UK FOOTBALL PREVIEW: The DB's
By Staff
As we get nearer to the start of the season, we come closer to finishing our previews for the football Wildcats. Previously, we looked at THE QB’s, followed that with a look at THE RB’s and THE WR’s. We followed that with a preview of THE LINEMEN and THE LINEBACKERS. Today we will cover the DEFENSIVE BACKS. Let’s start with the starters and the Wildcat’s Mr. Everything.
TREVARD LINDLEY – CB
The honors continue to roll in for Lindley, who was selected as the number 1 CB in college football by Lindy’s College Football preseason magazine. Tevard has also been tagged as a first team All American and is generally considered one of the top pro prospects. He did test the NFL process in the offseason but delighted the Commonwealth by coming back. Trevard has started every game of his college career and has 9 INT’s and 158 tackles. He also hold UK’s record in pass breakups with 34. His INT totals would be higher but teams simply refuse to throw in his direction. Lindley is also good in run support and has proven to be “Mr Clutch”: 6 of his 9 INT’s have been key plays in UK victories and another helped send the UT game to OT in 2007.
RANDALL BURDEN – CB
Burden will be “thrown into the fire at CB” as a sophomore as he figures to get lots of attention playing opposite Lindley. Burden has a great break on the ball and shows great potential and that potential will need to be tapped this year. He comes from the infamous “LaGrange pipeline” and played sparingly last year as a reserve CB and on special teams. Burden did have his best game in the Liberty Bowl with a tackle and he broke up two passes. He did come on strong during spring practice and had an INT in the Blue/White game. Has also showed a knack for rapidly improving his coverage ability.
WINSTON GUY – FS
Winston moved from CB to FS during the spring practice and is now slated as the starter at the new position. He is known as a hard hitter and a ferocious blitzer and has great speed (4.35) . Came into UK as the number 3 prospect in the state and also a member of two football state championship teams and has two state championships in track. While unproven at the college level, I am very excited about Guy and think he can be a solid performer for the Cats.
CALVIN HARRISON – SS
After backing up Marcus McClinton at FS for three seasons, Harrison moves into the starting lineup at SS. Has played a good bit in his career, appearing in 36 games and starting 6. When he was pressed into service as a starter, he has produced. He had 7 tackles in both of his starts last year. He is coming off a strong performance in the Liberty Bowl where he broke up two passes and had five tackles. Has been called a “big time hitter and great open field tackler”.
CORNERBACK DEPTH
After redshirting last year and missing spring practice with a broken foot, Paul Warford will press Randall Burden to regain his former starting position at CB. Warford had a nice start to his career as he was a key reason for the defense’s improvement in 2007, but suffered a fractured collarbone against LSU. Before the injury, he had started 11 games in ’07 and had started 14 of his 24 games. He has excellent speed and was one of the fastet prospects in Kentucky his senior year (4.4). He has great leaping ability and is very strong and even if not starting, will see plenty of time on the field.
Cartier Rice should also see plenty of action and could even contend for a starting position. He was the 4th highest rated recruit in the 2008 class and comes to UK with three HS championship rings. He is an “outstanding cover cornerback with noteworthy quickness”. His weakness may be against taller receivers but he is projected to have a solid career.
Anthony Mosley will be one to watch as he just recently switched from WR to CB. He has great speed (4.36) and good hands but is still kind of new to the game of football. He is a track athlete who did not begin playing football until his junior year in HS. While he may not be a huge factor this year, his sophomore season, he can make a strong case for next season and beyond.
Darryl Faulkner is a walkon that made the team in 2006 and has impressed the coaches with his work ethic and by being extremely coachable. Is another former track athlete and a two time SEC Academic Honor Roll member.
FREE SAFETY DEPTH
Matt Lentz is also making the move from SS to FS and provides nice depth to Guy. Matt has made a nice transition to defense after being a HS QB and he actually started 5 games last year and had an INT vs UL and 7 tackles in the Arkansas game. Coaches feel he made strong improvement during spring practice and hopefully he will continue to adjust to the new position. Taiedo Smith saw action in 7 games as a freshman and even garnered one start. The UK coaching staff likes his potential and moved him from CB to FS to get him on the field more. His best game last year was against Mississippi State when he had a pass breakup and three tackles. He is yet another former track athlete.
STRONG SAFETY DEPTH
Ashton Cobb is a very experienced backup and can also provide additional depth at FS. He has has been a nice contributor for UK in his career with 9 starts among his 37 games played. He added the first points in the rout over Louisville last year with a fumble return for a TD and had a gritty performance against LSU in 2007, with 7 tackles starting for injured McClinton. He provides nice senior leadership and is a versatile and talented part of the DB’s. Taiedo Smith had a really nice Blue/White game and looks to build on his improvement this year. Plus you have to love this quote from his HS coach: “He has great range and loves to hit. Mentally, he believes nobody can beat him. He’s a warrior, a fierce competitor, and playing quarterback helped him as a defensive back.”
THE FRESHMEN
Jarvis Walker was a Safety in HS but there is some speculation he may end up at LB at UK. Regardless, you have to love the quote from his scouting report on ESPN: “He looks like a giant eagle in the secondary searching out its prey in uniform. This guy is fun to watch, he flies around with destruction
on his mind. One of the most hard hitting and physical safeties in the 2009 class. He comes up on run support like a freight train and he’s on track to take somebody out“. Martavius Neloms has just been playing football for two seasons but was named to the First Team All State squad in Tennessee. In just two seasons of football, Neloms has 14 INT’s and led the state with 8 last season, returning two of them for TD’s.
OUTLOOK
Kentucky definitely has the tools for a very strong secondary this season with Lindley being the leader and Winston Guy a real shot at a break out performance. The other CB position beside Lindley may not be settled for a while and I would love to see Warford return to his 2007 form. Harrison should be steady as a starter as well. The depth has a lot of potential but aside from Cobb, not a lot of experience so the Cats must stay injury free. I am a bit confused about the status of Jarvis Walker. I am not seeing him on any depth charts but have seen nothing to indicate he is not with UK. If he is a member of this squad, he can make a real statement to press for a starting job in 2010. All in all, the Cat’s are solid at the DB position and they will need to continue their gradual improvement for UK to be a contender in the East.
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