It’s Tuesday afternoon and it’s also time for another installment of the “5 new names 2 know” series. I went 3 for five last week on the potential new impact players as freshman Raymond Sanders scored two touchdowns, junior Matt Roark grabbed three catches for 65 yards and junior Luke McDermott had a tackle and a half and an unlikely interception. Unfortunately freshman Tristian Johnson didn’t manage to make a tick on the stat sheet despite seeing the field, and junior Billy Joe Murphy lost his starting job at right tackle to Brad Durham during the week. This week Kentucky plays a woeful Akron team and I’m focusing on a couple of the younger guys that could get a shot to see the field quite a bit in mop up duty.
The top five new guys you need to get to know before Saturday.
#86 – Jordan Aumiller – TE – 6’4 / 230 – FR – Danville, KY
If there was a guy that was least likely to win the starting tight end job, it might have been Aumiller. He was an excellent athlete in high school at Boyle County, but he was moved to linebacker shortly after arriving on campus at Kentucky. After spending his redshirt year on defense he was moved to tight end during the spring and caught on quickly. After a tough battle for the starting job, Aumiller beat out several other guys that were more highly touted prep players and guys that had spent more time at the position as collegians during camp. Against Western, he grabbed two passes for 26 yards to follow up his game against Louisville with two catches for 23 yards. With a small set of linebackers playing for Akron, Aumiller should be able to provide a safety valve for Hartline and a redzone target while Cobb and Matthews are double covered.
#79 – Kevin Mitchell – OG – 6’6 / 326 – FR – Winston, GA
It’s hard to miss Mitchell in a crowd, and he got his first collegiate action against Western Kentucky. It’s been clear that the Cats will want to feature the run this year, but it’s almost a gurantee that Kentucky will want to establish the run against Akron. If the Wildcats take care of business and put the Zips away early this Saturday, Mitchell should see the field late in the game with the backups and should be able to overpower the smaller Akron defensive line while Kentucky runs the ball and runs the clock. He’ll be the running back’s best friend, and a nice option to run behind as he clears the way.
#1 – Jerrell Priester – ATH – 5’9 / 170 – FR – Ulmer, SC
There’s a reason I listed Priester as an athlete and not a cornerback for this game. I’m sure he’ll see the field as a defensive back at some point and he should have little trouble covering the Akron receivers with the type of game-breaking speed he posseses. Where he might really make his mark on this contest might be on offense and on special teams. We heard all summer about how Priester would be used in the Wildcat package and this will be the final chance to insert him in on offense before the SEC schedule kicks in. If the staff wants to see what they’ve got, Akron is an ideal opponent. On special teams, he might get his chance returning kicks and/or punts late in the game and he has the type of athleticism that allows a player to take the ball to the endzone any time he touches it.
#96 – Collins Ukwu – DE – 6’5 / 250 – SO – La Vergne, TN
It doesn’t make a ton of sense to put a starting defensive linemen on a list of new players to know, but Ukwu hasn’t really been an impact player yet in his career. He arrived at Kentucky as a defensive end at just over 200 pounds and with little fanfare and a two-star rating, and was a relative unknown as a guy that no one had really heard of until he inked with Kentucky on signing day. After three years of hitting the weights and the dinner table, he’s bulked up to 250 pounds and has established himself as one of Kentucky’s top run-stopping defensive ends. He’ll get a chance to shine this week as he will be matched up against one of the worst offensive lines on the schedule and a unit that has given up three sacks in both of their games this year. Expect him to have an early impact on the game, but he might be pulled early if Kentucky gets up too much.
#88 – Joe Mansour – PK – 6’2 / 181 – FR – LaGrange, GA
I actually thought Mansour might be a household name by this point in the season with all the hype he came to Kentucky with, but he’s yet to see the field as a placekicker and has been restricted to kickoffs for the first two games. Ryan Tydlacka has performed well as a punter over the first two outings but has struggled as a placekicker while missing two field goals and an extra point. One has to wonder how many field goals will need to be missed before Mansour gets a shot to show off his leg and help the Wildcats put points on the board. I’m betting he gets his shot this week against a weak team and that the coaches use this game to prepare him for the trip to Florida the following week.
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