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posted 01-30-2016 04:54 PM
The quartet of O-line commitments Mark Stoops has coming in next season is without a doubt UK’s most highly touted in the era of recruiting rankings.
They’re well aware of that fact.
Two of the four — Drake Jackson and Tate Leavitt — have already enrolled in classes at UK and met with local reporters for the first time Thursday morning. The two others — Luke Fortner and Landon Young — will officially sign with the Wildcats next week and join the program in June.
Leavitt — the only junior-college player in the bunch — spoke Thursday of the “huge expectations” he knows UK fans have for this class of linemen. He says the expectations the players have for themselves are even higher.
According to those who have evaluated these players over the past few years, this group could be a program-changer for Stoops.
“I think it’s going to make or break a lot of things,” Rivals.com national analyst Mike Farrell told the Herald-Leader this week. “Leavitt is going to jump in right away. He’s going to be counted on as a guy who’s ready to play from day one and make an impact. Landon could compete for one of those starting tackle jobs. And Drake’s a specialist. At center, it’s hard to find guys that are able to snap and make the line calls and do all of the smart things that offensive linemen are known for doing.
“This is an important group. We’re going to see this group in a few years either take Kentucky to the next level or not, and by next level, I mean possibly pushing for nine wins. I think this offensive line will help them compete a little bit more, especially late in games.”
Rivals.com recently bumped Young — a standout at Lafayette High School — to five-star status after his performance at the Army All-American Bowl this month.
The 6-foot-7, 300-pound tackle is UK’s first five-star commitment (according to the Rivals rankings) and was the first member of the Cats’ recruiting class of 2016 — pledging to the school in the summer of 2013.
Starting on the offensive line as a true freshman in the Southeastern Conference is not a normal occurrence, but Young has a legitimate shot. Farrell mentioned him alongside Clemson’s Mitch Hyatt, who started at left tackle as a true freshman this past season and helped the Tigers advance to the national title game.
Young, like Hyatt, is ranked as the No. 3 offensive tackle in his class.
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