Kentucky Football Spring Practice: RB Depth, Backup QB Battle, Offensive Line
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Following last weekend's open practice, Kentucky football's spring ball schedule is now on the back end. During the few weeks that the team and coaches have been available to speak with media, plenty of storylines have formed and developed as the Wildcats try and rid themselves of a disappointing 2022 season.
On Tuesday, offensive coordinator Liam Coen, offensive line coach Zach Yenser and quarterbacks Kaiya Sheron and Destin Wade all spoke to reporters, reflecting on the past, touching on last Saturday's practice from an offensive perspective while looking ahead to a promising 2023.
"You walked off the field and it wasn't like we got our butts handed to us," Coen said. "I felt a deflated feeling from the day, where I felt like we moved (the ball), we just didn't capitalize on drives."
Below are notes as the spring semester nears its end:
Coen, Yenser Keeping Glass Half-Full Mindset With The Offensive line
Going back to last weekend's open practice, the offensive line did not have a fantastic showing, at least to the untrained eye. Missing veteran guard Kenneth Horsey, the Big Blue Wall was unable to get any momentum going in the run game, while the windy conditions denied any real consistent passing from occurring. Right tackle Jeremy Flax was honest about how the day went:
"Right now, as a whole, we feel like we are not performing in the run game at all, or anywhere near to our full abilities," he said. "I will say we are watching the film, definitely seeing what we are doing wrong and stuff like that. But that's really our main goal. Just getting our run game, being able to run that ball and open up the whole offense. That's what we gotta do."
Coen felt similarly coming off the field on Saturday, but upon watching the tape, realized that not all of the woes were on the line, though it may have been easy to think otherwise.
"It wasn't a lot of o-line issues on Saturday, although everybody may think it is," Coen explained. "We had about three or four RPOs that we made the wrong decision on some bat quarterback, where we either handed it when we should've handed it, or threw it when there were some gashes."
"When you really go back and watch the film, it wasn't all on the line, in terms of some of the negatives and things that occurred," he continued. "I didn't feel like we got physically manhandled up front."
Yenser, who's entering his second season as offensive line coach in Lexington, also kept his glass half-full.
"Walking off the field Saturday, we all felt like it was just 'eh,' you know? But after watching it with Liam and everything ... I felt better about it, it wasn't like we weren't physical, I felt like we played on the other side of the line of scrimmage for most of the time. We got to continue to clean up pass protection and one-on-ones," he said.
Not having Horsey, training Jager Burton to become UK's new center and a young, inexperienced backup group can make things challenging. True freshman Koby Keenum — someone Coen jokingly said should still be in biology class in high school right now — is taking the center snaps with the twos.
Saturday wasn't encouraging for a unit that was one of the worst offensive lines in the country in 2022. There's still reason for excitement, though. Comments of Burton's acceleration at center and the welcomed addition of Northern Illinois transfer left tackle Marques Cox has Kentucky believing that there will be vast improvement in 2023.
While he hasn't been around the program for long, Yenser is well aware of the reputation that the late o-line coach John Schlarman helped build in the trenches at UK. He also knows that the product that was put on the field in 2022 was nowhere near good enough.
Changes won't happen in the blink of an eye, but luckily it's only April:
"We've got to use last year as fuel to the fire. It wasn't up to standard. It wasn't what this university and this program that they've built it on, we know that," Yenser said. "There aren't quick fixes. We got to continue to put work in and just continue to go day-by-day. We're on the right path."
Running Back Depth
The shoddy day for the offense on Saturday also meant that there wasn't much success for the Kentucky running backs. The Chris Rodriguez era is over, leaving big shoes to fill.
Ray Davis enters the fray, transferring in from Vanderbilt. He's made it known that he's brought his own pair of shoes and isn't interested in following in the footsteps of the great Wildcat tailbacks before him. Thus far, the 1,000-yard rusher in 2022 has proven he's capable of handling a hefty workload. It can't be all Davis in the backfield, though.
First behind Davis is senior JuTahn McClain, who compiled 278 yards on the ground and 100 yards through the air in 2022. His pass-catching ability carved out a spot for him last season, making him the primary No. 2 behind Rodriguez.
Behind McClain is La'Vell Wright, who had sparse snaps throughout the season, but played the backup role at times due to the piling of injuries. He managed 120 yards and is expected to serve a similar role in 2023, though Coen says he hasn't been able to stay fully healthy this spring.
"I really like Ray. He's consistent, dependable, good solid runner, missed a few on Saturday, which he'll learn from those," Coen said. "I've always trusted JuTahn as a guy that can come in and be steady and be on it, and be in the pass-pro game. La'Vell just hasn't stayed healthy yet. He's practiced, then he's out for five, six days."
