Projecting the 2024 Kentucky football depth chart: Who starts at cornerback, running back?

jon hale

Tue, Aug 20, 2024, 12:38 p.m.·7 min read

With both preseason scrimmages completed, Kentucky football coaches should have a good idea which players will be counted on in the primary rotation early in the season.

Mark Stoops is expected to release the first official depth chart of the season on Monday. Here is a position-by-position look at what to expect on the first depth chart based on interviews, open practice observations and insider tips.

Quarterback

Starter: Brock Vandagriff.

Backups: Gavin Wimsatt, Cutter Boley, Beau Allen.

It would be an oversimplification to say the success or failure of Kentucky’s 2024 season rests on Vandagriff’s performance, but it is difficult to imagine a scenario where the Wildcats improve the record of the last two seasons without the former five-star recruit and Georgia transfer playing well. Adding Wimsatt, a former Owensboro High School star and Rutgers starter, at least raises the floor if Vandagriff is injured or struggles, but Wimsatt is best suited to be the “wildcat” quarterback, not the starter. A redshirt looks likely for Boley, but Stoops and offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan will surely look to find him some game experience at some point this fall. Allen adds more depth after transferring back to UK following two years away from Lexington.

“The four guys that we have, I have so much confidence in,” Stoops said. “It’s a really good group, and that’s really helpful, because, as you know, things have happened in the past, and as you know, with the portal, sometimes when you have guys, other guys leave, and it leaves you thin. And I feel like we were in a really good situation with the quarterback room. I really do.”

Brock Vandagriff (12) projects as Kentucky’s starting quarterback, but the Wildcats boast significant depth at the position should things not pan out as planned for the Georgia transfer.

Running back

Starter: Demie Sumo-Karngbaye.

Backups: Jamarion Wilcox, Jason Patterson.

A hand injury to Ohio State transfer Chip Trayanum leaves the starting job for Sumo-Karngbaye for at least the season opener. Sumo-Karngbaye has been praised for his progress during camp after focusing on running back full time instead of splitting his attention between the backfield and slot receiver, but versatility is still his biggest strength. Trayanum should have a chance to regain a featured role when healthy, but in the meantime Wilcox and Patterson will see expanded opportunities. That duo might have the highest ceiling of the group, so their performances are worth monitoring early. Otherwise, expect a committee approach in the backfield throughout the season.

Running Back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye totaled 139 rushing yards, 69 receiving yards and two touchdowns in his first season at Kentucky after transferring from N.C. State.

Wide receivers

Starters: Barion Brown, Dane Key, Ja’Mori Maclin.

Backups: Anthony Brown-Stephens, Fred Farrier, Brandon White, David Washington.

The pressure is on Brown and Key to match their talent with the consistency that has eluded them as Wildcats thus far in their third year in the program. There is true star power here between that duo and North Texas transfer Maclin, one of just 25 receivers to total 1,000 receiving yards last season, but the depth took a hit with an injury to freshman standout Hardley Gilmore, who is expected to miss at least the first half of the season. The top five here (Brown, Key, Maclin, Brown-Stephens and Farrier) should be enough to withstand Gilmore’s loss, but another injury to that group would make the situation dicey.

Wide receivers Barion Brown (7) and Dane Key (6) are positioned to break out as SEC stars for Kentucky in 2024.

Tight ends

Starters: Josh Kattus, Jordan Dingle.

Backups: Khamari Anderson, Willie Rodriguez.

Hamdan has raved about the depth and experience in the tight end room since spring practice, but it remains to be seen how much they will be used in the passing game. Kentucky’s stated goal is to run more plays by moving to a no-huddle offense, so there could be opportunities for at least one tight end to emerge as a receiving threat. Kattus and Dingle will be difficult to keep off the field, but Anderson and Rodriguez have breakout potential.

Josh Kattus projects as a starting tight end, but the competition at the position is fierce for UK this season.

Offensive line

Starters: LT Marques Cox, LG Jager Burton, C Eli Cox, RG Jalen Farmer, RT Gerald Mincey.

Backups: Dylan Ray, Courtland Ford, Anfernee Crease, Malachi Wood, Koby Keenum, Austin Ramsey.

