THE WAR ROOM! (5/22): This week's edition is FREE

The CatsIllustrated.com War Room! is back and it's one of the bigger editions in recent memory.

We've got scoop on major developments and the latest with Blue Smith, Xavier Peters and Ethan Tucky, unique content from our stop at the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp presented by adidas in Illinois, plus what we're hearing about expected class size, running back recruiting and the academic roll call watch of the 2017 class that hasn't arrived in Lexington yet.

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For months CatsIllustrated.com has been bullish on Kentucky's chances with near five-star and Rivals100 athlete L'Christian "Blue" Smith of Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne. Understandably so. There were, along the way, plenty of rumblings (in the popular imagination, with recruits and according to sources) that Blue favored Kentucky.

It went beyond reading the tea leaves and Kentucky really was, according to almost everyone we spoke with, the preferred destination for months, not weeks. There were reasons: Kentucky's successful history recruiting Wayne High School (Dorian Hendrix, Tobias Gilliam, Alex Reigelsperger), the lingering and publicly discussed question of whether Ohio State would move Smith to tight end (something he would not be happy with), the outpouring of social media love from Kentucky fans (but remember: don't tweet at recruits), and positive visits with Vince Marrow and even Mark Stoops, in his office).

Now, however, CatsIllustrated.com is being led to believe that Blue is more likely to wear Scarlet and Gray. Ohio State seems to have surged into the lead. Smith hasn't said that himself, but that's what we're hearing from almost everyone. Kentucky sources don't seem to be giving up and they'll continue to recruit him regardless of what happens, but there are those who believe Ohio State is a solid favorite.

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Smith recently visited Columbus and met with head coach Urban Meyer. It was a given that the tight end/receiver question was going to come up, and while we're not privy to the details of the conversation, all of our sources believe that Meyer sold Smith hard on being a top receiver target and a major in-state priority.

Your publisher, in a recent wide-ranging recruiting update, downgraded his optimism to "50-50" between UK and Ohio State, for a number of reasons, not least of which was that trip to OSU and the early chatter that followed. But another big reason for our recent change is Smith's father. No, it doesn't seem like he's pushing Ohio State, but every time he would go on the record about his son's recruitment he would say Ohio State is the favorite. It's plausible that would be due to in-state pressure (Ohio kids with Ohio State offers are expected to go to Ohio State), but coupled with all we've heard recently, it's noteworthy.

As always, our opinion is subject to change, but here it's less an opinion and more just what we're hearing from everywhere. Ohio State seems to be the favorite. Some even believe a decision could come soon.

Lest you lose faith and start to question the outlook for the 2018 class, there's plenty of good news to go around. West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West linebacker Xavier Peters hasn't gone on the record saying Kentucky is his favorite, but we've heard all along that the Cats are probably in the best position to land Peters. We're still hearing that.

Peters hasn't given any timetable for a decision but we wouldn't be surprised if it comes sooner rather than later. No, this isn't a patented "Yahtzee Watch," so hold off on the House of Blue forum page refreshing. But stay tuned because this situation looks good for Kentucky.

That's very good news, not a minor story, because there are those who believe Peters would be the biggest linebacker commit of the Stoops era, if Kentucky can close the deal.

While Peters is a three-star prospect, UK seems to hold him in the same category of undervalued as has been occupied by Jarren Williams. Kentucky has produced plenty of very good linebackers over the years, and Kentucky has a really, really good trio right now (Denzil Ware, Jordan Jones, Josh Allen). There's no guarantee Peters will be as good as any of those players (or Avery Williamson, Danny Trevathan, Wesley Woodyard, etc.), but in terms of measurables, raw athleticism and upside Peters has the look of a prototypical NFL linebacker-in-training more than any of them.

Is he raw? Sure (who isn't to varying degrees?). Is it a done deal? Probably not — it's rarely good to get your hopes up, especially when it comes to the unpredictable world of football recruiting, where circumstances change on a dime and Kentucky fans know, if anyone does, not to make too many assumptions. But Peters, three-star or not, would probably be the catalyst of a spontaneous party in UK's football offices if he were to commit — and right now we believe he will.

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Remember, as we've said before, right now it's extremely unlikely that his teammate, defensive lineman Tyler Bentley, ends up at Kentucky. The Cats have withdrawn, basically, in part because they aren't enamored but also because they didn't like the up-and-down, unpredictable nature of how he went about things (e.g. timetable, favorites, etc.).

