Ranking UK's position units so far

Before the start of a season we all had opinions about the state of Kentucky's football roster. We had ideas about where on the field the 'Cats might be strong and where they might struggle.

Five games in the season, after three games of SEC play and during a bye week, it's a good time to pause and reassess taking all that information into account.

Here's one person's ranking of UK's position units through five games, from strongest to weakest.

Offensive Line ... Coming into the season this was believed to be Kentucky's biggest strength and it has probably been that, or close to it. UK is rushing for 4.71 yards per carry, down a tick from last season but respectable nonetheless. The 'Cats have allowed 11 sacks and 25 tackles for loss through five games - adequate numbers. UK's best offensive players according to Pro Football Focus have been offensive linemen. All five starters appear to be having quality seasons.

Defensive Line ... Calvin Taylor and Quinton Bohanna appear to have having very strong seasons. TJ Carter and Taylor each have three tackles for loss and Bohanna is pressuring the quarterback very well for a nose. In all, the defensive line appears to be making more plays in the backfield than in some past seasons. The line has not made a huge leap forward this season but it does appear to be an improved group overall.

Linebacker ... DeAndre Square had arguably the best individual performance for any Kentucky player this year in the season opener against Toledo. Since then he has come back to earth a bit but there's still plenty promising there. Josh Paschal has been an impactful player near the line of scrimmage and Boogie Watson answered the bell when challenged against South Carolina. But Kash Daniel has not played at his highest level in some games this season and the unit appears to be down quite a bit from last year's group which had Josh Allen and Jordan Jones.

Defensive Back ... Kentucky has been more prone to giving up explosive plays in the passing game this year, which should not come as a surprise. But given all of the departures, the defensive backfield has fared better than many probably feared it might. That's doubly true when you consider the absence of Davonte Robinson and action missed by Yusuf Corker (targeting), Jordan Griffin (injury), and Taj Dodson (injury) this year. The emergence of Brandin Echols as an SEC-caliber starting cornerback, some surprising play recently from Quandre Mosely, and the gradual improvement of Jamari Brown has helped.

Running Back ... UK is not as good in short yardage situations as it was a year ago. Some of that may be that with the absence of George Asafo-Adjei and Bunchy Stallings, the 'Cats have sacrificed some physicality for pass protection prowess. But the backs have struggled a bit, from Chris Rodriguez's two early fumbles to some inconsistent results from AJ Rose and Kavosiey Smoke. There have been bright spots and some nice overall numbers but this group is probably more of a work in progress than many anticipated it might be.

Tight End ... The hope was that Justin Rigg and Keaton Upshaw would help Kentucky expand the use of the tight ends in the passing attack this year. Upshaw has definitely shown flashes with six receptions for 70 yards and his first career touchdowns, but Rigg hasn't been as involved as the coaches probably hoped in the passing attack and CJ Conrad's blocking has been tough to replace. There's still a lot to build with in the future here but Conrad has been missed.

Wide Receiver ... At times, this has looked like a unit that could take a huge step forward this year. And the group is improved, even without Dorian Baker, Tavin Richardson, and Isaiah Epps. Lynn Bowden has 30 receptions for 348 yards and a touchdown. Ahmad Wagner and Josh Ali each have a dozen receptions, with the former averaging a whopping 20.7 yards per reception and the latter just 10. Still, there have been a number of drops, there's a lot of inconsistency, and the group doesn't run very deep.

Quarterback ... Injuries have absolutely ravaged Kentucky here. Coming into the season this was not regarded as Kentucky's biggest strength, but there was some optimism about the positional depth in case something were to happen to Terry Wilson. After all, Sawyer Smith was an accomplished FBS quarterback in his own right. But injuries to both Wilson and Smith have decimated UK here. The players behind Smith don't have experience and we could be looking at Lynn Bowden taking snaps for quite some time.