UK Football recruiting: The Fullback position?

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With Kentucky’s 2011 football recruiting class filling up fast, the general consensus is that any remaining spots will go to linebackers or defensive tackles. While I tend to agree with the idea, I don’t think defensive tackle is as big of a “need” position as some other fans do. The Wildcats will be returning Mark Crawford, Luke McDermott, Donte Rumph, Elliot Porter, Brice Laughlin, and hopefully Mister Cobble along their interior defensive line next season. The Cats have already gotten commitments from David Washington and Shaq Love for this class, and there’s also a chance that Nermin Delic eventually works his way down to the defensive tackle position because of his ridiculous natural strength. Unless an elite prospect like Isaiah Norton wants to commit or Clint Tucker changes his mind and flips back over to Kentucky, the Wildcats don’t really need to use another scholarship on a tackle. Linebacker is another story though, and the guys Kentucky is after are well known to most fans. This post is about a position that Kentucky hasn’t traditionally recruited or used a scholarship on.

For as long as I can remember, UK has featured either a walk-on or a player converted from another position at Fullback, but it has been one of the most important parts of the offense year in and year out. Guys like Derek Homer were able to provide a second running threat and catch the short passes as a hot read for the quarterback. Guys like John Conner could blow up linebackers like an offensive lineman, but could also run the ball to pick up some tough yards. Despite a lot of teams moving to a spread-style offense, Kentucky has continued to use the “Factorback”(as ESPN analyst Merril Hoge calls it) to open holes for smaller running backs and do all the little things no one notices that make the offense run.

With the impending graduation of starter Moncell Allen, and his primary backup junior Greg Meisner deciding to forgo his final year of eligibility, finding a new lead blocker is a priority for the Cats. There is a chance that walk-on Tatum Lewis could claim the position this spring, but it would seem unlikely because he hasn’t really made a push yet and he’ll be a junior next season. One of the tight ends may be moved to the position, but Aumiller will be the returning starter and all of the other players are taller and lankier than an ideal Fullback. The most likely candidates would be Anthony Kendrick or Tyler Robinson, but Kendrick is more of a natural receiver than blocker, and Robinson was a good enough tight end as a true freshman to play his way into the #2 spot for the majority of the season. Jonathan George could be moved over from running back, but he might be hesitant to give up a shot at being the team’s primary ball carrier at some point.

At this time, it looks like two of the best options Kentucky will have, might come in the form of two players that will be true freshmen this fall.

The first option is to bring in highly touted recruit Jon Davis in as a “H-back.” In this scenario, he would be playing sort of a fullback/tight end hybrid position that Kentucky really hasn’t used much in recent years. The upside to this move would be getting Davis on the field very early on and using him to create match up nightmares for defenses. At 6’3 Davis is certainly tall enough to play tight end, but doesn’t really have ideal height to be a true tight end. He would be the prototypical size for an H-back. The downside of playing him outside of the true tight end is that you take the ball out of his hands more than you would and can’t feature him the way you could a guy like Jacob Tamme.

And all this leads me to what this article is really about. Recently, a new name has surfaced on the radar for the fullback position down at Alcoa High School. Taharin Tyson took an unofficial visit to Kentucky this past week and came away impressed. You have to believe he’s just waiting on an offer from the Wildcats based on one of his tweets shortly after getting home:

Getting Tyson would be huge for the future of the Kentucky offense. While he’s not rated by rivals or scout, very few fullbacks are. Rivals only lists 91 fullbacks in the country in their database for 2011, and only 18 of those are even given a star rating (non higher than three stars). Tyson has proven he ha the size, speed and strength to play in college and he comes from a program that has sent three offensive players to Kentucky, with all three seeing playing time in their first year on campus.

I’m not saying UK will definitely offer him a scholarship. There’s a chance he’s offered as a greyshirt or preferred walk-on. But if the Wildcats really want to bring in a guy that can compete from his first day on campus, there might not be a better option out there.

I’m openly petitioning the Wildcats to do whatever is necessary to bring Tyson in. Anyone else?

Taharin Tyson – FB – 6’0 / 225 – Alcoa TN

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