Kentucky Football: Five 'Cats seeing increased opportunity on offense

Sometimes it's obvious when a player is taking on more responsibility on a team or when his playing time is spiking.

At times, it's not as apparent to the naked eye during live action.

Here are several Kentucky football players who are taking on a greater role on the team and in the program.

WR CLEVAN THOMAS

You might not notice it just by looking at the stat sheet, but Thomas has seen a tremendous increase in his playing time over the last three weeks and the reason isn't difficult to ascertain. Thomas played 41 snaps over Kentucky's first five games, primarily playing as the Cats' number two slot receiver behind Lynn Bowden. Over the last three games, with Bowden at quarterback, Thomas has played 114 snaps. That's by far the most playing time he has averaged over any three-game stretch in his Kentucky career to date. Thomas still only has six receptions for 37 yards on the season but he did have a touchdown reception against Arkansas and has at least one catch in five consecutive games. Eddie Gran has been talking up Thomas for a long time and has spoken recently about his confidence level being high. This is significant because if Bowden leaves for the NFL after this season, as he very well may do, Thomas would be next in line for a permanent starting position on the offense.

WR AKEEM HAYES

Here's another slot receiver who has benefited from Bowden's move to quarterback, just on a smaller scale. Hayes saw his first action of the season on offense against South Carolina when he played eight snaps. He has played in each of Kentucky's last four SEC games and 27 snaps total in those contests. According to PFF he has graded out at 52.1 but hasn't done anything poorly. This matters because, again, with Bowden possibly gone after this season UK will be looking for answers in this part of the field and any experience will be helpful.

WR BRYCE OLIVER

Oliver has actually seen consistent action as mostly a second-teamer this season, after beginning the year on the first team line of the depth chart. But he's included here because he saw his most extensive action of the season, 22 snaps, against Missouri. Because of his 44-yard reception against the Tigers he graded out at the top of Kentucky's offensive roster in that game. Oliver has been serving in a run block role on 61 of his 96 offensive snaps this year, not uncommon for Kentucky receivers, but based on his potential, his spring game success, his playing time this year, and that highlight against Mizzou, he is someone to watch this year and next as the Wildcats try to keep defenses honest.

WR ALLEN DAILEY

Before the season if someone had said Oliver and Dailey would be getting a lot of playing time it wouldn't have come as a surprise. But these players are seeing their snaps counts rise as the season grinds on, which is why they're listed here. Dailey played 27 snaps over Kentucky's first three games, an average of nine per game. Since then he has 89 snaps over Kentucky's last five games. That's a significant uptick. He played 30 snaps against South Carolina in that loss in Columbia and 23 snaps, his second-most of the season, against Missouri. Dailey's season PFF grade (67.6) is one of the better marks on the offense for the Wildcats and is actually suffering because of a late hit out of bounds penalty that nobody seemed to have a problem with. Dailey has blocked well and with a certain toughness this year and interestingly enough he has seen a disproportionate number of passing plays when he has been on the field.

RB CHRIS RODRIGUEZ

Going into the season Rodriguez was in the mix for a lot of playing time after AJ Rose at running back but the coaching staff lost confidence in him after he fumbled twice in the season opener against Toledo. He was only on the field for two snaps against Eastern Michigan but has played 10 or more snaps four times in five SEC games, including 21 against South Carolina and 22 against Georgia. Some of that has been because of Kavosiey Smoke's migraine issue but certainly not all of it. Rodriguez's calling card is between the tackles, physical running. But in spite of Rodriguez's increased playing time, he still only has 23 carries for 131 yards (5.7 ypc) and one touchdown through eight games. Nonetheless, the increased amount of playing time after that early speedbump should come in handy down the stretch and next year when the Wildcats should have very good depth at the position. None of Kentucky's backs have done enough to guarantee themselves a large share of the carries moving forward so opportunity remains.

Also watch out for ...

BJ Alexander. The redshirt freshman receiver from Florida played seven snaps against Missouri, in a blocking role on each play, and that was his first action of the season.