Kentucky Wildcats Football: Attrition Watch Begins

Nov 30, 2013; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats running back Dyshawn Mobley (33) runs the ball against the Tennessee Volunteers in the second half at Commonwealth Stadium. Tennessee defeated Kentucky 27-14. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

In the midst of what may Kentucky football’s biggest recruiting weekend to date, with twenty recruits/commits on campus, it’s time that we talk about how Kentucky is able to sign such a large class.

The Wildcats are expected to add 28 new playing on Signing Day.  To those that don’t following recruiting closely, the math doesn’t up here. The SEC has a limit of 25 new signees and the NCAA restricts rosters to 85 scholarship players per year.

The 25-Letter of Intent limit imposed by the SEC was added in to prevent the rampant oversigning (Houston Nutt at Ole Miss) that was taking over the conference a few years ago. However Kentucky can take 28 this year because they signed only 22 in 2013 and are allowed to count three signees toward that class’ limit if they enroll early. UK has several prospects who intend on doing just that, including star QB Drew Barker. There may be another loophole involving those early-enrollees who signed grant-in-aid paperwork in lieu of a National Letter of Intent not counting toward the scholarship limit. Tennessee is supposedly taking advantage of it to sign over thirty before the loophole is closed. If usable, Kentucky could sign as many as 32. Some of the news and notes from the recruiting trail would indicate that the coaches are planning on signing at least the full 28, if not more. We shall see.

With a rule limiting scholarship players to 85, bringing in around 30 new players in one year would take some serious roster shuffling. The team can’t be over the limit as of Fall camp, period. So how is Kentucky going to have room? With the graduating seniors and some others choosing to graduate early, last count had Kentucky needing to free up six scholarships to sign the 28. By now you’ve surely heard that running back Dy’Shawn Mobley will transfer in search of a starting job. Today Rashawn Franklin of BleedblueKentucky.com is reporting that WR Darryl Collins, OL Jordan Watson, DL Jabari Johnson, and DL Langston Newton may also be transferring. (At the time this was written, I don’t have any confirmation of this news) So that would leave one additional spot that needs to clear up. There are a number of other candidates that are likely to move on, but I won’t speculate here. So there is going to be room. There will likely be another, smaller, wave of attrition following spring practice as coaches determine who is going to see the field and academic casualties inevitably take place.

So with all of these players leaving, it will be interesting to see if any transfers end up calling Lexington their new home. Texas Tech QB Baker Mayfield , the Big 12 , frosh of the year is leaving Lubbock. A half dozen players have announced that they will leave Florida, including QB Max Staver. There will surely be more. Chances are that a few of them know Vince Marrow, everyone else does, and could have interest in the Cats. One thing is for sure, Mark Stoops will have remade this Kentucky roster by around sixty percent by the time his second Spring practice rolls around. Talent has definitely been upgraded and will see the field sooner rather than later.