Richardson makes most of fall camp

At any other point over the last five seasons, a tall, physical wide receiver like Tavin Richardson might have played immediately at Kentucky. Instead, increasing depth at the wide receiver position allowed him -- along with fellow freshman Jabari Greenwood -- to redshirt in 2015.

The redshirt year has seemingly paid off. Richardson was one of the stars of fall camp and has put himself in a spot to receive playing time early and often. He used his redshirt year to get his 6-foot-3, 218-pound frame into the shape it is now.

“It helped me get faster, quicker,” Richardson said. “My route running got better. My hands got better. I just got better overall.”

A redshirt year is often used to help young players learn the playbook, but coaching changes at offensive coordinator and wide receiver erased any knowledge of the offense he had gained to that point.

With Lamar Thomas now coaching the receivers, Richardson made it a point to learn as much as he could from the former Miami receiver. He texted Thomas around 11:30 p.m. on Monday night to ask Thomas about learning the other receiver spots.

“Tavin brings a smile to my face,” Thomas said. “As a freshman he got to go against the defense, learned a lot. He embraced the fact that a new offense and new coaches came in and he took a point on learning. We’ve had him play both sides and he’s done a great job. Everyday he’s a joy to coach.”

One of the receivers who has noticed Richardson this fall is junior Garrett “Juice” Johnson. Johnson said he recently told Richardson how much he likes how Richardson has handled his second fall camp.

“Everyday he’s been out here competing,” Johnson said. “He’s been making a lot of spectacular plays. Everyday I just tell him good job because he just makes some incredible plays.”

Kentucky returns nearly every player who caught a pass last season and looks to have its top receivers in order once again. Dorian Baker, Johnson, Ryan Timmons and Jeff Badet are likely to be the top four receivers in the group, but Thomas wants to have eight to 10 receivers to use in the rotation.

Richardson will be one of the guys in the second group. But that receiving group, Richardson says, has a little bit of everything.

“We’re dominant,” Richardson said. “We have skill players, we have, big, small -- we have everything. We’re a complete group now.”