2014 Recruiting Class Better on Paper than on Field

By LARRY VAUGHT

Kentucky had 25 players in its 2014 football signing class that included six four-star players and 20 three-star players according to 247sports.com. That put Kentucky No. 23 in the recruiting rankings.

For Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, that was a big momentum builder for his program with UK fans.

However, at the time former UK quarterback Freddie Maggard — who just recently was named the director of player development at UK — warned he thought the class looked better on paper than it might on the field.

How accurate was Maggard?

The two highest ranked players were quarterback Drew Barker and defensive lineman Matt Elam. Barker was limited by injuries and gave up his final season of eligibility. Elam played four years but not was never the defensive force he was expected to be when he picked UK over Alabama.

Safety Darius West and linebacker Denzil Ware have both been very good and could be 2019 NFL draft picks. Running back Boom Williams was a dynamic playmaker but left UK after three years and is now in the Canadian Football League.

Receiver Thaddeus Snodgrass, the highest rated receiver UK ever signed, transferred without ever making a catch at UK.

All six of those players were ranked among the nation’s top 300 players.

Next on the list at No. 341 nationally was safety Mike Edwards, another likely draft pick in 2019.

Receivers Blake Bone and Garrett Johnson, who just signed a free agent contract with Chicago, were in the signing class. So was receiver Dorian Baker, who will be back for his final season this year. Defensive lineman Adrian Middleton and defensive back Kendall Randolph were both productive signees.

Offensive lineman Bunchy Stallings was not even ranked nationally but he has been the steal of the signing class. He could be in line for an all-SEC season in 2018 and NFL career after that.

Junior college signees A.J. Stamps, Ryan Flannigan and C.J. Johnson all provided help.

But look at the list of players who transferred along with Snodgrass before their eligibility expired. They include running back Mikel Horton, offensive lineman Nick Richardson, linebacker Kobie Walker, defensive lineman Lloyd Tubman, offensive lineman Josh Krok, tight end Darryl Long, offensive lineman Jarrett LaRubbio, receiver T.V. Williams, safety Jared Tucker and linebacker Nick Firios.

That’s 11 players who transferred along with two — Williams and Barker — who did not use all their eligibility at UK. That’s over half of the 2014 signees who did not play four years at UK.

Guess which player in the 2014 class played in the most games? That would be walk-on receiver Charles Walker, who did get a scholarship his last two years. He played in 49 of 50 games while Johnson played in 47.

“I came pretty damn close to playing in every game. I only missed one game and that was Missouri my senior year when I cracked a rib the week before the game,” Walker said.

So what happened to so many of the players who came to UK at the same time as Walker? Why didn’t it work for them like it did for him?

“It’s just different for everyone,” Walker, who has signed a free agent contract with the Detroit Lions, said. “Some didn’t come from close and got homesick and missed their families.

“For some, UK was just not the right fit. Some did not want put in the work. Some were not good enough to play at this high level and went somewhere else to play and just took a different path than what they expected.”