NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Kentucky football’s appearance at SEC Media Days offered the first chance for Mark Stoops and Wildcats players to update the outlook for the 2023 team since the end of spring practice.
Here is a sampling of what we learned as Stoops, outside linebacker J.J. Weaver, defensive lineman Octavious Oxendine and offensive guard Eli Cox addressed reporters on Wednesday.
Everyone is excited about Devin Leary
Despite most SEC teams making heavy use of the transfer portal, it is rare for coaches to bring first-year transfer additions to SEC Media Days.
That means former North Carolina State quarterback Devin Leary, despite being the Wildcats’ starter and one of the top quarterbacks in the country, was not among the UK players in Nashville. There was still plenty of talk about Kentucky’s new quarterback though.
“I like his approach,” Stoops said. “I love the way he handles himself. I love the command that he has. He can make all the throws. He has great touch. Hopefully he’ll make really good, quick decisions and hopefully we’ll do a better job of putting him in position to be successful.”
Leary’s teammates highlighted his accuracy as impressing them in spring practice. Weaver was surprised by his scrambling ability.
With SEC Media Days hosted in the same city where Will Levis now plays in the NFL, the comparisons between Leary and the quarterback he is replacing were hard to avoid too.
“(Will) is one of those guys that maybe a year ago at times would completely wow you with his arm ability and the strength that he has,” Stoops said. “Devin is the type of guy that can make all the throws, but he’ll also put it in some spots or throw it and layer it in some spots that will wow you.”
Consistency is Kentucky’s 2023 buzzword
There was an obvious theme in the comments of UK players when they spoke with reporters.
“Last year we weren’t really consistent,” Weaver said. “… In spring, wanted more consistency. If you have a bad day in practice, have a better bad day. Just count your reps every day. That’s what we did to try to get that.”
Each player mentioned consistency multiple times when talking about their offseason goals.
Those comments echoed Stoops’ offseason challenge, made in the immediate aftermath of the Music City Bowl loss to Iowa when he acknowledged something was “just a bit off from time to time” last season.
Stoops pushed back at a reporter’s assessment that consistency might involve differing effort from play to play, but he applauded his veteran leaders for pounding home the message throughout summer workouts.
“Everybody wants to win on Saturday,” Stoops said. “Guys are playing hard on Saturday, but what about the rest of the week to put ourselves in a position to win? That’s the consistency we need with our preparation, our work ethic. It starts with our mindset.”
Two important defenders have bulked up
A year ago, one of the most surprising sights in Kentucky’s preseason camp was a slimmed down Oxendine.
At the time, the defensive lineman and UK coaches raved about the increased agility the weight loss brought, but it quickly became apparent smaller was not necessarily better for Oxendine. Despite being consistently picked as a preseason breakout candidate, Oxendine eventually lost his starting job to star freshman Deone Walker.
Oxendine set an offseason goal to regain much of the weight he lost this offseason. On Wednesday, he reported being close to his goal weight around 285 pounds.
Meanwhile, Weaver reported being close to 255 pounds after playing at 230 last season. After turning down the NFL Draft, Weaver has focused on offseason conditioning in an effort to play a full season, overcoming the numerous injuries that have stagnated his growth. Weaver hopes to open the season at 260 pounds, acknowledging he will lose some weight over the course of 12 games.
“He’s working hard,” Stoops said of Weaver. “Hopefully he’s taken a page out of Josh Allen’s book, where he just came back and put his head down and really went to work and doing all the things necessary to put himself in position to have a great year.”
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