Articles by Category
Darryl Long felt the one thing he can do best is “run (pass) routes real good” and he felt he did that when he got to Kentucky.
But he also knew it would take more than that to get him on the field this year at tight end.
“I have just been trying to improve my blocking skills and getting faster and stronger overall. I have to do that,” said Long, a three-star recruit who was ranked as the 19th-best tight end in the nation by ESPN.com, during preseason practice.
He had 88 catches in high school and chose UK over Louisville, Missouri, Minnesota, Indiana, North Carolina, Purdue, Illinois and Boston College. However, despite UK’s lack of depth at tight end, coach Mark Stoops and his staff decided that Long would be redshirted this season and said the freshman accepted the news well.
“A lot of the freshmen were good with it. They see it. They get out here, they’re very talented football players. It’s difficult. We’re getting better. As we get better, it gets harder to beat out some guys for playing time,” Stoops said. “That’s what you want in our program. Some positions we don’t have that luxury. At wide receiver, we need players. It’s just where we’re at. It’s difficult. That’s two years in a row we’ve had to do that on the offensive side of the ball.”
Long knew redshirting was a possibility.
“I always want to play and get on the field as fast as I can, but I know coach (Neal) Brown and coach (Vince) Marrow have the best intentions for me. If they feel best for me, that is what I will do and just get bigger, stronger and faster and then have four more years. If that means redshirting, then that is fine,” Long said at UK’s Media Day.
“I do feel I am ready but I know this is a big-time football league when you have defensive ends like Bud (Dupree) and Z (Za’Darius Smith). They are men. It could be in my best interest to put on weight and bang with them and pick up the offense, too, and be redshirted.”
Marrow recruited Long and knew he was a “good athlete” when he got to Kentucky.
“But we wanted to save (redshirt) him because I had seniors (Stephen Borders, Ronnie Shields). He is a big kid that can run. He’s done a good job on our scout team,” Marrow said. “He’s been scout team player of the week twice. I feel good about his future here. He will be a really good player.
“We were not sure if he would be redshirted. We wanted to see how he would progress. High school kids coming in at receiver can play easier than a tight end. The tight end is involved in run blocking and protection. He had never done that a lot. He is such a good athlete and did a lot of good things in (preseason) camp, but we just felt redshirting him was best.”
His high school coach, Rock Pentello, thought it was a good idea to redshirt his former star.
“That way he can get bigger, stronger and faster. It’s just another year to develop,” Pentello said. “I always thought blocking was one of his weaknesses. We didn’t use our tight ends to block that much. We used him more as a receiver. He knew going into (UK) that he would have to block
“Everybody has to accept not playing. You are there on their terms. You might be disappointed over not playing, so you just have to get better. He always had a good work ethic here. He played basketball here and had just one weightlifting season per year. He knew he needed to put on weight.”
Long said he trained every day during the summer to try and put on weight.
“It was a college workout. No joking. Just getting bigger and working harder,” Long said. “The weight room has been real precise. They talk about the small things and getting fast as you can. They monitor all you do and they take your heart rate and all that stuff to make sure all is good. It is real fast paced and good for me.”
He learned quickly that blocking was about technique at this level.
“I am smaller than lot of guys I am blocking. My form has to kick in, and that might take time,” Long said at media day.
One place he did not struggle was in the classroom during the summer semester.
“It has been good here. I finished with a B and C+ the first semester. It is different being away from home and having the responsibility to wake up and do what you are supposed to do, but I have adjusted well,” he said.
He comes from an athletic family.
“I have good family genes. My dad played basketball and my mom’s family had two go to the NFL. I am trying to turn out to be like them,” Long said.
His grandfather, Bob Kelly, played in the NFL with Houston, Kansas City and Cincinnati. A cousin, Joe Kelly played in the NFL with Cincinnati, New York Jets, Los Angeles Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, Green Bay and Philadelphia and an uncle, Bobby Kelly, played football at Georgetown College.
“My grandfather always talked about staying in sports. He played tight end, too. He said to have fun and get as good as you can,” Long said. “I always wanted to make the NFL because I love playing football and doing the best I can. I was a basketball player first in high school but I got good in football and loved how phyiscal it was and the fast pace. I just have to wait my turn.”
Marrow says his time will come, too.
“He just has to understand the whole picture. He can run routes now and has good hands,” Marrow said. “But you have to be a man to play tight end in this league. We lose Ronnie and Borden, so he has to be ready next year. He’ll have a whole offseason of lifting and we expect him to be at 250 (pounds) next year.
“He is going against our best every day in practice and that will help him immensely. Coming into next year he will feel more confident. Bud Dupree might be a top 15 pick in the draft and Z (Za’Darius Smith) will be drafted. He goes against them daily and you cannot go wrong working against them on a daily basis. It has already made him better.”
KSR Twitter Feed
vBulletin Message