Even months ago CatsIllustrated.com was hearing that Kentucky could ultimately sign upwards of 28 players when February of 2018 rolls around. We aren't hearing a firm number right now, but even with the 2017 class ending up larger than expected we do have reason to believe this class will still be slightly larger than average (although 28 is more in the realm of "average" than outlier).

The best we can say is the Kentucky will almost certainly reach a "full class" total of 25, and our best numbers guess would be in the 26-28 range.

We were driving the chatter about transferring Boston College linebacker Ethan Tucky and Kentucky, and again, for good reason. He officially visited Kentucky, basically told CatsIllustrated.com that he was ecstatic about the possibility of landing in Lexington (although it was never a done deal, even if he got the offer), and those close to him were very hopeful things would work out.

One source told CatsIllustrated.com that Tucky officially visited Cincinnati over the weekend. As we've said, Kentucky did not offer. Some on the site's forums speculated that Kentucky might not have had an offer for Tucky. Run the numbers and do your research (as many of you do, admirably, and extremely well), but our understanding is that Kentucky does have a scholarship available for a player, if they want to add someone. But they can be picky.

In Tucky's case, they were picky. Initial research on Tucky seemed to indicate that Kentucky had uncovered a big-time steal: Former top 20 (or close) player in Ohio, just one redshirting freshman year behind him, "three to play three" in terms of eligibility, a 230-pound frame that hadn't lost the speed it had at 213 pounds, a year in a program known for producing great linebackers, and a kid who is exceptionally smart, grounded and high character.

The problem emerged when Kentucky's coaches did a little more evaluation work. No real game action is available, but Tucky did compete in BC's spring game. Apparently, UK's coaches weren't enamored with his range of motion and his overall athleticism.

From there, when we learned that (and that Kentucky wouldn't offer), we heard that Tucky was likely to land at Cincinnati, where he would play for former BC assistant coach Al Washington — who is now the defensive line coach for the Bearcats. The last thing we heard is that Cincinnati will take Tucky and has plans to turn him into a 250-pound defensive end, which reinforces the validity of Kentucky's concerns about his range as a linebacker.

Kentucky does have plenty of linebacker depth and we can say that even as the program sustained several transfers (De'Niro Laster, Kobie Walker, Nico Firios). In fact, those transfers and UK's decision on Tucky are related, and speak to the impressive blend of "ready to shine" veteran star power (the trio mentioned earlier) plus younger players coming through the ranks, such as Kash Daniel, Jamin Davis and Boogie Watson, who all had strong spring games, not to mention promising Jacks like Jordan Bonner and Jaylin Bannerman.

The Cats will indeed need to target a solid linebacker class in the 2018 cycle, because the pipeline can never slow down with roster turnover, attrition and limited eligibility being what it is, but the Cats' present and future at linebacker appears rock solid.

One of the questions that has befuddled many a fan and commentator alike (including your publisher) is which direction Kentucky will go at running back in the 2018 class. There's no shortage of possibilities: Malcolm Davidson, Ja'veon Marlow, Shaun Shivers (ideal but unlikely, Auburn commit), Ryan Montgomery and the list goes on. But there hasn't been, at least to date, one guy who jumps off the page as, "It's probably gonna be him."

At first Kentucky offered Montgomery, an Ohio back, and our impression was that the Cats were taking a wait-and-see, "bide our time," approach. Montgomery's recruitment has heated up more recently, with Cincinnati, Purdue, Iowa State, Indiana and Michigan State also offering.

If we had to point to one back who is the most likely addition at running back, it would be Montgomery. Our expectation is that he will camp to solidify his position on Kentucky's recruiting board, but CatsIllustrated.com is now working under the assumption that Montgomery is thought of highly by UK's coaches.

A lingering question is whether Kentucky will take two running backs in the 2018 class. At first we were hearing that Kentucky would probably take one and only two if they found two backs they really liked. That was a bit of a surprise at the time, because Kentucky's depth chart has the look of one that could use two backs in the 2018 class. There's Benny Snell (who will be a junior when 2018's arrive), Sihiem King (who will be a senior), A.J. Rose (who will be a redshirt sophomore) and Bryant Koback (who will be either a redshirt freshman or a true sophomore and is recovering from a serious injury).

Given the possibility of an early defection for the NFL (see: Snell), or the possibility of injuries between now and then, two just seems to make the most sense. We still think it will hinge on UK being able to land two they really feel good about, but now we think two is slightly more likely than one.

