Kentucky Football: Highlighting the Wildcats’ Wide Receivers
Having a good group of core wide receivers is a must to compete at a high level in the SEC. Kentucky Football’s group has taken some hits in past years. This is the year they step up.
Mark Stoops and recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow, have built themselves a competitive Kentucky Football team. Snagging great pass catchers away from the top schools isn’t easy. Especially for a school in Kentucky, that hasn’t had much success in the past seasons.
As a Kentucky fan, there isn’t much more that upsets you than a perfectly thrown ball and the receiver cannot come down with it. Unfortunately, this is a common issue for some of the “top” receivers in the current group.
The Big Names
Kentucky recently lost a key component of their receiving corps in the departure of Jeff Badet. Badet announced that he is transferring to the University of Oklahoma to play his final year of eligibility under Bob Stoops. Badet was the Wildcats leading receiver in terms of yards. His speed allowed him to be a deep threat for Stephen Johnson all year long in 2016.
Garrett Johnson and Dorian Baker look to be the feature guys next season. Johnson led the Wildcats in touchdowns last season with five scores through the air. He caught 39 balls for 585 yards in 2016. Dorian Baker, one of the more physically imposing bodies on the team, caught just 14 passes for 208 yards and two scores last season. Stoops will need the big man to produce more in the Fall.
Tavin Richardson as well as Blake Bone have had their names come up a few times already during spring practice. Offensive coordinator, Eddie Gran complemented the duo after a media session this week. Jen Smith of the Lexington Herald Leader provided us with a summary of Coach Gran’s comments after Tuesday’s practice:
Offensive Coordinator, Eddie Gran:
"“The receiving crew I think they’ve taken a step right now between the scrimmage and today. We talked about Blake (Bone) and Tavin (Richardson) and some of those guys having to step up and get those extra yards. Dorian made a couple of great catches today that were fantastic. Tavin made a contested catch in the red zone, which he’s going to have to do as a big body.”"
Kayaune Ross and Clevan Thomas
Kayune Ross is a large body, (6-6, 225 lbs.) who has excellent hands. An injury last season kept the junior college transfer from seeing much field time during the season. Ross did manage to snag a touchdown catch as one of his two receptions on the year. Gran’s comments on Ross’ spring lead us to believe that he may be able to contribute a little more to a depleted outside deep threat.
"“I like where he’s at right now. I hate to say (knocks on wooden podium) — We’ll see. That’s the one thing: You give them a compliment and that’s a good thing, but they’ve got to be able to handle that. You’ve got to come and you’ve got to go through the grind every single day.”"
Clevan Thomas is an early enrollee from Miami, Florida. Early enrollees get a great jump on the competition during spring practice before their fellow freshman enroll in the Summer. Smith transcribed a presser from Eddie Gran over the weekend when the players returned to practice from spring break. Here are Gran’s comments on the development of Thomas:
"“I’ll tell ya, he’s pretty good. I’ll tell you what he does, he battles. He’s understanding it. He reminds me a little bit of Benny in terms of his mentality and how he’s going about it as a freshman. Now, lot of time left and all that, but I sure do like where he’s at.”"
Things are looking up
In order for the Wildcats to make some noise this season in the SEC the receiving corps will need to be productive across the board. Kentucky boasts some great athletes at the position but inconsistent play and the departures of Jeff Badet and senior Ryan Timmons leaves a pretty large void to be filled.
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It looks as thought the offense will be in the hands of Stephen Johnson yet again this season. That means that the receivers must produce to take the load off of Johnson and the running game absent of Boom Williams. Benny Snell will carry the load, but it is not expected to have the production of another 1,000 yard running back along with Snell.
Although he hasn’t attended a single practice for Kentucky, incoming recruit Lynn Bowden might have something to say about the status of the receivers once he gets on campus.