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Kentucky Football: The three best Wildcats of the 2010's

Randall Cobb/University of Kentucky
Randall Cobb/University of Kentucky

The tail end of the 2019 calendar year brings the end of one decade and soon the start of another.

It's a perfect time to recap some of the bests of Kentucky sports over the last decade, especially since John Calipari has completed 10 full seasons with the Wildcats and Mark Stoops has been in Lexington for the better part of a decade now as well.

The Cats Illustrated staff will be tackling several list concepts between now and the end of the year to commemorate the last 10 years of Kentucky football and basketball.

Up first ...

Who are the three best Kentucky football players of the last decade?

Travis Graf

1. Benny Snell

2. Josh Allen

3. Avery Williamson

Jeff Drummond

1. Randall Cobb

2. Josh Allen

3. Benny Snell

Justin Rowland

1. Josh Allen

2. Randall Cobb

3. Benny Snell

Kentucky football has had ups and downs over the last 10 years. Included is the failed tenure of Joker Phillips, the rebuild under Mark Stoops, and the best season for UK football in four decades.

During those peaks and valleys the Wildcats have been fortunate to have three of the best players in Kentucky football history.

Josh Allen, recently selected with the No. 7 pick in the last NFL Draft, won the Nagurski Award as the top defensive player in college football during UK's 10-3 season in 2018. He is now the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars' rookie sack record and is establishing himself as one of the top young pass rushers at the pro level. He finished his college career as Kentucky's all-time sack leader and UK's single-season sack leader.

Randall Cobb has had an excellent NFL career since leaving Kentucky, first with the Green Bay Packers and now with the Dallas Cowboys. Cobb was named to the All-Freshman team in the SEC at quarterback, had more than 1,000 combined rushing and receiving yards in the 2009 season, and had 1,017 receiving yards and seven touchdowns with 424 rushing yards and five additional scores. He had 32 total touchdowns in his college career.

Cobb was a first team All-American in 2010 and was first team All-SEC in 2009 and 2010. He has 505 receptions, 6,019 yards and 47 touchdowns as an NFL player. He was an All-Rookie team selection in 2011.

Benny Snell rushed for 1,000 or more yards in each of his three seasons for Kentucky and broke the program's all-time rushing record in the 2019 Citrus Bowl win against Penn State.

Snell was a first team All-SEC selection in both 2017 and 2018 and a third team All-American in 2018. He made the Freshman All-American team in 2016.

Avery Williamson was a fifth round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft following a storied career at Kentucky, and he has roughly 500 tackles and 14.5 sacks in his NFL career. He was a second team All-SEC player in 2013, one year after registering 135 tackles as a junior in 2012.

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