Kentucky offers in-state offensive lineman

Call it a coincidence or a part of a concerted effort to reverse the recent narrative about in-state recruiting struggles. Either way, Kentucky's new offer to in-state offensive lineman Eli Cox of West Jessamine.

Cox's offer is significant beyond the fact that he's an in-state, very local prospect. He's also an interior lineman and, potentially, a center as he's listed on his Rivals.com profile page.

Only infrequently does Kentucky offer prospective centers, since only one sees the field at a time. It could be that Kentucky is eyeing Cox as a potential down-the-road replacement for Drake Jackson. That's still a long way off.

Army, Austin Peay, Ball State, Cincinnati, Cornell, Eastern Kentucky, Georgia State, Liberty, Marshall, Ohio, Toledo and Western Michigan are the other schools that have offered Cox.

The 6-foot-4, 292 pound prospect is shown at center, right guard and right tackle in his junior highlight film.

Prior to Kentucky's offer, Cincinnati had piqued Cox's interest.

Rivals analysts noted that Cox had posted impressive testing numbers at a 2017 combine produced and hosted by the network.

Cox is one of three four Kentuckians to land an offer from UK in recent days, joining 2019 running back/linebacker Aidan Robbins, 2020 defensive lineman Octavious Oxendine and 2020 receiver Izayah Cummings on that list.

Cox has indicated that he is being recruited by John Schlarman and Dean Hood from Kentucky's coaching staff.