The single biggest question for Kentucky football going into 2017 is the defensive line: Troubles last year (and, more often than not, the timeless struggle at Kentucky). You could make a case that it's punter, but it's the defensive line. We didn't see the unit at full strength in the spring with Alvonte Bell out with an injury. The group had also been working with new defensive line coach Derrick LeBlanc for a very short period of time.

At first, returns on Matt Elam were optimistic, as he apparently began spring work with the right kind of enthusiasm and dedication. He took some criticism for his play in the spring game, but upon further review it was actually a mixed bag. What Bell will give in the fall is a definite unknown, and he didn't hit his stride last year.

But there is hope, according to those we've spoken with. LeBlanc was immediately impressed with Adrian Middleton, when he watched film on him and started to work with him.

The real hope, we've heard, is a trio of young players: T.J. Carter, Kordell Looney and Chris Whittaker.

No, Whittaker hasn't arrived yet. But everyone we've spoken with seems to have a certain level of anticipation for him and what he'll bring, and there's a belief that he could be one of the big steals of the 2017 class. A lot of people probably never got past Whittaker being committed to Central Florida, a non-Power Five school, but all we can say is that Kentucky seems to be very high on this kid and he could potentially make a relatively early impact. We'll know a lot more when he finally arrives on campus and we start hearing chatter about the kind of shape he's shown up in and what he can do in the weight room.

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Will Kentucky suffer any academic casualties from the Class of 2017, which is expected to arrive in Lexington in a couple of weeks?

Based on what we've heard it's simply too early to say. We can't speculate on the case of any player, as that wouldn't be fair and we don't have access to nearly enough information to do so with confidence, so the best we can say is we still don't know, and we'd caution that you treat any info to the contrary with skepticism.

Those who did not enroll early just finished exams in most cases, so UK doesn't even have access to all the information the staff would need to accurately gauge the status of each player. We were told, not long ago, that folks felt pretty confident that the class would make it through basically as-is, but all is speculation. So cross your fingers. Nothing left to do but wait at this point.

- Vince Marrow gets credit for Jarren Williams' commitment, as the family itself credits him for taking over down the stretch and sealing the deal. Marrow's profile is rising in parts of the country outside of Ohio.

- Roswell (Ga.) Blessed Trinity running back Steele Chambers recently reached out to Kentucky to express serious interest. That's a story, because the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Class of 2019 back already has offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Oregon State, Pitt, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. To reach out to Kentucky on his own initiative, when he's not exactly scraping the barrel, means he's one to watch.

- CatsIllustrated.com was at the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp presented by adidas in O'Fallon, Ill., over the weekend and we've already rolled out a lot of content (see: QB Paul Tyson, DT Trevor Trout, etc), but we've got a lot more content coming.

Some quick hitters as a preview:

- Four-star Bowling Green, Ky., linebacker Justice Dingle told CatsIllustrated.com that he will likely visit Kentucky this summer. Weeks ago we reported that, according to our sources, Dingle-to-Kentucky was a long shot. He's a Tennessee native, not a Kentuckian by birth, and he had a solid camp showing in Lexington last year but probably not his best effort, and not one that matched a four-star ranking. He did tell us in Illinois that he's still hearing from Tennessee and Vanderbilt, schools in his state of birth and earlier years, and those schools will be on his radar throughout his recruitment.

- Alabama 2019 quarterback Paul Tyson was another player we were eager to speak with and we found him impressive as a personable, approachable kid. We didn't get to evaluate him much at the camp, except during warmups, but he seems to throw a nice ball and is a natural in some respects. He should become more refined very quickly but he doesn't look like someone who has never been a varsity starter. He was lights out against a stout Cordova (Tenn.) defense in a spring game dissection that was, according to those there, impressive to behold.

His father has told CatsIllustrated.com that the Bear Bryant link (that's the kid's great grandfather) is very cool and one reason they've always followed Kentucky. But it's much deeper than that. Kentucky will be a short list school because Darin Hinshaw demonstrated sincere interest before most others, with the offer, and that goes a long way with quarterbacks. UK's early interest played a big role with Jarren Williams, and UK's lack of obvious early interest (upon new hires) hurt their standing with Mac Jones.

