Kentucky football lands first commitment for the class of 2022, and it’s a big one.
Kentucky Football has turned the state of Michigan into northwestern Kentucky. Mark Stoops & company have been recruiting the state hard since the arrival of coach Steve Clinkscale.
Kentucky was able to land a big-time playmaker in athlete Jeremiah Caldwell. The 24-7 Sports site has Caldwell ranked as a four-star recruit and the tenth rated football player in the state of Michigan, and the 21st rated athlete in the country.
Kentucky has now brought in eight recruits from the Detroit area every year since the class of 2018. Recruiting that area isn’t an easy task when constantly fighting off blue-blood programs like Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State. Big 10 football reigns supreme anywhere north of Ohio, it’s their equivalent of the SEC.
https://twitter.com/j_caldwell7/status/1353107130585407488
Caldwell is a versatile player, he can play corner on defense and wide receiver on offense. At 6-foot-3, 170-pounds Caldwell is a big physical player, and likely to play in Kentucky’s secondary upon arrival. Depending on how the roster is built, it’s still also possible to see Caldwell on the offensive side of the ball possibly in jet sweeps. I wouldn’t rule it out just yet.
The last two years the Wildcats haven’t been nearly as big at the corner spot after having Derrick Baity and Chris Westry on the outside for four seasons along with Lonnie Johnson in 2017 and 2018.
However, the Wildcats overall have trended upward as a team including a successful 2020 season they just completed and the future continues to be bright.
What will be difficult for Kentucky will be getting Caldwell to signing day. Kentucky gets recruits earlier better than anybody. Kentucky’s staff has a knack for recognizing SEC talent before anybody else and getting recruits attached to the program early. Unfortunately, that has made Kentucky vulnerable to having recruits de-commit when programs like Alabama comes knocking.
It’s to be expected, some recruits may not have many high-level offers, and all of a sudden Kentucky jumps in the mix and that makes Nick Saban want to take a look. Kentucky also has had horrible luck in getting the first recruit in a class to actually sign when the time comes. Landon Young was the last first committal in a class to actually sign on the dotted line.
If Kentucky can get Caldwell to signing day, the class of 2022 could potentially be a special one. Kentucky is in the mix for several highly-touted recruits, three of which will be homegrown products coming from Kentucky. Quarterback Gavin Wimsatt, wide receiver Dane Key, and offensive lineman Grant Bingham all could end up in blue and white.