A wildcard in the RB room is seventh-year veteran Ramon Jefferson. The Sam Houston State transfer carried high praise going into last season and was expected to take a good chunk of the No. 2 snaps. His year was derailed in the first game of the season against Miami Ohio, as a torn ACL in his right knee took him out for the remainder of the campaign. He's now continuing to work back to full health.
"It's been hard to truly evaluate that room without consistent participation every day, but they're coming along," Coen said.
Someone who caught the eyes of those in attendance on Saturday is Dee Beckwith. Listed as a wide receiver, the 6-foot-5, 236-pounder ran the ball plenty and succeeded perhaps more than any of his compatriots on the ground. When sizing up the junior, it's impossible not to think that he's capable of providing some sort of positive impact on the field.
Coen is stressing the little things to Beckwith as he tries to find a role on the team:
"He's playing running back right now, and Dee's just learning. He's a big, strong guy, I was interested to see him in a live situation too," Coen said. "Right now, Dee's just trying to work on doing all the little things. How you're doing academically, socially, in the meeting room, carrying it over to football and being consistent as a player, especially when he doesn't have the ball in his hands."
Who Will Backup Devin Leary?
The 2022 season made it loud and clear for Kentucky that having a capable backup quarterback is a necessity. Will Levis battled through injuries all season, though he missed just two full games — one of which being the Music City Bowl, which he opted to sit out of.
In those two games, the already pungent offense managed a total of 14 points. Kentucky native Kaiya Sheron threw a pair of touchdowns in a 24-14 home loss to South Carolina, while Destin Wade was blanked in his start against Iowa in the bowl game, as the Hawkeyes won 21-0.
Both Sheron and Wade are back, as well as Iowa transfer Deuce Hogan, who saw some snaps at the end of the bowl game. Shane Hamm was brought in from the transfer portal from Dayton, as well.
In the two open practices this spring, Sheron has taken a bulk of the primary backup reps. Coen hasn't gone out of his way to name the Somerset product the No. 2 behind NC State transfer Devin Leary, but he does have that familiarity with him from his first stint as Kentucky OC in 2021.
"For one of those guys to step up — obviously, I have familiarity with Kaiya, he knows some of these things that we're doing offensively — but now it's about putting you in those positions and those situations, how do you react? It's extremely important. The backup quarterback, different than a lot of positions. You need one," Coen said.
"We're working on getting some of those other guys some reps as well, Kaiya obviously — I know he can execute the offense in a lot of ways. Now it's just trying to see — O.K. Destin, Deuce — seeing those guys a little more in those competitive situations with the second group to be able to get those guys some more meaningful reps."
The transfer portal will re-open in May, giving players another chance to leave if they see fit. It's possible that there could be movement in the QB room if someone feels like there's no chance of earning any playing time. That's not the vibe given off by either Sheron or Wade, though.
"I talk with my play, and not being able to do that sometimes is hard, but it's something i'm working on and I think i've gotten a lot better," Sheron said. "Just rallying my guys behind me as I rally myself. Internally, I got to bring people along with me."
"I learned a lot during that bowl game," Wade said. "Just making simple reads, knowing what kind of defense they're gonna be in, just accuracy overall ... just got to get back to work and be better next season."
For Sheron, he's added 15 pounds of "good weight" and is continuing to try and build off of his opportunity to start against the Gamecocks last season. Having real game tape and experience to look back on is key for the sophomore.
"When (Coen) came back I was a whole new person," Sheron said. "Put weight on, my game mentally, film room or just in the QB room, my game experience — cause I got that one game under my belt — and then just knowledge of the game has really grown since I first got here."
Wade was the only QB to throw a touchdown during the open practice on Saturday, as he hit Beckwith for a close-range score. His dual-threat ability obviously poses a threat, but it 's the improvement is passing the football that will give the Spring Hill, Tenn. native a chance to compete for the backup spot.
"I thought Destin did a really nice job at the end of the scrimmage. He gave us life, in terms of some of the throws that he made, the decisions he made. He made them fast, gave us that last drive that led us to a touchdown," Coen said. "It's just about how they finished and I really was happy with the way Destin did that. I think he's strung together a few good days."
"I just felt confident going into it," Wade said of the TD drive. "There's some things that I can tighten up — ball placement and stuff like that — but overall I think it was a good drive."
Notes and Observations from Kentucky's Latest Open Practice HERE.
Devin Leary Discusses His Decision to Transfer to Kentucky HERE.
More from Kentucky's NFL Pro Day HERE.
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