Kentucky's rise in the Southeastern Conference has coincided - not coincidentally, most would say - with the emergence of its reputation as a "line of scrimmage" program. While the defensive line improved in 2018 and looks good moving forward, John Schlarman's offensive line has been physical more often than not for three seasons now.
The offensive line returns plenty of familiar faces but Kentucky has to find a way to replace starting right siders George Asafo Adjei and Bunchy Stallings, as well as EJ Price who recently parted ways with the program.
Will the offensive line improve, regress or hold steady?
That's the question Cats Illustrated contributors are tackling today's edition of Spring Questions.
Jeff Drummond: There are some big shoes to fill, but UK has recruited really well on the O-Line and found a lot of opportunities for the younger guys to play meaningful snaps in 2018. Guys like Naasir Watkins, Darrian Kinnard, Mason Wolfe and Luke Fortner all showed that they can get the job done without a drop in productivity. Getting Landon Young back after losing last season to a summer knee injury will also be a big boost. I predict this unit actually gets better.
Travis Graf: There’s no doubt that Kentucky’s offensive line has lost a lot of talent this offseason. Those 3 departures account for a ton of in-game reps. The good news is that Kentucky returns other players with a lot of live-action mileage under their belts. Drake Jackson will be anchoring the offensive line for the third year in a row and Landon Young is returning from injury. With Schlarman overseeing the offensive line development, there’s a lot of promise. To me, Kentucky will hold steady on the offensive line to start the season, but an injury or two could change the outlook because of the depth concerns.
Justin Rowland: The good news is when you return a third-year starter like Drake Jackson in the middle it will make changes everyone else a little smoother and easier to absorb. He's been good but I think a lot of people have assumed he's a high floor, relatively low ceiling guy who was about as good as he was going to be as a freshman. And I don't believe that's true. I wouldn't be surprised if Jackson takes a step towards All-SEC status this year. Overall the tackle depth appears to be fine with Landon Young, Naasir Watkins and Darian Kinnard returning. There's immense potential (and plenty of size there), although I'm not sure who the fourth would be in the case of injury issues. Luke Fortner is someone you can comfortably put at guard because he's played at a high level when he's seen the field and Mason Wolfe has some experience as well. Having said all of that, I can't see the right side of the line being as good as it was last year and those guys were a major reason Kentucky was able to blow Florida off the ball in and wear Mississippi State down in the second half. I think the group's pass protection will be improved, which is important as UK seeks to achieve more balance in Terry Wilson's second year, but I think there will be times this year when you don't see the push UK has gotten in some recent years. And remember CJ Conrad was an important part of their blocking schemes up front as well.
