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  • ESPN analyst on UK football recruiting class

    by
    LarryVaught1
    Published on 02-05-2014 11:38 AM
    3 Comments Comments


    There’s never been a signing day class like this in football at Kentucky.

    Not only did UK have 13 signees who are rated as four-star players or higher by at least one recruiting service, but they had six — defensive end Denzeil Ware (113), quarterback Drew Barker (173), receiver Thaddeus Snodgrass (205), running back Stanley Williams (208), defensive back Darius West (248) and defensive back Kendall Randolph (284) — ranked in the ESPN’s top 300 players.

    “Kentucky did a great job of being very upfront with this class going back to last March and April,” said ESPN recruiting analyst Tom Luginbill. “They said, ‘Guys, this will be rocky road but we will get better. Hang with us.’ They did not feed them a line of crap and tell them it would be all rainbows and unicorns. They told them they were the building blocks and it resonated because there was such a high level of honesty.”

    Eleven of the 28 signees came from Ohio where coach Mark Stoops and recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow have life-long connections.

    “There’s no question Stoops got the job partially because of his background in Ohio and he had to expand the recruiting base in Ohio and then supplement that in Georgia, Florida, and then go north and round out the class with a very good looking group of prospects for the future,” Luginbill said.

    The ESPN analyst said adding Barker, an in-state star, was a huge plus.

    “It all starts at quarterback,” Luginbill said. “If you don’t have a quarterback, you don’t have a chance.”
    1. Categories:
    2. Football,
    3. Football Recruiting
    Comments 30 Comments
    1. Bakert's Avatar
      Bakert - 02-05-2014, 10:41 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by LarryVaught1 View Post
      “Kentucky did a great job of being very upfront with this class going back to last March and April,” said ESPN recruiting analyst Tom Luginbill. “They said, ‘Guys, this will be rocky road but we will get better. Hang with us.’ They did not feed them a line of crap and tell them it would be all rainbows and unicorns. They told them they were the building blocks and it resonated because there was such a high level of honesty.”
      That's some great stuff right there. Something we as fans would be well served to keep in mind.
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR - 02-05-2014, 11:54 AM
      Will it be rainbows and unicorns this year? I'd like to see that .

      Thanks, Larry.
    1. kybobcat's Avatar
      kybobcat - 02-05-2014, 12:06 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Darrell KSR View Post
      Will it be rainbows and unicorns this year? I'd like to see that .

      Thanks, Larry.
      “If you don’t have a quarterback, you don’t have a chance.”
    1. CitizenBBN's Avatar
      CitizenBBN - 02-05-2014, 12:37 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Darrell KSR View Post
      Will it be rainbows and unicorns this year? I'd like to see that .

      Thanks, Larry.
      I hope not. Would make Oregon's uniforms look good.

      They knew this last year would be rough and did an amazing job of selling past it to the future. Won't even be this year butt this class will for sure be here for it

      Sent using Forum Runner
    1. Jimcats's Avatar
      Jimcats - 02-05-2014, 12:40 PM
      If you don't have a quarterback you don't have a chance---truer words were never spoken. Heck, even Joker's teams wouldn't have looked so bad if he' had any of the 3 or 4 top QBs (Woodson, Lorenzen, Couch) that UK's had over the last several years. But he didn't have a chance. Nor did we have a chance last year.

      Regardless of the help that these last 2 classes may bring, we won't be good until/unless Barker rises substantially above the competition. I'm hoping that will happen right off the bat! Believing it too.

      I didn't remember that Barker is also pretty good at running the ball based on his high school numbers. Reckon he could be that big QB that could reliably get us that 1 foot gain that we need on 3rd or 4th down--sure did miss that last year.
    1. suncat05's Avatar
      suncat05 - 02-05-2014, 01:29 PM
      We have not had a good QB since Andre Woodson. Mike Hartline was decent, but not an AW. Then Max Smith can't stay healthy, and the total failure of the Morgan Newton experiment. And don't forget the Curtis Pulley fiasco that ended up giving us a QB that was nowhere near ready to play and was basically thrown to the wolves.
      I liked what I saw from Drew Barker during the U.S. Army game. Nothing fancy, threw some nice passes and had a good run or two, and led the team to two different scores. Of course, he has to win the job in spring/fall practice, and nothing is assured at this point. But he certainly looked better than either guy we had playing QB last season.
      I like Barker's chances. But we should also temper our hopes in knowing that freshmen QB'S in the SEC do not initially do well. Usually. But we can hope..........Lord knows we've done enough of that over these last several decades...........
    1. blueboss's Avatar
      blueboss - 02-05-2014, 03:55 PM
      We're getting closer and closer to being able to compete in the SEC, when we get there, it will be rainbows and unicorns...This year is going to be very exciting, and hopefully the recruiting blocks of this year will be the foundation for next years recruiting.....Go get'm CMS
    1. BarristerCat's Avatar
      BarristerCat - 02-05-2014, 03:59 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by suncat05 View Post
      I like Barker's chances. But we should also temper our hopes in knowing that freshmen QB'S in the SEC do not initially do well. Usually. But we can hope..........Lord knows we've done enough of that over these last several decades...........
      I'm not sure whether that's true or not, but either way UK doesn't need him to do particularly well in the SEC as a freshman in order to take the next step in the rebuild. If he plays well enough to get them to 2-6 in the SEC, that would be a marked improvement over last year and more than enough to keep the momentum going.*

