Cats Illustrated's rundown of the Kentucky roster will stretch through the long months of summer and up until the start of the 2020 football season.
We're still early in our project, today tackling one of the two players wearing a No. 3 jersey for Kentucky.
We're talking here about Terry Wilson, arguably the most important player on this year's team.
Background: By now most Kentucky fans and certainly most Cats Illustrated readers are familiar with at least the rough outline of Wilson's history on the field.
He was one of the top prospects in the state of Oklahoma as a high school senior. He signed with Oregon, a national recruiting player, which was a testament to his prospect status. After a year with the Ducks he transferred to a junior college. One year later, he was with Kentucky. The Wildcats contended with Florida and several other Group of Five programs for Wilson, who was recruited by Vince Marrow.
Wilson was quarterback for Kentucky's 10-3 Citrus Bowl-winning team in 2018. While he was more of a game manager than anything that year, it wouldn't be fair to say that's all he was. It's tough to imagine Kentucky winning that game against Florida, and thus snapping the 31-year losing streak to the Gators, without a stellar game by Wilson.
He looked much improved and more confident as a passer very early in 2019 against suspect competition but a horse collar tackle by Eastern Michigan ended his season. He appears to be on track for a full recovery before the season, and told Kentucky Sports Radio recently that he's about 90-percent back to health.
2020 Overview: There are a lot of variables here. If Wilson is healthy and back to the level he appeared to be at early last year, Kentucky's offense could be significantly more balanced and dynamic this year than it was last. He'll have a very strong offensive line and potentially a great rushing attack to keep defenses honest. But he'll have to keep defenses honest himself.
Any time a player is coming back from a serious injury the mental hurdles have to be reckoned with. That's especially true for a dual-threat player. Will there be rust? Has he lost a step? Will he be timid? How long until he's back to full speed and without hesitation on the field?
These are all questions we'll find the answers to in time. But it seems fair to say that Wilson is the overwhelming favorite to be Kentucky's starting quarterback if he's healthy. He is 12-3 as a starter and that's unprecedented in UK football's modern history.
