Coverage involves a lot of things for a defense.
You want a pass rush, and Kentucky had more of that last year than it has sometimes had.
But the pass defense numbers weren't where Mark Stoops wanted them to be.
Opposing quarterbacks completed 67.7% of their passes for 3,126 yards and 20 touchdowns against Kentucky last year. The Cats did intercept 11 passes, but against the best teams on the schedule Kentucky's pass defense wasn't good enough.
Maxwell Hairston had a breakout season with five interceptions and he stands a good chance to be drafted after this year, but otherwise, cornerback was often a position where there were struggles.
At UK Football Media Day 2024 on Friday, Stoops dived into the cornerback topic.
"A guy like DJ Waller...has great length," Stoops told local reporters in Lexington. "JQ (Hardaway) is a guy who was here last year but I'd like to see a little more out of him. We feel like we have a great one in Maxwell and I think he's geared up to have a really big year. He needs to.
"Jantzen Dunn is a guy we've talked about," Stoops continued. "Played some nickel, a little at corner. I'd like to see some growth in that area for him. And Terhyon Nichols is a young freshman who was impressive for us in the spring. A guy like Nasir Addison was with us all last year and I feel like he has the skills to be successful as well. But we need to continue to challenge him to make sure he takes that next step."
In other words, the situation at cornerback appears to be improved.
With DJ Waller coming in from Michigan, that's less riding on Hardaway, though he's still a player Kentucky is hoping for a breakout from.
Addison has been in the program for a year and was a key special teams contributor as a freshman. There are also a number of younger corners in the program, spread across multiple classes, who give the Cats a chance for a deeper and improved cornerback room.
Pass defense is always going to hinge on a pass rush and will involve many parts working to accomplish the same thing, but on the surface, Kentucky has a cornerback room that is improved and trending to an even stronger level.
