Finally….Football is here!

We are 14 days away from the first practice and just a little over a month away from the Joker vs. Strong (Part I).  For most, SEC media days is the official kick off to the college football season.  Some of you may have heard me the past two weeks as I made guess appearance on Larry Glover and Dick Gabriel’s talk shows.  The shows were fun, but I was creamed by fans for suggesting Mike Hartline would be the starter against Louisville.  Little did I know, Derrick Locke is on my team!  While I love the potential if Morgan Newton and Ryan Mossakowski, the senior is ready to shut up his critics.  Is it possible one of the underclassmen beat out Hartline?  Yes, but based on what I’m hearing, he’s the leader of QB’s. 

How about Derrick Locke being named to the All-SEC Coaches team as a running back?  Let’s hope Locke has the season he is capable of having.  How about “DQ” or DeQuin Evans?  This guy never played high school football and was named to the All-SEC Coaches 2nd team.  Amazing!  I’ve been really studying the UK roster and fans need to understand this team is young.  Now that Paul Warford is no longer with the team, the Cats will graduate nine seniors.  The Cats have a lot of talent, but it’s young talent. 

The only players who have not reported from the 2010 signing class are Mychal Bailey, Donte Rumph, Tim McAdoo, Tim Patterson, Dale Trimble and Jabari Johnson.  Mychal Bailey informed me this week his final two classes are going well and will talk to the staff once he completes them next week.  Bailey should have an immediate impact on special teams.  I’m hearing the staff is very optimistic about Donte Rumph.  Remember, he signed with the Cats each of the past three seasons so he deserves kudos for perseverance.  The staff stated if Rumph qualifies he will not redshirt.  I’ve heard Tim McAdoo will enroll at a junior college and Tim Patterson is still working to become eligible.  I’ve been told it’s literally 50/50 for Patterson this year.  Dale Trimble informed me he will report on August 1st and Jabari Johnson will report around the same time as well. 

The Cats received their 15thcommitment this week from Justin Bean.  He is a wide receiver who signed with the Cats two years ago and ended up being ineligible.  Personally, I think it’s odd the Cats have four wide receiver commits at this point and more offers on the table.  I would not be surprised to see a few position changes, because the Cats are only expected to sign 18-20 recruits in the next class.  They must sign at least two more offensive line and one more defensive lineman.  If everything holds true, that leaves two scholarships for other positions.  Joker said this week they were pulling back some offers to hold for key players.  They key players are Lamar Dawson, DeVante Parker, Jamon Brown and DaMarcus Smith.  A Big reason Joker hired Greg Nord was to work on the recruits in Louisville. 

If you want more in depth coverage of the Kentucky football program check out my new site Bleed Blue Kentucky (formerly known as Aaron’s UK Football Blog).  The new site has a recruiting big board with videos, chat room, video gallery and photo gallery.  Stop by and check us out.