After an relatively uneventful first round, the Cats Illustrated draft kings had to dabble in that bigger, less obvious pool of UK football players to make their second round picks.
Travis Graf paired Davonte Robinson with Terry Wilson, giving him UK's starting quarterback and likely its best defensive back.
Jeff Drummond coupled the team's most visible player, Lynn Bowden, with promising freshman running back Kavosiey Smoke.
Justin Rowland followed the first round selection of A.J. Rose with the big Quinton Bohanna to anchor his defensive line.
On to Round 3!
Travis Graf
Round 3, Pick 7
CHRIS OATS
Graf: With my first two picks, the theme for my team has been upside. Terry’s improvement and Robinson’s 2018 snap count coupled with his natural ability in the secondary. I’m continuing that same trend with this pick. Oats, just a true sophomore, dominated spring practices and is a physical specimen that Kentucky hasn’t had a lot of the time. He can be an elite sideline to sideline player and has showed promise dropping back into coverage.
Jeff Drummond
Round 3, Pick 8
DRAKE JACKSON
With a couple of huge offensive playmakers on my roster so far, I've got to have some hosses in front of them to win the line of scrimmage. Who better than UK's junior center, who is responsible for identifying defensive fronts and getting his fellow O-Linemen in the right blocking schemes? Jackson is one of the most analytical linemen than I've been around in 30 years of covering the Cats. And since he joined the starting lineup for the Missouri game midway through the 2018 season, UK has won 13 games, pummeled arch-rival Louisville, defeated perennial college football powerhouse Penn State in the Citrus Bowl, and shattered numerous school rushing records. Jackson has played a key role in all of that.
Justin Rowland
Round 3, Pick 9
CALVIN TAYLOR
Okay, so this might have had a little something to do with me writing an offseason analysis piece on Taylor this week. He was at the front of my mind. But I think it's fair to say that I've got Kentucky's two best defensive linemen, and that's arguably one of the Cats' two best team positions. Taylor has been UK's most consistent defensive linemen over the last two years and he's capable of getting after the quarterback or stuffing the run. You have to be able to stop the run and dominate the line of scrimmage so coupling Taylor with Quinton Bohanna was a decision I didn't think twice about.
Teams Through Two Rounds
Graf's Team
QB Terry Wilson
DB Davonte Robinson
LB Chris Oats
Drummond's Team
WR Lynn Bowden
RB Kavosiey Smoke
OL Drake Jackson
Rowland's Team
RB A.J. Rose
DL Quinton Bohanna
DL Calvin Taylor