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As of Monday, college football programs are not allowed to recruit players until after January 13. This recruiting “dead period” occurs every mid-December to mid-January.
Therefore, now is as good a time as ever to evaluate what teams have done over the last year in terms of building for the future.
Kentucky and Mark Stoops have done a solid job recruiting in 2015. The Wildcats already have 23 commits in the class, second-most in the SEC. With two four-star and 21 three-star players, they have the ninth-best class in the conference according to 247Sports.
Let’s take a look at Kentucky’s recruiting grades at the beginning of the dead period.
OFFENSE: B+ (9 TOTAL COMMITS)
The two four-star recruits the Wildcats have in the 2015 class are on the offensive line. Tackle Landon Young and center Drake Jackson headline are top 15 players at their position with Jackson coming in as the No. 2 center.
In fact, four of Kentucky’s nine commits on offense play on the line. The Wildcats also landed pro-style quarterback Gunnar Hoak. He should compete with rising sophomore Drew Baker for the starting job under center next season.
DEFENSE: B (11 TOTAL COMMITS)
Kentucky recruited some solid defensive players as well — just not any four-star players.
The Wildcats addressed all of their needs, recruiting four defensive linemen, four linebackers and three cornerbacks. Of the four linebackers, two play outside and two play inside.
The highest-rated defensive recruit is CB Jordan Griffin. Standing at 6-foot-1, he has tremendous height for a defensive back, but weighs just 170 pounds.
MISCELLANEOUS
The remaining three Kentucky recruits are a punter and two players listed as athletes. Grant McKinniss is ranked the fifth-best punter in the class.
RECRUITING NEEDS
In the SEC, teams can never have too many defensive linemen. Kentucky already has four committed, but the Wildcats are losing four to graduation. They are also losing senior linebackers.
Although Kentucky has replenished the defense, a few more recruits on that side of the ball would ensure depth for next season.
Dave covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
