We all knew that Josh Allen was heading for the NFL. UK's four defensive backs at the Combine? We saw that coming, too. It was also widely assumed Benny Snell would forego his final season of eligibility.
But there has been some other turnover for the UK football program this offseason.
The Cats Illustrated staff takes on the question: What was UK's most significant unexpected departure?
Jeff Drummond: I would probably go with Michael Nesbitt, who had earned a spot on the two-deep depth chart late in the season. There are so many question marks at corner now, you hate to lose a guy that may have been as highly regarded as any of the young players waiting to step in. I liked his size and physicality. He looked like a future star, so that could be a big loss.
Travis Graf: EJ Price. He never really lived up to his billing coming in, but Price was a big body who you could rotate in at the tackle position. With Landon Young coming back from injury, you’d like to have 2-3 tackles that you can rotate in and out in case he’s not 100%. Returning Price would’ve allowed the staff to groom a few younger guys, but they’ll earn their stripes earlier now with his unforeseen departure.
Justin Rowland: I could see a case for three guys here. The two already mentioned - Nesbitt and Price - but also Kengera Daniel, who appeared set to return to Kentucky and potentially a starting position on the edge for a redshirt senior season. UK had wanted to redshirt him earlier in his career and finally made that happen and I just assumed he was going to help lessen the blow following some departures at linebacker. My pick, all things considered, would be Nesbitt because of a lack of proven options at corner. It's the single biggest question mark on the team in spring practice and will be going into the fall. He would have been in a competition with the JUCO transfers for a starting job and while proven depth was always going to be non-existent at the start of the season, now any kind of depth is lacking.
