Dekel Crowdus missed last season with a knee injury but has shown “flashes” of brilliance during preseason workouts. (Vicky Graff Photo)
With all the hype about freshman receivers Dane Key, Barion Brown, Jordan Anthony and Anthony White, it’s easy to forget that a year ago the same type of hope for the future was on Dekel Crowdus.
The speedster from Frederick Douglass High School was projected as a potential big-play producer, someone that could potentially give UK another deep threat to go with Wan’Dale Robinson.
Instead, Crowdus hurt his knee in the preseason and did not play.
“He’s one of those guys that, like, you see the flashes,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said Saturday. “You see the talent, the speed. He’s getting more and more confident off that knee injury that he had a year ago. So he’s just one of those guys that just needs to play and be around.”
“There’s no doubt he’s a great football player, you know. We just got to continue to bring him along.”
Quarterback Will Levis likes Crowdus’ talent, too, but acknowledged that Crowdus needs to lock in more mentally now that he’s healthy, especially with the depth UK now has at receiver.
“From summer workouts, I mean I just realized that he’s just a different kind of speed, different kind of explosiveness and athleticism. For him, it’s just kind of the mental side,” Levis said.
“He’s got to know where to line up. He’s got to know what his responsibility is as well as the guys around him, and have a feel for space and understanding why the route is called what it is in that specific play.”
Levis said Crowdus needed “less MA’s” (missed assignments) to be a more consistent performer.
“I know he can be a really good player for us and I’m just trusting him that he can help get that done,” Levis said.
One Response
This young man may have "missed the bus" so to speak. It appears from the "talk" that he has talent, but is not ready with the assignment part, mentally. Also there is a lot more talent in the WR room he is competing against now. I am hoping he can get up to speed quickly. UK needs speed on the field, because speed wins most of the time.