Very well said on the entire post....of course I did kind of sounded the alarm on Thomas 2 years ago...lol...prediction they are going to see what we already know about him and it is not "sour grapes"
**Open Discussion For 2016-17 Season For Both UL/UK Posters**
- Thread starter LockdownCard
- Start date
Very well said on the entire post....of course I did kind of sounded the alarm on Thomas 2 years ago...lol...prediction they are going to see what we already know about him and it is not "sour grapes"
You can't deny Thomas looks sharpe on the sidelines.
You can't deny Thomas looks sharpe on the sidelines.
You guys know my and reaction when he left...Bye Felicia...no worries about Galloway but now the most important member on the current staff is Nick Petrino...position coach now for both LJ and Pass...
In my opinion its because unless you are landing 5 star guys it's going to take one or two years to get recruits physically able to compete at the D1 level. They also have to learn the offense, footwork and techniques. And then they have to get game experience. Its a long process developing O-Lineman. Most of the HS guys we bring in will not be ready to compete for playing time until their redshirt sophomore year.
And the one position Group that the previous Staff left totally bare was O-Line. I can't even remember the last UL Lineman that was drafted by the NFL. This staff is starting to make progress. I think last years freshmen class of Christian, Thomas and Jones was the best group we have recruited in a longtime. And the staff has had to try to take a short cut by bringing in JUCOs like Hunter, Johnson, Mahoni and Roundtree. For the most part that has not helped much although Mahoni came on late last year. Jury is still out on Roundtree.
Last edited:
O-line seems to be our Achilles heel in recruiting. We've got upper level skill players coming out the wazoo (which is awesome), but anything beyond "serviceable" O-linemen have been sparse lately.
Jamon Brown and John Miller were both taken in the 2015 draft.
Yup....and both started as rookies for the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills...Wood was the last 1st Round OL
Good point. Can anybody remember what kind of o-line recruits Bobby 1.0 brought in? I'm not talking what was left from John L.'s tenure and played under Petrino, but what Petrino's staff brought in. Just curious as to what kind of priority o-line has been to BP in recruiting. TIA.
Spitz and Leffew come to mind.
I think this staff will eventually get there. The point of my earlier post was it is going to take time. You have to build a pipeline of guys that will be ready to take over when the Seniors move on.
I think the ceiling for UL is 11-1 and the floor is 8-4. UL always finds a way of beating a team they shouldn't and loses to team they shouldn't. With that being said I think Lamar Jackson is poised to have a big year. Other than Clemson, Fl St, and the Houston games......UL SHOULD be favorites for all the other games.
As far as UK, I think the ceiling is 7-5 and the floor is 4-8. I really think they get to that elusive bowl game this year barring injury or any key players getting in trouble. The uncertainty of the receivers and offensive line scares me. Our defense will be good in the secondary but up front we are inconsistent and weak. I look for Westry, Baity, and Denzel Ware to have good seasons and I think our running backs will be our strength on offense.
For the rivalry game I'm going to predict it to be 35-21 victory for the Cards.
As far as UK, I think the ceiling is 7-5 and the floor is 4-8. I really think they get to that elusive bowl game this year barring injury or any key players getting in trouble. The uncertainty of the receivers and offensive line scares me. Our defense will be good in the secondary but up front we are inconsistent and weak. I look for Westry, Baity, and Denzel Ware to have good seasons and I think our running backs will be our strength on offense.
For the rivalry game I'm going to predict it to be 35-21 victory for the Cards.
UK should have great shots at both USCjr and Mizzou this year.......these teams are on downward spirals with a lot of key recruits and players from Mizzou opting for other schools. I think they beat Vandy, NM St, USM, and Austin Peay for 6-6 record.
I think that's our best shot at a bowl game.
The last thing I worry about under Petrino is the offense. He knows how to fix it. How FAST he fixes it is the only question.
For those thinking that recruiting is the issue with the O-line, I saw posted somewhere that we have (or will) 16 O-linemen on the roster. So, it's not a numbers issue--it's their ability and/or development. Again, Petrino is the best guy to figure that out...
For those thinking that recruiting is the issue with the O-line, I saw posted somewhere that we have (or will) 16 O-linemen on the roster. So, it's not a numbers issue--it's their ability and/or development. Again, Petrino is the best guy to figure that out...
I would be worried about QB and the head coach if I were a UK fan.
QB...HC...And both Lines of Scrimmage
Forgot special teams and a #1 RB who quits if he doesn't get carries
Lexington U does always seem to attract high-level punters with all the in-game reps they get. This may be one edge I give them.
