Kentucky's offensive line, I believe, was the part of the cause of our defensive problems. The failures on 3rd Down Conversions, Time of Possession and First Down offense, put far too much pressure on our defense and they (the defense) paid a high price for the OLs failures. I think I've provided you with enough videos concerning offensive play development which showed the many missed assignments by OL players. Some of those missed assignment players were seniors and red-shirt seniors. There is no point in naming names. You can watch the videos and see their jersey numbers if you wish to do so.
The coaches clearly recognize these failures and they believe they know the solutions to the offensive problems. Here's a Neal Brown quote posted at another site for which no link was provided. Assume that Brown's comments are paraphrased:
First of all we gotta get some competition. I think a lot of our issues go to a lack of competition, you know, we've got to get more players, more quality players at each position, not just offensive line, but at wideout, running back, quarterback, that push one another. We've gotta have some depth. The good thing is we've got 4 of those guys coming back."
I think John Toth at center has done some good things, he's just undersized. He's 270 pounds playing center in the SEC. That's not ideal. He's gotta get bigger and stronger. And the guys that played inside some, Zach West, and those guys that redshirted, those 4 guys: Cole Mosier, who's a walk-on, who we think is gonna be a player here, gonna be a factor, Nick Haynes, Ramsey Meyers and Kyle Meadows. Those guys gotta get ready. They gotta get ready to play. If we can add somebody in the junior college mix we will. We've gotta get more guys there that are ready to play. We gotta get more competition, and we've got to get significantly better in the middle of that offensive line.
Who is Cole Mosier? He's a preferred walk-on in the 2013 class. I missed him altogether, but here's a good profile from Big Blue Insider.
Here's who we know, from the OL, are coming back (as of today and is subject to change) in the Spring:
2010 Class:
Teven Eatman-Nared (OG) (5.4) Rivals 2*Sr. Red Shirt
2011 Class:
Shaquille Love (OG) (5.5) Rivals 3*Jr. Red Shirt
Zach West (OG) (5.7) Rivals 3* Jr. Red Shirt
Darrian Miller (OT) Rivals 3* Jr. Red Shirt
2012 Class:
Jordan Watson (OG) (5.6) Rivals 3*So. Red Shirt
Zach Meyers (Center) (5.6) Rivals 3* So. Red Shirt
Jordan Swindle (OT) (5.5) Rivals 3* So.
John Toth (Center) (5.4) Rivals 2* So. Red Shirt
2013 Class:
Nick Haynes (OL) (5.6) Rivals 3* Fr. Red Shirt
Kyle Meadows (OL) (5.7) Rivals 3* Fr. Red Shirt
Ramsey Meyers (OL) (5.5) Rivals 3* Fr. Red Shirt
2014 Commitments (assuming they stick with us):
Jarrett LaRubbio (OL) (5.7) Rivals 3*
Nick Richardson (OL) (5.8) Rivals 4*
By now, I'm sure everyone knows about Derrick Kelly's de-commitment. When he committed to Kentucky, he was a Rivals 2*. When Baker and Edwards were bumped to 4* status, Kelly was also bumped to a 3* player. He's drawn some interest from Florida and Florida State, but doesn't have an offer from either. He is still "warm" toward the Cats
Kentucky will sign one or more offensive linemen before the 2014 class is finished. Stoops said as much on the Matt Jones Radio Show earlier this week (Dec. 5th). Stoops also made some comments about the quarterback situation and flat out said a true freshman quarterback could be the starter. Stoops also said he's very happy with his coaching staff and that Vince Marrow is getting a promotion to Recruiting Coordinator (along with a raise). You can hear it from the "horse's mouth" here. There's also some funny stuff regarding Clint Hurtt.
Kentucky Sports Radio also claims that, according to 247 Sports, Matt Elam will not be visiting Alabama but intends to take his official visit to UK next weekend.
Back to the offensive line...
The following offensive tackles who have shown some interest hold offers from Kentucky:
Marcelys Jones is still showing interest in the Cats. As you know, he's from Glenville in Cleveland
Ja'Merez Bowen from Shaker Heights (Cleveland)
Adam Duckett from Georgia Military College in Milledgevill
Don't be surprised if we get a JUCO.