It has been reported that OL Brady Taylor will announce a commitment next Monday. It is down to Kentucky, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. Most likely it is between Virginia Tech and Kentucky. 247 Sports (247) has him projected to pick the Cats, beating out the Hokies 75% to 25% according to the eight who have made their predictions. You can see who made those predictions here. For me, the Eleven Warriors prediction is the most valid and unbiased.
Taylor attended this past weekend's Friday Night Blue Lights camp at Commonwealth Stadium and left very impressed. Plus, he knows most of Kentucky's Ohio commitments.
Taylor is rated by Rivals as a (5.6) 3 star and Rank by Offers has him ranked as #116 with 25 offers. ESPN has him as a 3 star as do Scout and 247. He's from Columbus and he's not yet been offered by Ohio State. He did, however, attend Ohio State's June 9th camp and impressed the coaches. Lexington is closer to Columbus than Blacksburg. Then, there is the Vince Marrow factor.
The other possible commitment is WR Moral Stephens from Perry, FL. Stephens also attended the Friday Night Blue Lights camp and left Lexington saying he really liked UK and was going to talk to his family about a possible commitment. He attended Florida's camp on June 8th, but wasn't offered by Joker Phillips. I'm not sure why Florida would not offer a Rivals (5.8) 4 star wide receiver when they have only one commitment at that position. Maybe that's because Stephens is 100% projected to commit to Kentucky by 12 predictors at 247. You can see who they are here.
Stephens is ranked as the #27 WR by Rivals and he is also an ESPN 4 star. ESPN ranks him as the #26 WR. Scout has him as a 3* as does 247. According to Rank By Offers, Stephens (#235) has 16 offers with 8 from Top 25 schools.
Below is where we currently stand, according to Rank By Offers. Also included are the Rivals ratings for each player.
Rank | Player Name | Position | City | Stars (Rivals) | D1 Offers | Top 25 Offers | Offer Points |
148 | Jarrett LaRubbio | OL | Liberty Township, OH | (5.7) 3* | 22 | 2 | 1,547.77 |
152 | Darius West | DB | Lima, OH | (5.8) 4* | 21 | 4 | 1,512.00 |
171 | Stanley Williams | RB | Bethlehem, GA | (5.9) 4* | 18 | 10 | 1,431.24 |
205 | Jared Tucker | DB | Stone Mountain, GA | (5.7) 3* | 18 | 6 | 1,348.63 |
209 | Mike Edwards | DB | Cincinnati, OH | (5.7) 3* | 19 | 3 | 1,338.93 |
236 | Denzel Ware | DE | Crestview, FL | (5.7) 3* | 16 | 8 | 1,262.83 |
253 | Thaddeus Snodgrass | WR | Springfield, OH | (5.8) 4* | 16 | 5 | 1,187.86 |
307 | Drew Barker | QB | Burlington, KY | (5.9) 4* | 15 | 1 | 1,083.19 |
335 | Darryl Long | TE | Westerville, OH | (5.6) 3* | 15 | 1 | 1,039.26 |
377 | Mikel Horton | RB | West Chester, OH | (5.9) 4* | 14 | 1 | 965.74 |
421 | Nico Firios | LB | Longwood, FL | (5.6) 3* | 13 | 1 | 901.33 |
426 | T.V. Williams | WR | McKinney, TX | (5.5) 3* | 13 | 1 | 887.33 |
547 | Kobie Walker | LB | Olney, MD | (5.7) 3* | 10 | 2 | 723.17 |
752 | Dorian Hendrix | LB | Huber Heights, OH | (5.7) 3* | 8 | 0 | 523.17 |
689 | Corey Johnson | DL | Brooklyn, NY | (5.8) 4* | 8 | 0 | 574.07 |
784 | Tymere Dubose | DE | Youngstown, OH | (5.5) 3* | 7 | 2 | 488.88 |
912 | Adrian Middleton | DT | Bowling Green, KY | (5.5) 3* | 6 | 1 | 408.71 |
979 | Ryan Flannigan | LB | Brenham, TX | (5.6) 3* | 5 | 0 | 364.84 |
1,602 | Shyquawn Pullium | DB | Brenham, TX | (5.7) 3* | 2 | 0 | 141.92 |
2,180 | Derrick Kelly | OL | Havana, FL | (5.4) 2* | 1 | 0 | 66.75 |
20 Commitments | 3.25* Average | 913.18 Avg. |
The two charts below show where we stand in the SEC East. The team rankings use Kentucky and Florida as reference points and the other shows average star ratings. You'll also notice that the quality of players has declined since Urban Meyer left. If Taylor and Stephens commit to Kentucky our average star rating will move up to 3.27. You can click on them for a larger view.
Doesn't it feel strange to be one of the top recruiting programs in the SEC and in the nation?