UK Athletics Photo
Okay it’s only spring practice and remember the practice reports the past two years on quarterbacks Devin Leary and Brock Vandagriff during the spring.
The word was that Leary threw a “very catchable ball” that receivers loved and last year we heard how Vandagriff was “athletic with a big arm” just waiting for his chance after being a backup at Georgia.
Leary was good but not great at Kentucky — and obviously not all of that was his fault. Kentucky went 4-8 last year with Vandagriff and he retired from football after the season ended.
Now the praise is rolling in for UK’s most recent transfer quarterback Nick Calzada, who will be playing his SEVENTH year of college football this fall. He will be 25 years old by the time the season ends.
“Calzada has a strong arm. That’s what I say to people when they ask about him. He has a strong arm, can flick it 20 yards effortlessly. That’s what I’ve seen from the offseason into the spring,” said safety Ty Bryant after Saturday’s spring showcase that ended spring practice.
Receiver Ja’Mori Maclin lavished even more praise on UK’s new quarterback.
“I’ve always told people he’s the best-throwing quarterback I’ve been around. He can throw the ball very well. He knows where to put the ball, which is the best thing,” Maclin said. “He will throw you open, if that makes sense. If I’m covered and the DB is on me, he knows where to throw the ball to put me in position to catch the ball.”
Maclin joked that he liked Calzada’s “old-head thinking” because of his time playing college football.
“It blows my mind the way he thinks. I’m trying to learn from him,” Maclin said.
Maclin did stress that even as well as Calzada does throw the ball, there is still work to do in the passing game before the season arrives.
“Just getting on the same page, getting the chemistry, there’s been some progress. There’s also been frustrating moments. It’s football. That happens,” Maclin said. “He’s been frustrated with me. I’ve been frustrated with him. But it’s been a good frustration where we can talk to each other and get on the same page.
“Building chemistry with the quarterbacks, for us as receivers, that’s the most important thing over the next four months.”
Former all-SEC running back Anthony White said the praise of Calzada reminds him of what was said about Leary after he transferred from North Carolina State.
“That means he is anticipating when the guy is going to be open,” White said on WLAP Sunday Morning Sports Talk. “That means he’s in the study room and watching film. He can anticipate just off the movement of the defense. (Former UK Hall of Fame quarterback) Tim Couch was great at that.”
6 Responses
It all depends on the O Line and the play calling.
I agree. The O Line really can’t do anything but get better, I know they are more deep. I also think this line has a better football IQ something we lacked last year! To many penalties!
Heard this song before.
Play calling gives the fans an idea how well the staff develops players. Spring practice gets the staff warmed up to complimenting the players and by August a lot of fans have been duped into thinking UK will actually be as good as the staff claims. Then the 4-8 season just does not look like same as described prior to the first missed block or tackle.
3 years of drastic decline in UK FB. How big of a raise will some of the staff get?
The scary thing is we really don’t know jack about this football team. Last years team was the best on paper and we went 4-8. This years team from a rating perspective isn’t as good as last years team. The only thing that will set the two apart is how much work they put in. The Oline cannot be any worse than they we’re a year ago. Burton Farmer and Braun all have a ton of SEC experience but what does that really mean. Last year we had guys with A ton of sec experience and they sucked very bad. I think the one thing that this team has going for it is that all the other SEC schools will look at us like a doormat. Vanderbilt will be much better this year. So we might be the worst team in the SEC. We could count that as a win just about every year and they beat us at home last year so we will be playing at Vanderbilt with one of the best quarterbacks in college football. His is Stoops make or break year. If we don’t make a bowl game he will be fired. He has to be. If we make a bowl at 6-6 he will sell that we are very young and the 2024 class will make us better every year for the next 2-3 years. If we don’t make a bowl I can see alot of the class jumping into the portal and Stoops being fired. So if your not a Stoops fan do you cheer for them to miss a bowl and grab Jon Sumerall or do you win and stick with Stoops and miss on Jon Sumerall?? That’s the question. I think Sumerall can get us over the hump. The question is will he be able to recruit at Kentucky? If he can it would be a major upgrade.
I am an old die-hard Cats fan but honest to goodness I cannot understand why a high school QB would start his career at KY. Mark stoops hasn’t started a recruited QB since "forever". He is always trying to find the quick solution to a problem from a QB that was developed by someone else. This speaks volumes about his ability to develop a QB. Of course these days, NIL has pretty much nullified QB development but, no offense to Zack Calzada, we are not getting the pick of the litter here. He couldn’t keep is job at A&M and saw the writing on the wall at Auburn. He Did well at the FCS level but he by most accounts is a self-developed QB with a lot of talent. Its going to take a lot of work to get him to fit even assuming the OLine is better than last year. Meanwhile, we have the "future of the program" riding the pines – again.