I know a lot of UK fans are upset about not getting Lamar Dawson or Jon Davis (including myself), but folks, we still put together a top 30 class recruiting class. Several guys still signed with UK that had offers from the big boys, but go back and look at players like Wesley Woodyard, Stevie Johnson, Keenan Burton, Andre Woodson, Jacob Tamme, Randall Cobb, Myron Pryor, Trevard Lindley, etc. These guys weren’t highly recruited and look at how well they did at Kentucky and how well some are doing in the NFL. Who would have projected these guys to do so well coming out of high school?
We don’t necessarily have to have 4 & 5 star recruits in every recruiting class. Those stars look good on paper, but it doesn’t mean that those guys that have all those stars beside their name are going to have all-american careers or go on to play in the NFL.
These young men from the football states that sign with Kentucky usually come in here with a chip on their shoulder, because they didn’t get that offer by the school that they grew up dreaming about playing for. A perfect example is Randall Cobb. He was a Tennessee fan growing up and lived within an hour from UT’s campus and never was recruited by UT until a few weeks from signing day and by then he had already been committed to Kentucky, because we had been after him since day one.
Another example would be the two Super Bowl quarterbacks this year, Ben Roethlisberger & Aaron Rodgers. Neither were highly recruited as Ben went to Miami (OH) & Rodgers had one D1 offer and that was a offer to be a walk-on at Illinois. I’m not in no way saying anyone on our roster or in this recruiting class will have careers like those guys, but it’s possibly and you don’t have to play for the big boys and be a 5-star recruit to have a shot at playing the NFL.
I know losing guys like Dawson & Davis are some hard pills to swallow, but lets not throw Joker and the rest of the staff under the bus just yet, because they’re getting some guys in here that a few years ago would never even consider Kentucky.
IF UK can continue to make bowls and finish with winning seasons and keep upsetting the likes of Auburn, Georgia, and the LSU’s of the conference then maybe the next Lamar Dawson will sign with Kentucky and not leave the Bluegrass for one of the big boys.
So as UK fans, let’s not give up on Joker or the football team because we’re competitive in the best league in college football and come within a field goal of beating the BCS National Champions, Auburn. It wasn’t so long ago that we all can forget that.
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