Could Justin Rogers be the force UK needs in defensive front

Justin Rogers has played in 20 games his first two years at UK. (Photo by Jeff Houchin)

Getting Michigan defensive lineman Justin Rogers to come to Kentucky was a huge recruiting win for Mark Stoops and Vince Marrow.

He was a five-star prospect ranked No. 10 overall in the 2020 recruiting class by Rivals and considered the second best defensive tackle in the nation. 247Sports also ranked Rogers as the top player in Michigan.

Rogers was recruited by a Who’s Who of college football and picked Kentucky over Georgia, Michigan, LSU and Tennessee — the other teams in his final five. He even took an official visit to Alabama after committing to UK.

The 6-3, 335-pound Rogers played in seven games as a true freshman in 2020 and had nine tackles. Last season he played in all 13 games, including four starts due to injuries to other linemen, and had 16 tackles.

Now he has a chance to become a “huge” fixture in the defensive front.  He learned from nose guard Quinton Bohanna and Phil Hoskins, both late-round 2020 NFL draft picks, his freshman year. As a sophomore he played with former high school teammate Marquand McCall who expects to be drafted in this year’s draft.

Defensive line coach Anwar Stewart has preached patience with Rogers, Josiah Hayes, Octavious Oxendine and other young linemen.

“I feel like it’s my time to shine,” Rogers, who was in the eighth grade when he got his UK scholarship offer, said recently. “We definitely want to set the bar. We’re all young, but I feel like we have that mindset of Josh (Paschal), Marquan, Q (Bohanan)  and Phil from when they were here.”

Rogers has shown extraordinary patience and maturity considering he is the fourth highest ranked recruit ever at Kentucky — and second highest in the Stoops’ era. Only current freshman offensive lineman Kiyaunta Goodwin was higher ranked in high school than Rogers. Before that the two UK players ranked higher were offensive lineman Antonio Hall in 2000 and linebacker Micah Johnson in 2006.

With the transfer portal making it so easy for players to leave, Rogers has stayed put and waited for the opportunity he has this year while learning from talented players.

“It don’t make sense for me to leave,” Rogers said. “I have these two NFL guys, great guys in front of me. I just wanted to learn from them. It doesn’t make sense for me to start all over again. I’d be behind the 8-ball (if he transferred). Staying prepared me a whole lot. Getting the mental reps at practice transferred to games.”

With questions in the Kentucky secondary, defensive coordinator Brad White needs a stout, aggressive defensive front. That’s what Stewart wants and believes Rogers, who had hip surgery before his freshman season, can be one of the mainstays in the defensive front.

“He was an 18 or 19-year-old kid trying to play SEC football when he got here and that’s tough,” Stewart said. “I know everybody talks about (recruiting) stars but stars don’t mean anything. Stars have to come out and earn their keep. He just had to work and learn what college football was about.”

That included taking the tough love from Stewart. Rogers admitted last season he was not always the best at listening and learning when he got to Kentucky and was used to his talent being more than enough to let him shine. Stewart said before last season started that Rogers “would be fine” and play more than he did as a freshman — and he did.

Fifth-yer linebacker Jacquez Jones expects all UK’s young defensive linemen to make big strides this season.

“Everybody’s hungry and ready to take this defense to the next level,” Jones said.

And no one is more ready than Rogers to make that leap.