And Eric Wood was a 2* out of Cincinnati Elder...From 2* to 1st Round...SOMEBODY got it WRONG!!!
Star rankings aren't the end all be in football. There's no one and done in football. It's about development.And Eric Wood was a 2* out of Cincinnati Elder...From 2* to 1st Round...SOMEBODY got it WRONG!!!
Exactly....Just look at this year NFL Draft...the Eagles gave up 5 draft picks for the right to take QB Carson Wentz and OL from Michigan State Jake Conklin will be a Top 20 Overall pick and he was a Walk-on
There is no OaD in football, but that doesn't change the fact that the higher a player is rated in football the greater chance they have of being drafted.
The facts also say the roster with the highest average recruiting class wins %70 of the games between Power 5 teams( including the Big 3 Independents).
The majority of players drafted last year in the 1st Round was 3* players coming out of HS....this year the #1 overall player coming out of HS was DT Robert Nkemdiche...right now most have him going at best late 1st Round and far behind DT Sheldon Rankins of Louisville who was a 3* player...the #1 QB was Christian Hackenberg...projected 3rd Round...far behind Carson Wentz who was a "No Star" and projected to go 2nd Overall and 2* QB Paxton Lynch who is also projected to go Mid 1st Round.
I think it's a recipe for folly to predict records in April; ten years ago I thought different, but there are so many different dynamics in a college football program these days--transfers being the biggest, also alot more coaching instability--you'd have to be clairvoyant to predict records for a good 8 out of 10 college football programs.
I look at UK and UofL as spots where matchups don't meet; Lamar Jackson didn't go off on Kentucky in a way that exceeded all previous defenses because they were the worst defense he faced, he went off because they were prepped for one quarterbacking style in Bolin--and in our cases we blocked different for Lamar than a Bolin led attack out of necessity--and that was exacerbated by what I thought were really poor personnel for defending Lamar on the edge. Kentucky's edge people were not very athletic laterally with someone like Jason Hatcher being a physical edge kid constructed to beat an OT rather than a read and react kid in space, whereas Houston crept a quality DB onto the edge to account for him and really stifle him. I think much the same thing happened to us when Bonnafon went down in 2014; we went with more spread concepts with Bonnafon off, and Bolin reaped huge rewards. That Kentucky chose to go man so much on Parker is a grand mystery that only they can answer for, but I'd submit a part of that was that Louisville seemed to play more 3 and 4 receiver sets since UK was so committed to stuffing the box and limiting Radcliffe. They had to give up something very dangerous to limit Louisville rushing yardage.
Coming out of the Spring there seems to be a consensus of problems for Kentucky up the middle defensively; I still don't think their personnel is well suited for dealing with Jackson on the edge so if I'm Kentucky I'm putting more safeties on the field against us if the matchup was today (and obviously, that's alot of football away) and I'd be doing it anyway because I think the sheer volume combination of quality tight ends and wide receivers is as high as we've seen at Louisville in ten years. For gosh sakes, a Mickey Crum or Charles Standberry is your fourth tight end in the rotation; you can realistically get to eight receivers who are very talented for Louisville from the receiving corps. Quick for whatever reason gives you that one big volume game a month that leaves you begging for more, Staples was a giant in the last half of the season, Samuel was underused, Jaylen Smith produced a big night against Clemson and somewhere hidden in formations is Reggie Bonnafon; For star gazers that doesn't even account for Dez Fitzpatrick, Devante Peete, Emonee Spence or Chris Yamanoha. I still maintain that Kentucky football fans have a propensity to write names on paper and call it depth, but in Louisville's case...you have alot of kids who have caught alot of balls in some pretty big games. Kentucky does have uncommon length in their corners in Westry and Baity that potentially minimizes our length in Staples, Jaylen Smith and Devante Peete. But if they're as weak up the middle as they are complaining about coming out of Spring they are going to have to solo some people and take their chances commiting bodies into the box. Soloing people against Louisville is really dangerous due to Jackson; if you're playing man under and one safety over the top that puts a very high premium on those five remaining defenders at or around the line of scrimmage to handle Jackson. That's not something I'd go into a game doing.
