UK's 2024 All-Opponent Team

Playing in the SEC and competing against some of the most talented teams in the nation means Kentucky faces some of the nation's top college football players every year.

That will happen once again in 2024 when Kentucky takes on talented opponents both at Kroger Field and on the road.

Looking ahead to the next season, here's CI's stab at an All-Opponent roster.

QB Carson Beck (Georgia)

We could easily go with Quinn Ewers and it wouldn't even be a total shock if someone else has a better year (Nico Iamaleava or Jaxson Dart for instance) but Beck is a safe choice after completing 72.4% of his passes for nearly 4,000 yards in his only year as a starter.

RB Rocket Sanders (South Carolina)

This is one where we could go a number of directions because it doesn't look like Kentucky is facing quite the slate of top running backs that some other schools could see in 2024. Rocket Sanders only saw action in half of last year's games at Arkansas and he missed time in the spring but if he's healthy the Gamecocks will rely on him and will pair him with a mobile quarterback. The last time he was healthy, in 2022, Sanders rushed for 1,443 yards and 10 scores. Trevor Etienne is at UGA now and could be a choice.

WR Tre Harris (Ole Miss)

WR Isaiah Bond (Texas)

WR Caullin Lacy (Louisville)

Harris was explosive in Ole Miss' offense a year ago. He had big games in some of Ole Miss' biggest contests and was one of the SEC's game-breakers averaging nearly 20 yards per reception. Bond is at Texas from Alabama and will have plenty of opportunities with the Longhorns replacing key players and Lacy had a huge year at South Alabama and Jeff Brohm will scheme up lots of plays for him.

TE Caden Prieskorn (Ole Miss)

Georgia has a couple of tight ends we could go with here but Prieskorn has a proven track record of production at Ole Miss and had a huge game in their win against Penn State in the postseason. Jaxson Dart will target Prieskorn a lot. He had four touchdowns in Ole Miss' final three games and averaged nearly 15 yards per catch as a tight end. This after a big 2022 season at Memphis.

OT Kelvin Banks (Texas)

OT Earnest Greene (Georgia)

OG Tate Rutledge (Georgia)

OG Dylan Fairchild (Georgia)

C Cooper Mays (Tennessee)

What's scary here is Kentucky is facing off against several players who can legitimately vie for first team All-American honors. All of these players will be in the running for that and are regarded as top flight NFL prospects. ESPN's Jordan Reid recently gave Banks a 6% chance of being the No. 1 pick in the draft. Greene redshirted in '22 and was a starter every game for the Bulldogs last year. He will be one of several All-American candidates at tackle this year. Mays is a Super Senior and has started 31 games for the Volunteers.

EDGE Ashton Gillotte (Louisville)

EDGE James Pearce Jr (Tennessee)

Princely Umanmielen was a big transfer for Ole Miss but he didn't fare well against Kentucky last year. Gillotte had 14.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks for a Louisville defense that was improved and disruptive. Pearce had almost identical production for Tennessee with strong play sustained for the entire season.

DT Nazir Stackhouse (Georgia)

DT Walter Nolan (Ole Miss)

Stackhouse will be very difficult to move up front and Nolan has huge prospect pedigree at Ole Miss. ESPN forecasted Nolan as a borderline first round pick this spring.

LB CJ Taylor (Vanderbilt)

LB Smael Mondon (Georgia)

LB CJ Allen (Georgia)

Taylor is a Swiss Army knife on the back half of the Commodore defense. He can do a little bit of everything on a defense that isn't very good. There are a lot of options you can go with here without being obviously wrong but Taylor is a bright spot for VU and Georgia has a couple of standouts as well. Allen is stepping in for Jamon Dumas-Johnson and showed breakout potential last year.

CB Jason Marshall (Florida)

CB Quincy Riley (Louisville)

Marshall has started every one of Florida's games for two years running and had 10 PBUs to lead the team in that category for a second year in a row. Riley posted strong coverage numbers according to PFF and was a second team All-ACC selection in 2023.

S Malachi Starks (Georgia)

S Andrew Mukuba (Texas)

Starks will make the case for being the top safety in college football this fall. He was a first team All-American a year ago so is an obvious choice.