Chauncey Magwood Earning Trust, Reps Amidst Packed Wide Receiver Room

Through two games, sophomore Chauncey Magwood is becoming a bit of an unsung hero in Kentucky's wide receiver room.

With the likes of superstar caliber players like Tayvion Robinson in the mix, along with eye-popping freshman like Dane Key and Barion Brown, it's easy to understand how one could get lost in the shuffle amidst such a deep room.

That's what happened to Magwood over the course of UK's offseason.

In 2021, it was the Wan'Dale Robinson show, occasionally guest-starring Josh Ali. This season, a bevy of talent came in, all of which were looked at as shiny new options for quarterback Will Levis to throw to. While just a sophomore, there were no eyes from the outside fixated on what Magwood could bring to the table.

Nowhere near sniffing a spot in the starting lineup, he did what anyone else in his position should do: Work hard.

"I knew what I could do, I knew my potential. I knew in the Spring, what I had to do, what I had to work on, so when I came back, I feel like I had a much better practice in the fall," Magwood said on Tuesday.

Those successful practices have since proven to win over everyone from Kentucky's new offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello, to wide receivers coach Scott Woodward and even Will Levis:

"One of the things I love about Chauncey, he was probably stacked at the bottom of the depth chart going into the summer," Scangarello said. "He never complained, did his job, did play after play during camp. He's probably got the best hands on the team, he's got great feel as a player, he's gritty, he'll block and do the dirty work." - Scangarello

"He's just the type of guy that you can count on. You can trust him, he knows all three positions, I can tell him to line up at the X, F or Z and he'll have no issues. For the last two weeks he's lined up at the F and the X for us, and if I ask him to play the Z, he can, but it's all about trust. Will (Levis) knows where he's gonna be on the field, he's physical in the run game, you can trust him in the run blocking." - Woodward

"His ability to come out here each and every day. He's one of the few guys who you can pull up tape from spring ball and really see a true development from a route-running standpoint, an understanding of spatial awareness, I think he's got some of the best hands on the team, he can just pluck footballs out of the air and continue running. He's just been able to continue to build that trust with me. That's a testament to his hard work and his offseason training." - Levis

Magwood has acquired three catches for 55 yards so far this season. He notched his first touchdown of his career in game one against Miami (OH), while the other two were over 20 yards each and came in Kentucky's win over Florida last Saturday in The Swamp, including this impressive on-the-spot grab:

QB1 @will_levis ➡️ @D_harris2121 ➡️ @illest_magg. 25-yard gain.

📺 - @ESPN 📲 - https://t.co/G4ZTknMNuv pic.twitter.com/tuXu4iVeE6
— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) September 11, 2022

Scangarello even ran a play specifically for Magwood against the Gators on a crucial third down in the fourth quarter, showing that the trust is there for the Albany, Georgia product from both the coaches and Levis.

"I've got (Levis') trust now. That means anytime on third down, game on the line, he can go to me or some other players. I gotta continue to get more trust, with coach Stoops also, to get more balls coming to me if I want to be a successful guy," Magwood said.

It's a long pecking order of talent at wide receiver this season for Kentucky. He may not be the flashiest of the bunch or put up the most ridiculous stat-lines, but Magwood may prove to be an important piece of the Cats offense down the stretch this season.