      *I'm assuming 3 non-conference wins since we're only talking about the SEC.
    1. Terry Blue's Avatar
      Terry Blue - 02-05-2014, 04:01 PM
      If Barker doesn't win the job, it means we'll have a good quarterback starter if Reece or someone else beats him out. I'm going with Reece or Drew right now
    1. catmanjack's Avatar
      catmanjack - 02-05-2014, 04:34 PM
      QB will be either Phillips or Barker.
    1. cattails's Avatar
      cattails - 02-05-2014, 05:53 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Jimcats View Post
      If you don't have a quarterback you don't have a chance---truer words were never spoken. Heck, even Joker's teams wouldn't have looked so bad if he' had any of the 3 or 4 top QBs (Woodson, Lorenzen, Couch) that UK's had over the last several years. But he didn't have a chance. Nor did we have a chance last year.

      Regardless of the help that these last 2 classes may bring, we won't be good until/unless Barker rises substantially above the competition. I'm hoping that will happen right off the bat! Believing it too.

      I didn't remember that Barker is also pretty good at running the ball based on his high school numbers. Reckon he could be that big QB that could reliably get us that 1 foot gain that we need on 3rd or 4th down--sure did miss that last year.
      Barker is already at UK, you can bet he has been given direction as to what he needs to work on. And being part of spring practice is a big advantage for him.
    1. jazyd's Avatar
      jazyd - 02-05-2014, 06:38 PM
      This staff better be able to coach as well as recruit
    1. LarryVaught1's Avatar
      LarryVaught1 - 02-06-2014, 10:52 AM
      Right Jazy. Now time to show they can coach talent they have recruited and develop players like brooks' staff did
    1. catmanjack's Avatar
      catmanjack - 02-06-2014, 11:58 AM
      exactly things could fall apart fast with they are not able to coach and win games.

      Too me that will be the hardest part, winning games.
    1. dan_bgblue's Avatar
      dan_bgblue - 02-06-2014, 11:59 AM
      I think I saw a lot of improvement on the defensive side of the ball last season from game one to game 12. I did not see the same on the offensive side of the ball, so we will see what happens this season
    1. suncat05's Avatar
      suncat05 - 02-06-2014, 12:38 PM
      Look, last year @ QB we either had the walking wounded playing or we had a guy in there playing by the seat of his pants. That's all there was for us to use. Not to mention all the other assorted problems we had with WR'S, the O-line and injuries to almost everyone on offense.
      We'll be a better team next year, and the year after that, and the year after that.......
      But it isn't going to be fast, or easy. And it won't be as quickly as some fans would like, which somewhere along the way will cause some to grumble about results. But we will get positive results with Mark Stoops as our coach, we just need to temper our optimism with the actual results.
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR - 02-06-2014, 01:02 PM
      I'm loving the fact that our staff thinks they hit a home run on the wideouts. That's a position that can step in as freshmen and contribute right away. We could see an improvement in the passing game from that alone.

      I see a lot of reason for optimism that the offensive side of the ball will be much improved from last year.
    1. truecatsfan's Avatar
      truecatsfan - 02-06-2014, 06:28 PM
      If we had a qb last year we would have won two more games. Miss. St. and Vandy. heck you could also put ul in the mix. The defense played well enough to win them.
    1. CitizenBBN's Avatar
      CitizenBBN - 02-06-2014, 06:47 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by dan_bgblue View Post
      I think I saw a lot of improvement on the defensive side of the ball last season from game one to game 12. I did not see the same on the offensive side of the ball, so we will see what happens this season
      I agree but without a QB there was no way we were going to see much if any improvement. It'll be tough this year too even if Barker or Phillips look good, they're still awfully young.
    1. Jimcats's Avatar
      Jimcats - 02-06-2014, 11:58 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Terry Blue View Post
      If Barker doesn't win the job, it means we'll have a good quarterback starter if Reece or someone else beats him out. I'm going with Reece or Drew right now
      Terry always more optimistic than me. If Barker doesn't win the job, to me it means our QB position still has no promise of success in the SEC. Barker simply must be WAY better than what we've had--good enough to play early. Yeah, better receivers, a strong running game and an improved O-line would make us a better team next year, or the following year but not SEC competitive ( by that I mean a record in the range of 4-4 in the conference) unless our QB-ing is much improved from the last couple of years.
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