- Tennessee commitment Alontae Taylor told CatsIllustrated.com months ago that he still planned to visit Kentucky, even after his commitment to the Vols. The Manchester, Tenn., native is ranked the No. 143 player in the Rivals250 and is one of the nation's best athletes. He earned recognition as a camp standout at the Rivals event in Illinois. We spoke with him briefly, and Taylor said he still gets mail from Kentucky but real communication has tapered off completely. "Ever since the coaching changes (affecting Tennessee recruiting) I haven't heard from Kentucky like that," he said.

Taylor's a big-time player and he was always a long shot, but he won't be visiting (as he told us shortly after first telling us he would) and he won't be at Kentucky. Tennessee got a good one, and a good kid at that.

- Kentucky has offered a ton of kids in Missouri from the 2018 class and that state is absolutely stacked in that cycle, especially compared to what it usually produces. However, most of the players there seemed to have other schools at the top of their list, because most of them haven't visited Kentucky and have a lot of other schools vying for their time.

Trevor Trout has Kentucky in his "top 19" but that doesn't mean a whole lot. Fellow four-star Missouri defensive tackle Michael Thompson took home defensive line MVP honors at that Rivals camp but he told CatsIllustrated.com that he isn't really hearing from UK much. Make no mistake about it: Trout and Thompson are flat-out beasts with enormous upside and I'd be surprised if both aren't in the NFL after four years in college. Missouri's coaches desperately want to keep a big batch from this in-state crew at home, and given that they're an SEC East rival of Kentucky that's a story we'll follow. It's too early to tell who they end up with. They probably need an elite guy like Trout to start a domino effect, but they'll have to win in the fall, too. Because Kentucky fans know well that when Nick Saban comes a-callin' (as he did with an offer to Trout the other day), the allure of staying close to home suddenly isn't so strong in a lot of cases.

A timely aside: It could well be that the major impact of Kentucky's major 2018 offer dump in Missouri is that it helps the Cats put down some roots in the state (particularly St. Louis, where many of the offers have gone). That might not pay off right away, but it could help the program net some commitments in future classes as the coaching staff evaluates younger and younger players while barnstorming there during evaluation periods (UK has not had the success convincing Missourians to visit that Steven Clinkscale has had with Michiganders - back to Missouri notes now).

Four-star linebacker Ayodele Adeoye was not at the Rivals camp and he may be the most intriguing Missouri prospect for our purposes, because he has visited Kentucky and has the Cats on his top ten leader board.

Running back Donovan Marshall was at the camp at spoke at length with CatsIllustrated.com. He visited Lexington earlier this year and was wowed by the facilities. He was expected (or hoping for) an offer around the time of that visit, but it didn't come. He didn't seem too put off, but he's not waiting around, either, and Minnesota is a strong leader for him.

Dallas Craddieth was also there and he said the Iowa schools and some others are talking to him a lot. Craddieth did say that he's hoping to visit Kentucky this summer, so that's promising. The Florissant (Mo.) Hazelwood Central safety first heard from Dillon Sanders and has since heard from position coach Steven Clinkscale. He's got a lot of offers from southern schools and has family in the South, so Craddieth is planning to hit a lot of SEC programs (and maybe ACC schools) this summer.

One thing that stood out, more than any breaking news about UK's standing with Show Me Staters, was that Kentucky's coaching staff actually paid visits to a good number of schools in the state. Class of 2020 running back Reggie Love said a UK coach stopped by Trinity Catholic in St. Louis and M.J. Anderson, an imposing 6-foot-4, 240-pound Class of 2019 linebacker/rush end, said that UK stopped by Christian Brothers College High, also in St. Louis.

Expect the trend to continue, even though the state won't produce as much talent every year. St. Louis falls just within, roughly, UK's "six-hour radius" which also extends through Ohio, towards parts of the DMV and down through Tennessee and towards Atlanta.

- This isn't from the Illinois camp but we've reported on four-star Cincinnati defensive tackle Aeneas Hawkins, who released a list of seven favorites that included Kentucky yesterday. We continue to hear that Hawkins is likely to end up at Ohio State if the Buckeyes have room. If he doesn't land at Ohio State, the choice will probably be Cincinnati or Penn State. Don't assume that would be a big loss for Kentucky, as Hawkins is a really good player but I don't sense that he's ever been "counted on" as a likely addition. He would be gravy, and unlikely, unexpected gravy at that. Best case scenario, no commitment anytime soon and he makes his way to Lexington where stuff could get real.

