SIGNING DAY PREVIEW: Defensive end Joshua Paschal
Cats Illustrated isn't waiting until National Signing Day to get you ready for all the action. We're rolling out Signing Day content all week.
In our new Signing Day Preview series we'll profile every single one of Kentucky's 2017 early enrollees as well as those who won't be signing until Wednesday.
STATUS: Will sign on Wednesday and enroll in June.
RESUME: Paschal racked up 64 tackles, nine tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and four quarterback hurries for Good Counsel in 2016. He also had more than 100 yards receiving for the Falcons.
RECRUITING HISTORY: TraVaughn Paschal, the younger Paschal's brother, played at Kentucky until two years ago. He's now with the program in another role, but when he was a player Josh visited Kentucky several times. Early in the process Kentucky, Clemson and Ohio State were Paschal's favorites. As time went on two of Kentucky's recruiters in the DMV, Tommy Mainord and Andy Buh, left for other jobs. That left a void until Vince Marrow stepped in and took over. Kentucky went from not having a spot in Paschal's top seven over the summer to the leader late in his recruitment. He committed to Kentucky late in the year but still took an official visit to Penn State. He ultimately decided he was rock solid with Kentucky.
SCOUTING REPORT: Paschal is a fantastic pass rusher for a strongside defensive end. He explodes off the line of scrimmages, stays low, plays with a tremendous motor, uses his hands well, is fundamentally sound and has great speed for a player of his size. He's a prototypical 4-3 defensive end who could play in a 3-4 as well. He's not quite as long as some of the nation's top defensive ends but there's a reason he's got the lofty ranking he enjoys.
CATS ILLUSTRATED PROJECTION: Because of his work habits and how advanced he is physically, athletically and as a player it's probably safe to assume Paschal is one of the closest things Kentucky has to a sure thing in 2016. He may still need to redshirt (or he may not), but by his second year in the program you can expect Paschal to make his presence felt on the field. He's got big-time potential.
| Size | Speed | Explosion | Pass Rush | Run Defense |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
7/10 |
8/10 |
9/10 |
9/10 |
9/10 |
