Coach Mark Stoops says freshman Dane Key will be an impact player this season. (UK Athletics Photo)
The hype has been building for Kentucky freshman receiver Dane Key since he verbally committed to the Wildcats.
It picked up even more steam during spring practice and now it is going full speed after what coach Mark Stoops and quarterback Will Levis said about him at SEC Media Days.
“We have some guys (receivers) we have to push. We’re fortunate, one of the young guys came in spring so we had the opportunity to watch him, in Dane Key. He’s a special young man, definitely an impact player. You could see right away he has the mindset that he could pick things up,” said Stoops.
Key was good at Frederick Douglass High School but the long, talented athlete could be even better at UK with Levis throwing to him.
“He’s a starter right now,” Levis said during SEC Media Days. “He’s got to go into the facility every single day and earn that spot every single day.”
“Not a lot of true freshmen have that opportunity, so I’m sure that he’s excited for it.”
The even better news for UK is that freshman receiver Barion Brown, Jordan Anthony and Brandon White all have speed and talent. Anthony is a national sprint champion who will compete in the Under 20 World Championship next month.
“Jordan, we’re really proud of him,” Stoops said. “Then you’ve got Brandon White, who’s fast as heck and nobody talks about him because you have Jordan there who has world-class speed.”
“We needed some speed and those guys can certainly blow the top off. We’re excited to work with those guys and we’ll see what they can do
What about Brown, the highly-touted recruit from Nashville?
“Barion has all the tools. Super excited about him. Was talking with Will on the plane coming down here, discussing a little bit. Will mentioned it right away, how special Barion is with the ball in his hands. He can do some special things, has a lot of juice,” Stoops said in Atlanta.
“We really got to get him caught up. He just got on campus a couple weeks ago. Need to get him plugged in, get the ball in his hands, because he’s a total play-maker. We’re very excited about that.”
Kentucky also added transfer Tayvion Robinson of Virginia Tech, an experienced playmaker. Stoops also believes Christian Lewis and DeMarcus Harris both will provide a lot more big plays this season.
“We feel as a group we’re probably as talented as we have been in a long time. There’s definitely some youth there that we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Stoops said.
6 Responses
Will the group have as many catches as Wan’Dale had last year?
Filling the void left by Wan’Dale Robinson is critical for this team’s offense, and I hope Dane Key and the others can collectively do that.
I am so ready for this season to start that I thought I would go ahead and start this chatter.
I see 9-3 using the static analysis, which is the same as last year, but see the potential for even better. This 9-3 projection is based on static conditions from the end of 2021. That means that each team on UK’s schedule, including UK, will play at the same level as they played last season. But, I expect UK to be a much stronger football team in 2022 than it was in 2021 when it finished 9-3 regular season.
The losses: I see the trip to Mississippi as a narrow loss that is very much in reach for a team that should start 4-0 and should be measurably stronger than last year’s team. I see the two game swing against Mississippi State and at Tennessee as the critical part of this schedule. I see those games as 1-1, but both are winnable and both are loseable games. The other loss is against Georgia. It would take a combination of historic improvements to move that game to a W, but even that is not impossible. 10-2 or 11-2 are within reach for this team with just modest improvement over last season relative to the field. AND, . 12-0 cannot be eliminated from the conversation.
On the other end of that scale, The game in Gainesville has a comfortable prediction margin, but it is close enough to make it a potential loss, especially in game 2 and as the first road game. Therefore, on the "low" end, I see 8-4.
My Prediction for the season: 10-2
The most important game on their schedule this year IMO is Tennessee. Win that one and I believe UK can give Georgia all they want when they come calling. UK needs to get the UT monkey off their back asap to build confidence, It must start this year in Knoxville.
Would sure be nice to beat the Vols
Tennessee? They low down they dirty and they some snitches! Cheaters for sure! Man I hate Tennessee and I should!
Talent, experience, execution, and luck will determine who wins and who loses for the most part. What separates great teams from good ones is confidence in knowing that with all other things being equal, you’re supposed to win. Regardless of what the season records say, Tennessee has that when they play us. We are the better team this year. Will we play like the better team and more importantly, will we believe we are the better team? That will be the difference at TN and Ole Miss this year. Unfortunately, it won’t matter when GA comes to Lexington. They are clearly the better team.
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