With the excitement starting to grow for the upcoming college football season Cats Illustrated takes a look at the best skill position players that Kentucky will face throughout the season.
Eastern Michigan: Dylan Drummond
The Eagles lost a ton of offensive production over the offseason. Gone is Mike Glass III and gone is Shaq Vann, players who accounted for over 4,000 total yards last season. Drummond is the Eagles’ leading returning receiver, accounting for 55 receptions, 493 yards and 3 touchdowns a season ago.
Previous Kentucky matchups
2019: 3 catches, 40 yards
Florida: Kyle Trask
Kentucky fans should know all about Kyle Trask, who came in for injured Feleipe Franks during last year’s matchup with the ‘Cats and lead the Gators to victory in heartbreaking fashion. Trask has a legitimate argument for being the best quarterback in the SEC, tossing for just under 3,000 yards, to go along with 25 touchdowns to just 7 interceptions in 2019. Mel Kiper Jr. currently has Trask as the fifth quarterback on his big board for the 2021 NFL Draft.
Previous Kentucky matchups
2019: 9-13, 126 yards. 1 rush, 4 yards and a touchdown
Kent State: Dustin Crum
Crum was highly efficient for Kent State last season, throwing for 20 touchdowns to just 2 interceptions on a 69-percent completion rate.He also added 707 yards and 6 touchdowns on the ground. The senior quarterback is the type of multi-talented gunslinger who has given Kentucky fits in these kinds of games over time.
South Carolina: Shi Smith
South Carolina’s offense was pretty pedestrian last season and the Gamecocks don’t return much production outside of Ryan Hilinksi and Shi Smith. Smith will be given a much bigger role this season now that Bryan Edwards has exhausted his eligibility. The senior wide receiver tallied 489 yards and two touchdowns last season on 43 receptions.
Previous Kentucky matchups
2017: 1 catch, 25 yards
2018: 4 catches, 40 yards
2019: 2 catches, 30 yards
Auburn: Seth Williams
Williams provides a big target for quarterback Bo Nix. Standing at 6-foot-3, 224 pounds, Williams does a little bit of everything at the receiver position. He’s very physical with defensive backs and is able to carve out space with his route running. The junior wideout is fantastic at tracking deep balls and high pointing the pass during jump ball situations. Williams scored 8 times in 2019, while securing 59 receptions for 830 yards.
Eastern Illinois: Isaiah Hill
Hill scored four touchdowns and 569 yards on 57 receptions during the 2019 season. The speedy wideout only appeared in eight games, but averaged 71 yards per contest. He also carried the ball nine times, scoring twice on the ground.
Vanderbilt: Cam Johnson
Vanderbilt wasn’t great at throwing the football in 2019, but Johnson benefited from being the secondary target behind Kalija Lipscomb, who has now graduated, whenever the Commodores weren’t running the ball with Ke’Shawn Vaughn. Thrust into a bigger role this season, Johnson will need to be a reliable target for Vanderbilt’s new stable of quarterbacks. The Commodores will be lacking an elite weapon with the graduation of Vaughn and Lipscomb
Previous Kentucky matchups
2019: 2 catches, 21 yards
Missouri: Larry Rountree III
Rountree was a bright spot for the Tigers last season, a team who was below average passing the football for the first time in what seems like ages. The senior running back has a total of 26 touchdowns during his career and has proven that he can shoulder a large amount of carries, up to 537 through three seasons. Rountree isn’t necessarily a home run threat, but he’s one of the most consistent running backs in the SEC, averaging over five yards per carry throughout his career.
Previous Kentucky matchups
2017: 1 kick return, 35 yards
2018: 14 attempts, 45 yards, 1 TD
2019: 15 attempts, 58 yards. 1 catch, 6 yards
Tennessee: Jarrett Guarantano
The Volunteer gunslinger is 2-1 versus Kentucky in his career, coming in as a backup last season to lead Tennessee to a victory that absolutely ripped out the hearts of Kentucky fans. As a junior, Guarantano was yo-yoed between the Vols’ first and second string, but still managed to throw for nearly 2,200 yards and 16 touchdowns, as well as eight interceptions.
Previous Kentucky matchups
2017: 18-23, 242 yards
2018: 12-20, 197 yards, 2 TDs
2019: 7-8, 115 yards, 2 TDs; 6 carries, 30 yards
Mississippi State: KJ Costello
Pairing the Stanford transfer with first-season Bulldog head coach Mike Leach could be a problem for the rest of the SEC. As a sophomore at Stanford in 2018, Costello threw for 3,500 yards and 29 touchdowns for the Cardinal. While people have come accustomed to seeing the Bulldogs trot out top dual-threat quarterbacks over the last decade, Costello is a pocket passer all the way, which is right up Leach’s alley with the Air Raid offense.
Georgia: Jamie Newman
For the second straight week, Kentucky’s opponent’s top skill position player will be a transfer quarterback from another conference. Newman had a solid career for Wake Forest, throwing for just shy of 4,000 yards and 35 touchdowns during two seasons. The SEC should be on notice sooner rather than later, since the talent surrounding Newman will be much better than anything he ever had while playing for the Demon Deacons.
Louisville: Tutu Atwell
I went back and forth with this selection. The Cardinals also have Javian Hawkins, one of the best running backs in the country, and Micale Cunningham, a player who I believe could throw for 30 touchdowns this season. I decided to go with Atwell here, due to his outrageous 18.4 yards per reception on 69 catches. He tallied 1,272 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2019 as well. You just can’t teach sub-4.3 second speed, and that’s what Atwell has. He’s one of the best in the nation - if not the best - at taking the top off of the defense.
Previous Kentucky matchups
2019: 4 catches, 57 yards
