Even with new coaches, new players and new onsive and defensive schemes, it is not difficult to look at Kentucky football’s roster and determine which players will be counted on in featured roles this fall. But anyone who observes a practice this spring should not expect the group on the field to reflect the starting lineup when the season opens Sept. 5. “We don’t have a depth chart,” new UK coach Will Stein said Tuesday after his first practice as coach. “We have a blue and a white squad that’s intertwined. There’s not a ones, twos, threes at all. That’s really, to me, the big part of development.” When coaches say there is no depth chart, it usually is some sort of vague assertion that every starting job is up for grabs. But it does not appear that is the point Stein is trying to make. He acknowledged Notre Dame transfer Kenny Minchey is the starting quarterback. He immediately pointed to Tennessee left tackle transfer Lance Heard as a key piece. He agreed with a reporter’s assertion that keeping defensive linemen Tavion Gadson and Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace was a critical development for the 2026 roster. Stein’s claim there is no depth chart is more about practice format than normal coach speak. “Everybody says you want to be developed,” he said. “Well, how do you do it? Don’t have a depth chart. See what Lance Heard looks like (next) to maybe a rotational guard or a guy that was a walk-on. See who can play. “Kenny Minchey doesn’t have a starting offensive line out front of him. We have truly a blue team and a white team that will be different each week.” That philosophy should lead to some interesting — and sometimes lopsided — practice matchups this spring, but it also opens the door for players currently projected to open the season as backups to earn larger roles if they can shine against better competition. Here’s a look at three of the most interesting players to watch this spring
WR Hardley Gilmore Yes, he’s back. Again. Gilmore somehow is entering his third season at Kentucky despite signing with two other programs from the transfer portal already. Unlike a year ago when Gilmore spent the spring semester at Nebraska before transferring back to Kentucky, it does not appear he ever actually left Lexington this time. He entered the transfer portal in January, committed to Louisville, then signed with Baylor on Jan. 20. However, when Kentucky updated its spring football roster last week, Gilmore was on it. “We had an opportunity to bring him back, which was really exciting for us,” Stein said Tuesday. “There’s never ill will. You can’t have any ill will when stuff happens in college football. There’s too many moving parts. So we had an opportunity to bring him back, and was really excited to do it.” The specifics of Gilmore’s latest transfer saga remain vague, but as long as he is on the roster, he could be a boost to the Wildcat passing attack
He caught 28 passes for 313 yards and one touchdown a year ago. LSU transfer Nic Anderson is expected to be the top wide receiver target for Minchey as long as he is healthy, but the rest of the position is largely unproven. A standout spring could help position Gilmore in a featured role in a group that also includes sophomore DJ Miller, Arkansas transfer Ja’kayden Ferguson, Southern Utah transfer Shane Carr, UAB transfer Xavier Daisy and freshman Kenny Darby. C Coleton Price More often than not, center was one of the strongest positions on the roster during the Mark Stoops era. Jon Toth, Drake Jackson, Luke Fortner and Eli Cox all spent time on NFL rosters. Jagger Burton, who recently impressed at the NFL combine, could join that group after a strong senior season at center in 2025. The Stoops center pipeline was built around offensive linemen who spent their entire careers at UK, but Stein will hope to duplicate that success with a transfer this year. Price, who started 30 games across the past three seasons at Baylor, was an early priority for the new staff in the portal as the top-ranked interior offensive lineman in the portal, according to 247Sports. “He’s a dog,” former Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson said of Price at the combine. “One of the toughest guys I’ve ever known. Banged his ankle up, has had broken fingers. I really feel like he would give his life to protect me. That’s what you want in the center.” In a locker room looking for new leadership, Price could be a key figure. LB Elijah Barnes Inside linebacker might be the position with the most uncertainty entering spring practice. Junior Grant Godfrey is back after filling in as a starter down the stretch in 2025, but he accounts for almost all the college production at the position on the roster. Barnes, the No. 3-ranked linebacker in the high school class of 2025, could silence many of those concerns if he quickly proves ready for a starting role. He totaled four tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack in four games while redshirting at Texas last season. He and Arkansas transfer Tavion Wallace, another much-hyped recruit who played only sparingly as a freshman last season, were UK’s only transfer additions at the position. “Those guys fit the build of really good linebackers that play in this conference,” Stein said. “When you talk to them, they are football junkies. They love it. Eat, sleep, breathe it. They are workers. They might not have just had that full opportunity at their last spot, but we evaluated them, we got to learn them and their families. There are some prior relationships there as well, and I felt like they were our best fit.”
Leave a Reply