- Another four-star prospect recently listed Kentucky as a favorite: Linebacker Eriq Gilyard of Florida. Michigan has been linked to Gilyard for a very long time but he has yet to visit Ann Arbor. At 5-foot-11 he's undersized even for most inside linebackers, but there are plenty of 5-foot-11 linebackers who have been outstanding college football inside linebackers.

Gilyard told CatsIllustrated.com that he will visit Kentucky this summer. Expect him to camp. If he shows well, the Cats could put on the full court press. But they may want to at least measure his wingspan and test his hips and speed before making him a top, top-tier target. He does list an offer from Kentucky and receivers coach Lamar Thomas has made a good impression so far.

- Most college football recruiting analysts believe that Louisville (Ky.) Trinity defensive end Stephen Herron will end up somewhere other than Kentucky, but don't write the Cats off entirely yet. Although he has visited a lot of schools and seems enamored with some out-of-state programs, and UK has to start from scratch building a relationship from the ground up because Jimmy Brumbaugh is gone (they worked together at last summer's camp), Herron tells CatsIllustrated.com that he is leaning towards visiting Kentucky this summer. Last time he visited he spoke with Derrick LeBlanc for a half hour, and that was a good start. CatsIllustrated.com spoke with his parents (great people) at last year's camp. The good news is they aren't pushing him to or away from Kentucky or anywhere else, so whoever lands Herron will land him on their own merits and by their own hard work.

- 2019 Scott County OT Bryan Hudson has landed some big offers recently and we recently mentioned that Kentucky still has a shot. However, resist the temptation to lump Hudson's recruitment in the same batch that include(d) Landon Young's. Young committed to Kentucky before his sophomore year of high school as a promising but rail-thin lineman who hadn't fully hit his stride, and he remained almost totally solid throughout the process even as heavy-hitters offered. Hudson, conversely, did not commit right away, has already traveled to several colleges and his recruitment is much more difficult to call than Young's or certainly Drake Jackson's from that 2016 class.

If we had to guess we would say it's slightly more likely than not that Hudson ends up somewhere other than Kentucky, but it really is too early to write Kentucky off. That's noteworthy because some on the site's forums are posting, quite adamantly, that Hudson will not end up at Kentucky. I understand that you are the diehards of the diehards of Kentucky football recruiting. This is where it happens. Many of you do have great sources on this or that situation. But it is very early and Hudson really does still have an ear open to Kentucky, from what we've heard. So whatever you've heard or whatever he's said (or whatever you think he's said off the record), we're saying not to read too much into it while also saying he could very well end up elsewhere.

That brings us to another point (a closing one at that): The next year will be very important for John Schlarman. Let's not be silly about anything. Schlarman's in great standing in Lexington after last season's offensive line and he has done a good job with some recruits.

Schlarman received, justly, a ton of credit for turning around Kentucky's offensive line last year. For years the line had been either inconsistent or spotty at best. There were reasons for that. Schlarman hadn't fully put his stamp on the unit through recruiting and development. He was looking for the right combination and the right recipe. Last year he got it and did one of the best jobs of any position coach in the SEC. There's no "but" or follow up to qualify that.

What there is, is another fact: He's got to recruit his butt off over the next year. The 2018 class in-state is not the banner year many believe, we've heard from multiple places, so don't be surprised if some "big names" end up elsewhere and Kentucky stays mostly (or almost exclusively) out of state. But the 2019 class is legitimately stacked. The dynamics of the 2018 class didn't really favor Kentucky and that was clear early. We wrote about it a full year ago. However, the 2019 class, which is much better than the 2018 class and maybe even better than the 2016 class, is too early to peg.

It does not look like that stacked 2019 class is shaping up to be an easy slam dunk for Kentucky. There aren't a lot of Drake Jackson-types who are chomping at the bit to commit early only to revel at saying no to elite coaches and programs, nor are there many Drew Barkers, who will be quickly won over and will never think twice.

Kentucky has to have a strong season in 2017, probably, to fare well with that 2019 class. The 2017 season will set the stage and allow the coaches (or prevent them) from making the case that the program has fundamentally turned a corner and is taking it to another level. But Schlarman has got to win some personality battles and make some great cases to players who need to be won over.

In the short term, we'll be watching to see how many of those rising juniors visit UK this summer, how many times they visit UK, how they fare at Kentucky's camps (we'll be at all the big ones), and what other schools they travel to. Recruits in 2017 are very good at churning out PR-style, professionally-scripted recruiting messages that say a lot without saying much, but watch how a player spends his time (and where he spends it) and that's usually pretty telling.

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