are still teams running the 4-3, Henderson’s ability makes him valuable.

You may notice a theme about. The office of individual lines are clearly an area of emphasis for NFL teams and luckily or two areas were Kentucky is relatively well stocked with talent. Quarterbacks, receivers, and running backs are so difficult to judge, not only in how they will adapt in their college careers, but also the type of impact that they could have in the NFL. It is really tough to forecast where they might go and how a team’s scheme will be factored in that I left all three positions off the list here. Alternatively, offense of lineman, defensive linemen, and defensive backs are all in such high demand that those players are significantly more likely to find at least a short-term home in the NFL. Regardless of all of this, Kentucky’s simple infusion of more talented players should give fans something to look forward to in future drafts.