Cats Illustrated's offseason roundtable series of football topics continues with Jeff Drummond, Travis Graf, and Justin Rowland taking on today's question.

Which defensive player does UK most need to step up and take his game to another level in 2020?

Jeff Drummond: The loss of Kash Daniel and the medical situation surrounding Chris Oats means that Kentucky needs some of its lesser-experienced inside linebackers to step up in a big way. I think Jamin Davis is the guy to watch here. He’s been in the program for three years now, and started showing signs last season of being a really good player. He’s going to have a quality D-Line in front of him, so the opportunity to make a ton of tackles will be there.

Travis Graf: Jamin Davis. With probable starting middle linebacker Chris Oats redshirting this upcoming season, Davis is going to be called upon a lot to fill his void in the middle. The junior linebacker made big strides on the field last season, tallying 32 tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss, to go along with an interception. He should be able to help in the passing game and in the run game, and due to his versatility, he’s my candidate for breakout player of the year in 2020.

Justin Rowland: I'll go with Josh Paschal, simply because I think he's got a quietly difficult job ahead of him. Making a position switch is never easy and he's a guy who has bounced back and forth while seeing his body change a lot in recent years. There hasn't been a lot of consistency there. Paschal was a good outside linebacker for Kentucky last season and I think he'll be a good defensive lineman as well. The 'Cats need him to really get after the quarterback and play stout in the absence of Calvin Taylor and TJ Carter up front.