On the other side of the ball, Kentucky has the known quantity of Jon Toth at center, and some hope at OT with Landon Young and Leavitt, I guess Asafo is a hopeful at G...I think Boom Williams is a real talent, but he hasn't proven to be durable. Kentucky fielded a wounded running back corps in our game in November and I don't know what it was about Mikel Horton in particular, but Chuckie Williams played his most physical game of the year at FS against Kentucky and treated Horton like he'd insulted his mom. How well Kentucky manages Fields is an open question mark, and how well our smallish corners handle what length Kentucky has in the receiving corps is an open question for us. Honestly though, I'd rather have our problem than theirs because Fields has proven at TCU and Louisville that he can wreak havoc on an offense and gets moved around alot by Coach Grantham. Deangelo Brown returning as a middle plug in front of Keith Kelsey and Stacy Thomas was a pretty big development for Louisville up the middle. Brown and Kelsey are third year starters now and have played big roles in some huge games. I think we're strong defensively up the middle, whereas Kentucky offensively...a little bit of potential trouble at the guards. I do think the change to Eddie Gran is going to be a net positive for Kentucky, but...Kentucky looks like they were recruited to a spread attack in the Tony Franklin tradition rather than what Gran seems more apt to run. It's not as radical as say going from Air Raid to Paul Johnson's wishbone, but there are differences that are going to have to be worked out. Kentucky needed more high percentage passing from their QBs last year and didn't get it; I could politely say the same for us this year.
I look at UK and UofL as spots where matchups don't meet; Lamar Jackson didn't go off on Kentucky in a way that exceeded all previous defenses because they were the worst defense he faced, he went off because they were prepped for one quarterbacking style in Bolin--and in our cases we blocked different for Lamar than a Bolin led attack out of necessity--and that was exacerbated by what I thought were really poor personnel for defending Lamar on the edge. Kentucky's edge people were not very athletic laterally with someone like Jason Hatcher being a physical edge kid constructed to beat an OT rather than a read and react kid in space, whereas Houston crept a quality DB onto the edge to account for him and really stifle him. I think much the same thing happened to us when Bonnafon went down in 2014; we went with more spread concepts with Bonnafon off, and Bolin reaped huge rewards. That Kentucky chose to go man so much on Parker is a grand mystery that only they can answer for, but I'd submit a part of that was that Louisville seemed to play more 3 and 4 receiver sets since UK was so committed to stuffing the box and limiting Radcliffe. They had to give up something very dangerous to limit Louisville rushing yardage.
Coming out of the Spring there seems to be a consensus of problems for Kentucky up the middle defensively; I still don't think their personnel is well suited for dealing with Jackson on the edge so if I'm Kentucky I'm putting more safeties on the field against us if the matchup was today (and obviously, that's alot of football away) and I'd be doing it anyway because I think the sheer volume combination of quality tight ends and wide receivers is as high as we've seen at Louisville in ten years. For gosh sakes, a Mickey Crum or Charles Standberry is your fourth tight end in the rotation; you can realistically get to eight receivers who are very talented for Louisville from the receiving corps. Quick for whatever reason gives you that one big volume game a month that leaves you begging for more, Staples was a giant in the last half of the season, Samuel was underused, Jaylen Smith produced a big night against Clemson and somewhere hidden in formations is Reggie Bonnafon; For star gazers that doesn't even account for Dez Fitzpatrick, Devante Peete, Emonee Spence or Chris Yamanoha. I still maintain that Kentucky football fans have a propensity to write names on paper and call it depth, but in Louisville's case...you have alot of kids who have caught alot of balls in some pretty big games. Kentucky does have uncommon length in their corners in Westry and Baity that potentially minimizes our length in Staples, Jaylen Smith and Devante Peete. But if they're as weak up the middle as they are complaining about coming out of Spring they are going to have to solo some people and take their chances commiting bodies into the box. Soloing people against Louisville is really dangerous due to Jackson; if you're playing man under and one safety over the top that puts a very high premium on those five remaining defenders at or around the line of scrimmage to handle Jackson. That's not something I'd go into a game doing.
