Kentucky still has a lot to play for. Not only for this season but for the future.

During the next four weeks of football practices and games fans will hear and then see more of some players they haven't often watched until now.

Their success or lack thereof will help set expectations for next season.

Here are a few players worth watching closely as the 'Cats close off the season.

Joey Gatewood

Whether or not Gatewood is Kentucky's starter the rest of the way it seems safe to assume he's going to get more playing time. He should have a chance to build some confidence against Vanderbilt. He'll face a very tough Alabama defense. He'll see a lot of Florida speed. He'll see South Carolina, too. In a free season for Gatewood -- who will have four seasons available to him at Kentucky in the final analysis, thanks to the NCAA's allowance -- he's going to get plenty of experience against a lot of talented defenses.

We've seen that Gatewood has a strong, live arm. He hasn't made bad decisions. It would be nice if the coaches could find a way to let him show off his arm deep. That will go back to protection just to give receivers a shot to push the field vertically. We probably saw enough of him running against UGA, although he could have more success against other opponents on the ground.

Michael Drennen II

Several fans were asking last week why the coaches elevated Drennen to first stringer on the weekly depth chart if he wasn't going to play first string reps.

In reality, Drennen has gotten a fair amount of playing time so far. He has seen 37 snaps over the past four weeks and 15 or more in two of those games.

Lining up in the slot he is ahead of the likes of Clevan Thomas and Akeem Hayes so expect his playing time to grow over the course of the rest of the year.

Drennen has had only two targets so we don't know what he can do, nor do we know how he's fared at getting open in those very limited opportunities.

Izayah Cummings

What you just read about Drennen you can almost translate perfectly for Cummings.

Before the season plenty of people around the program believed the freshman from Louisville was on track to make a major impact this season. A setback stalled that preseason progress but he is now making a push to see more time on the field.

Cummings has not unseated outside receivers the way Drennen seems to have taken over the majority of the slot snaps but he has been lined up in several different ways, from the slot to out wide and even as an H once.

Kentucky likes Cummings for his big build and potential for mismatches but it's not yet determine how he might best be used in the offense. Here's to hoping we start to get an answer to that question in the next month.

Keaton Upshaw

If you watch the tape of Kentucky's season to date there's a case to be made that Keaton Upshaw has been the biggest mismatch and potential asset in the passing game.

He dropped a touchdown but has been as open with as much separation on his targets as any player. On a couple of occasions he has had opportunities for big plays that were just missed.

Kentucky fans are probably beyond hearing about the tight end in the passing game but throwing out of 12 personnel could be an emphasis moving forward since the 'Cats need to pass and that probably gets as many good players on the field as possible.

Austin Dotson

Barring something unforeseen Kentucky's starters at its two guard spots next season will be Dotson and Kenneth Horsey. We've only seen each player for about half a season but by now we pretty much know what each of them is, at least relative to one another and Logan Stenberg from last year.

Dotson has been excellent blocking for the run but has missed a couple of assignments in pass protection that have really hurt. Horsey isn't Dotson in the run game but is better in pass sets.

If Dotson can make strides and become serviceable in pass protection he could be a breakout player with backs running behind him next year.

Quinton Bohanna

Chances are at this time next year Bohanna is going to be in the NFL but in terms of one player making an impact in the Cats' final four games, nobody is more important than Bohanna. We've seen photos of him back practicing with the team following his injury and there's no doubting how important he is to the team after what we watched from the defense in his absence.