Chris Rodriguez Not on Kentucky's Depth Chart; Stoops Unable to Provide Suspension Length
As expected, senior running back Chris Rodriguez is not on Kentucky's depth chart ahead of the season-opener against Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 3.
Rodriguez pled guilty to a DUI charge in July, and rumors have also circulated surrounding an "off-the-field" issue that would coincide with him not seeing the field for the first few games of the season. Reports indicated that he would likely miss "three or four" games to begin the year.
Head coach Mark Stoops spoke at his first game-week press conference of the season on Monday, but was unable to confirm any number of games that Rodriguez, or other players on the team would be unavailable for.
"I just have to say that these players have some rights as well. And I have to be very conscientious of that. I expect a few of them to have multiple game suspensions, but I don't know. I really don't know. I'll address it next week. Expect maybe one of them will be back next. We'll see how that goes," Stoops said.
The term "suspension" has been thrown around throughout preseason camp, but Stoops did not say that any player was outright suspended as of now. "They are unavailable to play," he said. Stoops did not confirm or deny the alleged "off-the-field" issue playing a role in Rodriguez being unavailable.
"There's different layers to things. That means there's multiple different entities involved. I prefer not to dig in and I'm not withholding anything. You know, I've been pretty in tune to what I what I felt like things were gonna happen, but I have bosses, they have bosses and so on."
Replacing Rodriguez as the top running back on the depth chart is fellow senior Kavosiey Smoke, followed by Sam Houston State transfer Ramon Jefferson.
Aside from Rodriguez, the other noticeable name missing from the depth chart is super senior outside linebacker Jordan Wright. It was rumored that Wright was involved in the same "off-the-field" issue as Rodriguez, though all Stoops confirmed on Monday was that he would also be unavailable for Saturday night's game.
It remains a waiting game surrounding one of the most important players on Kentucky's 2022 roster.