On the other side of the ball, Kentucky has the known quantity of Jon Toth at center, and some hope at OT with Landon Young and Leavitt, I guess Asafo is a hopeful at G...I think Boom Williams is a real talent, but he hasn't proven to be durable. Kentucky fielded a wounded running back corps in our game in November and I don't know what it was about Mikel Horton in particular, but Chuckie Williams played his most physical game of the year at FS against Kentucky and treated Horton like he'd insulted his mom. How well Kentucky manages Fields is an open question mark, and how well our smallish corners handle what length Kentucky has in the receiving corps is an open question for us. Honestly though, I'd rather have our problem than theirs because Fields has proven at TCU and Louisville that he can wreak havoc on an offense and gets moved around alot by Coach Grantham. Deangelo Brown returning as a middle plug in front of Keith Kelsey and Stacy Thomas was a pretty big development for Louisville up the middle. Brown and Kelsey are third year starters now and have played big roles in some huge games. I think we're strong defensively up the middle, whereas Kentucky offensively...a little bit of potential trouble at the guards. I do think the change to Eddie Gran is going to be a net positive for Kentucky, but...Kentucky looks like they were recruited to a spread attack in the Tony Franklin tradition rather than what Gran seems more apt to run. It's not as radical as say going from Air Raid to Paul Johnson's wishbone, but there are differences that are going to have to be worked out. Kentucky needed more high percentage passing from their QBs last year and didn't get it; I could politely say the same for us this year.
For Louisville, the big question mark is the OL. If that problem really is solved we should have a great season. If not, then we'll see QB's getting injured again and will probably need to use multiple QB's out of necessity rather than just getting Pass some time on the field.
For UK, I just can't see them doing well. Their defense was horrible last year. I'm not expecting much improvement. And look at their QB problem. You can't throw an inexperienced, unproven guy like Barker out there and expect to trend upward in the SEC. Their season will look a lot like our first 6 games last year. They should take a step backwards. They'll probably have 2-4 wins.
For UK, I just can't see them doing well. Their defense was horrible last year. I'm not expecting much improvement. And look at their QB problem. You can't throw an inexperienced, unproven guy like Barker out there and expect to trend upward in the SEC. Their season will look a lot like our first 6 games last year. They should take a step backwards. They'll probably have 2-4 wins.
With that defensive line and playing in the SEC that not going to matter...I'm going 4-8 for them with a ceiling of 5-7 at best with that schedule.
You know it's going to be a few overrated SEC teams that UK will give a fight. They might not be as bad as we UL fans tend to think. As a UL fan I'm more concerned with our offense returning to how it was in Petrino's first time here. The first two years back his offense has been very underwhelming and pedestrian IMO. If we can have an offense anything like the past then I would be thrilled. The way we have came out flat giving big leads to UK has never been the UL or Petrino way. We use to pound them from the opening kick off until the final second ticks away on the game clock.
Another thing I would like to ask you since you frequent the wildcat lair often is what is up with them talking as if it's their God given right to just be head and shoulders above us??? lmao i don't quite understand their line of thinking.
That is a million $$$$ question...FTR....Don't go over there anymore for the most part...let them live in the echo chamber
I also don't get how much more deep they are "talent wise" than us. I try my best to do my research on them and give them the benefit of the doubt before disagreeing but boy once I'm done doing my research I realize what type of bunch I'm dealing with.
For the most part they view Football in a "Basketball prospective"...caught in the Star Gazing syndrome...what they fail to realize after basically the Top 10 Overall Classes...from 11 to 50 it is basically a crap shoot and it then comes down to player development and getting the correct players that fit the system you're going to run...and before they go off on it not how it works in the SEC I would just point them to Missouri and Mississippi State...both very successful recently in that league and basically had classes ranked lower than Kentucky.
Everything you posted is truth, but it isn't in opposition to what I posted.
Facts are that a 5 star recruit has the best chance of getting drafted. A 4 star recruit has a better chance of getting drafted than a 3 star recruit, and so on.
Yes, you will see many 3 stars get drafted, but that's because recruiting rankings aren't an exact science. More importantly, there are only 25-30 5 stars a recruiting class, opposed to hundreds of 3 star recruits.
The numbers say the higher you are rated out of high school, the greater your chances of being drafted. It's a fact.
Global Havok I believe the star system and the NFL draft depends on where the particular player came from. If a 3 star from FL, GA or AL is compared to a 3 star from KY or Ohio then you are comparing, in most cases, apples and cumquats. Those kids in the south are playing football almost year around where as the opposite would be true of those same kids in our area.
GO CARDS - BEAT EVERYBODY!!! God Bless America!!!
Some of it is because their basketball team is elite and it's the same fans. It's hard mentally to turn that attitude off.
Also, I think there is a belief in their fanbase that we're always on the verge of falling apart and turning into a team worse than they are. All they need is for:
1. Charlie to leave.
2. Teddy to leave.
3. Hurt to leave.
4. 3 players drafted in the 1st round.
5. All the guys that left year before last.
I mean, it's always something. But guess what, all of those things happened, and we're still a solid program looking to move up.
There's quite a few football only fans on there. But everything you said is pretty spot on.
