By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
A year ago, it was Benny Snell who made an immediate impact upon arrival in the Kentucky backfield.
Although no running backs have made the same impression during fall camp, a core of freshman wide receivers have been impressive during the first two weeks of fall camp. Newcomers Lynn Bowden, Isaiah Epps, Josh Ali, Clevan Thomas and Javonte Richardson have caught the attention of the Kentucky coaching staff.
Kentucky offensive coordinator watches a drill intensely during a practice session earlier this month. Gran is anxious to see how the team performs during its second scrimmage set for Saturday. (Keith Taylor/Kentucky Today)
“I think the receivers are making a push,” Kentucky offensive coordinator Eddie Gran said earlier this week. “They’re pushing the older guys. I think we’ve got three or four guys right now that have a chance to get on the plane. This next scrimmage will be huge for them to see how they react.”
That scrimmage is set for Saturday, two weeks before the season opener at Southern Mississippi set for Sept. 2. Gran is anxious to see how the freshmen receivers perform under pressure for the second time.
“All the offense is in (and) we’re not adding anything right now,” Gran said. “We’ll see this Saturday with those guys to see if they’re going to be guys that can help contribute. I do foresee some of them (contributing), it could be in the first game, could be the fifth game, when you really need them and you’ve got depth. I think that’s when those young guys will come into play.”
In the backfield, Snell remains the top running back, followed by Sihiem King, A.J. Rose. Gran wasn’t happy with the backfield in the first scrimmage last week, but said the trio responded positively during workouts on Monday and Tuesday.
“I don’t see any separation there yet,” Gran said. “This will be a big week for them. I wasn’t excited about our running back play in this last scrimmage. They know that. They came out Monday and ran like grown men. We can’t dance. We can’t play, we’ve gotta know the situation and we didn’t do that very well on Saturday. But I promise you (Monday and Tuesday) they’ve been pretty good.”
The goal during the next 14 days is to finalize a depth chart and fit the final pieces together on both sides of the ball.
“What personnel is going to be the best for us and that’s what we’re going too use for the next couple of weeks as we continue to evolve the offense,” Gran said. “That’s what we’re doing right now, we’re finding out about our personnel.”
Gran said the first scrimmage wasn’t indicative of the progress the team has made during the first two weeks and said first scrimmage of camp always produce a mixture of the “good, bad and the ugly.”
“The frustrating thing about it for me was that we had some great opportunities,” Gran said. “Again, we’re our own worst enemy sometimes. We got to get through that. We can’t do that crap. We’ve got to fix those things. We’re mature enough to make sure that those things don’t happen.”
Gran added that junior quarterback Drew Barker has been performing well during camp. Starter Stephen Johnson was expected to resume workouts Wednesday after missing the previous two days for precautionary reasons.
“He’s showing no signs that anything’s bothering him,” Gran said of Barker. “I hope he doesn’t have to take a hit,” Gran said. “Hopefully he’s not going to take a hit. … We’re going right up to him (in practice). It’s good stuff. He’s getting banged around a little bit.”
Gran admitted the first two weeks have been “a grind” but likes the way the Wildcats are staying focused on the task at hand.
“I think they’re pushing through it,” Gran said. “We had great conditioning after practice (Tuesday). You find out what their will power is and how bad they want this thing.”
Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com or follow on twitter @keithtaylor21.
