Having tackled the question of how Kentucky might begin to replace Benny Snell, the Cats Illustrated crew takes on an equally if not more daunting question.
You're not going to fill the shoes vacated by Josh Allen, but how will Kentucky fare at that spot with him gone?
Jeff Drummond, Managing Editor: Filling Josh Allen's shoes will be more difficult than any other departing player. Let's face it: he may have just had the best season of any defensive player in school history, and that list includes an NFL Hall of Famer in the form of Art Still. Realistically, it may not happen in 2019. Jamar "Boogie" Watson has some of the same attributes, but he'll have to make some of the same gains we saw from Allen in the strength and conditioning program in order to take the next step in his development. Josh Paschal is an intriguing candidate if he makes a full recovery from his battle with melanoma. No other player on the defensive side of the ball has as many physical gifts when 100 percent healthy. That's still a "big if," though. I think UK has some candidates to be the "next Josh Allen" in this 2019 recruiting class -- one can't ignore the physical similarities at the same age of a guy like J.J. Weaver -- but he may be a year or so away from making an impact.
Travis Graf, Special Contributor: It’s impossible to replace Josh with one guy. Defensively, he had the best season and career of anybody to ever wear a Kentucky uniform. Coming off of a redshirt season, Kengera Daniel will get the first crack at the Jack position. However, like Benny, you’ll have to replace Josh by committee. No one player is going to replace his pass rushing production or draw consistent double-teams like him. Look for Kentucky’s interior defensive line to have more consistent pass rushing stunts next season to attempt to soften the blow of losing Allen as the outside pass rusher. It’ll be interesting to see how the Kentucky staff wants to use Josh Paschal next season also.
Warren Taylor, Staff Writer: Josh Allen is a generational pass rusher so replacing him is next to impossible. Kentucky still has plenty stocked at the linebacker position and have recruited well there this season so this isn't a nightmare scenario at all. However, the defensive coaching staff is going to have to scheme well and experiment to equal even half the pressure Allen generated on his own.
Justin Rowland, Publisher: I actually think Kentucky has some nice pieces on the edge. Kengera Daniel, potentially Josh Paschal, Jordan Wright, Marquez Bembry, Jared Casey and JJ Weaver give the Cats an impressive assortment of players with varying levels of experience and different skill sets who could rotate to stay fresh, play fast and benefit from an improved defensive line. That last part is the real key. For Kentucky's defense not to take a big step back - and there will be some step back - they need the defensive line to help these guys so they don't have to send too much pressure. I wouldn't be surprised if Kentucky's team sack numbers remain constant. Matt House will just have to get more creative in finding ways to create those numbers.
