ESPN’s Greg McElroy Believes UK Could Be a Dangerous Team

New players like receiver Kendrick Law have college football analyst Greg McElroy not knowing exactly what to expect from UK. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Former NFL quarterback/ESPN analyst Greg McElroy doesn’t think there is a bigger question mark personnel-wise going into the college football season than Kentucky.

McElroy, the starting quarterback when Alabama went 14-0 and won the 2009 national championship, did a video press conference Wednesday to talk about the college football season and was certainly ready when asked about coach Mark Stoops’ team.

“I think as I go through and kind of survey the landscape, particularly in the SEC and and there are two teams that stand out above all else as far as what I know and what I don’t know,” said McElroy.  “I think I know a lot about 14 of the 16 teams in the league. A lot. I know what their quarterback situation is going to look like. I know their philosophies. I know what they’re trying to be on offense and defense.

“With Kentucky, there’s been such turnover. It’s been so challenging to kind of keep up with the new faces and the new additions. It’s hard for me to envision exactly what they’re going to be. I’m as fascinated to watch them this week as I am just about anybody else. And they got a tough one, frankly, this week.”

Kentucky opens the season Saturday hosting Toledo, the preseason favorite to win the MAC and a team that won handily at Mississippi State last season.

Kentucky fans have to appreciate that McElroy says he likes transfer quarterback Zach Calzada as he prepares for his first start with the Cats.

“I think he’s a talented kid. I’ve seen him throw it with my own two eyes. The kid can throw it,” McElroy said. “The problem is he has not done it consistently against top level competition, but maybe he’s got a new lease on life and has built his confidence back up.


“I’m pretty intrigued by that position. I’m also intrigued by them being pretty outspoken about returning to a ground and pound outfit that’s going to play like a team that has brass knuckles. I think that’s encouraging because it seems like they got away from that at times last year. Their offensive identity was hard to figure out.

“I don’t think they had a real game breaker running back. I think they thought it was going to (transfer Chip) Trayanum  and he got banged up. Then you have some other guys that have some juice and it didn’t really work out. You also had a bunch of receivers that were talented that wanted the ball and you didn’t really have a quarterback that could consistently deliver it. So I think last year is one that I kind of throw away.”

McElroy said from what he’s read and seen, Kentucky is going back to a “more recognizable version of Kentucky” under Stoops.  However, McElroy does wonder how UK will replace losses in the defense’s front seven as well as the secondary, including NFL first-round pick Maxwell Hairston.

“I think they remain a dangerous team, especially if they return to that physical style of play that they’ve had for so many years. If they can get back to that, they’re not going to be a team that anybody wants to play,” McElroy said. “But I also don’t know if their ceiling is as high as some of the teams that they’ll face in the SEC right now.”