Kentucky Wildcats Football: Previewing the best of WKU
By Jason Marcum
The junior linebacker has already been named CBS Sports’ Preseason Defensive Player of the Year for the Sun Belt Conference, and has also been selected to the preseason watch lists for the Rotary Lombardi Award, The Butkus Award, Bronko Nagurski Award and Bednarik Award.
Needless to say, he lives in opponent’s backfields, and blocking him will be critical to maintaining any kind offensive flow on Saturday.
WKU did lose a lot of talent on the defensive line, including Smith, who is off playing for the Denver Broncos now. They also lost Rammell Lewis, Jamarcus Allen, Cole Tischer, and Kenny Martin, leaving what was the strength of their team in 2012 a huge question mark now.
Those five players accounted for 48 of 52 combined starts on the defensive line in 2012. The only two returning players who made a start on the D-line last year are Gavin Rocker (3) and Bryan Shorter (1).
This plays to the Cats’ advantage, as they won’t have to worry about a swarming pass-rush on Saturday, and with Jackson being primarily a playmaker in the run game, UK can lessen his impact with a quick and efficient passing attack.