Despite returning the bulk of the 2023 offensive line, coaches have shuffled some pieces here during the offseason following the return of Eric Wolford as offensive line coach. Transfers Farmer (Florida) and Mincey (Tennessee) appear to have locked down jobs on the right side of the line, moving Burton to left guard and Ray to the bench. Ray should still play an important role with the ability to fill in at tackle or guard, especially while Ford is still working his way back from offseason surgery. Kentucky will feel better about the depth of this unit if someone from the group of Crease, Wood, Ramsey and Keenum proves worthy of a spot in the regular rotation.

Jager Burton, a former Frederick Douglass High School standout, is back for another season starting on the offensive line but is probably moving to a new spot.

Defensive line

Starters: DT Deone Walker, NG Keeshawn Silver, DE Tre’Vonn Rybka.

Backups: Octavious Oxendine, Kahlil Saunders, Kendrick Gilbert, Brian Robinson, Jerod Smith.

Walker is the best player on the roster, but he will not be able to carry the load alone on the defensive line. Thankfully Silver, Rybka and Oxendine are all proven SEC-level starters. The other backups (Saunders, Gilbert, Robinson and Smith) all have breakout potential as former highly touted recruits. How much UK uses the two freshmen (Robinson and Smith) will be interesting to watch. In a previous era of college football they might have been destined for redshirt seasons, but in the portal era it doesn’t make sense to waste any contributions they can provide immediately.

Defensive lineman Deone Walker projects as a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

Outside linebackers

Starters: J.J. Weaver, Tyreese Fearbry.

Backups: Noah Matthews, Jacob Smith.

Weaver’s 2023 season was a disappointment, but he ended on a high note with 13 tackles and three sacks in his final two games. If Weaver can carry over that form into his final season of eligibility, he will be the star Kentucky has long hoped for. It’s a big season for Fearbry to take a step forward. Smith is another freshman to watch, but he is behind his twin brother Jerod after offseason surgery. In reality, if Kentucky needed a fourth outside linebacker, Alex Afari would probably shift back to his former position from inside linebacker.

Tyreese Fearbry is poised to step into a starring role at outside linebacker this season.

Inside linebackers

Starters: D’Eryk Jackson, Jamon Dumas-Johnson.

Backups: Alex Afari, Daveren Rayner, Jayvant Brown.

Somehow Kentucky added a former All-American and starter for a national championship team to this position and he still might not be the best linebacker on the roster. Any time you asked coaches about Dumas-Johnson, the Georgia transfer, since spring practice they made sure to single out Jackson for praise. Neither Jackson nor Dumas-Johnson is as athletic as Trevin Wallace, who left UK early for the NFL, but they are excellent college linebackers. Afari is listed as a backup here after moving to inside linebacker, but he probably remains one of the best 11 defenders and will be on the field plenty in a variety of roles. Rayner brings some of the athleticism to the position UK lost with Wallace’s departure.

Senior linebacker D’Eryk Jackson has played in 39 career games for Kentucky and made 21 consecutive starts.

Defensive backs

Starters: CB Maxwell Hairston, CB Jantzen Dunn, S Jordan Lovett, S Kristian Story, NB Zion Childress.

Backups: Ty Bryant, DJ Waller, JQ Hardaway, Nasir Addison, Terhyon Nichols.

After leading the SEC in interceptions in his first season as a starter, Hairston will look to cement his status as an early-round NFL draft pick. The other cornerback job is open for competition. Dunn might be listed as the starter on the week one depth chart, but the guess here is Waller, the Michigan transfer, grabs the featured role early in the season. Depth at safety is a strength with Lovett, Story, Childress and Bryant all capable of starting. Your freshman to watch is Nichols, whose first contributions might come on special teams.

Junior defensive back Maxwell Hairston earned second-team All-SEC honors last season.

Specialists

Starters: K Alex Raynor, P Aidan Laros, KR/PR Barion Brown.

Raynor returns after converting 10 of 11 field goals in his first season as a Wildcat. His steadiness should be a boost for the roster, but don’t be surprised if freshman Jacob Kauwe is used for 50-plus kicks. Kauwe could also contribute on kickoffs. Laros, a South African transfer from UT Martin, should beat incumbent Wilson Berry for the punting job. Brown is perhaps the best kick returner in the country. It is possible coaches protect him from more contact by only using him on punt returns in specific moments where a big play is needed. That would open the door for wide receivers Dane Key, Anthony Brown-Stephens or Fred Farrier to be used as a returner.