Joshua Allen Commits To Kentucky

Multiple sources reported this morning defensive end Joshua Allen committed to the Wildcats this morning while on his official visit. Allen is a 247 Sports composite NA, but Ben Roberts reported Allen had 22.5 sacks his senior season, and his coach had extremely positive things to say about Allen as well.

Hopefully the coaches are asked on NSD what position they seem Allen playing in the long-term. He could be an outside linebacker or a defensive end. I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't sure themselves at this point. They have a record recruiting for versatility on the defensive side of the ball.

Real Talk

After seeing a few ridiculous comments on UK's latest commit, I'll be pulling extremely hard for the kid. Hope he makes fools out of some.

— Devin Graves (@dpg4uk) January 31, 2015

Me too. Aside, from Marcus Lewis, there likely aren't any highly-ranked prospects UK will get at this time. It's time to temper some expectations, but to also keep in mind that these players will be in good hands. "I trust these coaches" is a cliche, but I'll happily invoke it on behalf on DJ Elliot and Jimmy Brumbaugh - arguably UK's best position coaches.

Linebacker Josh Forrest is UK's most improved player from the 2014 season, but defensive tackle Mike Douglas ain't far behind him. Those were two other unheralded prospects that became contributors under these position coaches. That doesn't even begin to mention how much better Khalid Henderson or Ryan Flannigan got this year, or how the flashes of strong play by Farrington Huguenin this season mirror Douglas' play his own junior campaign.  Za'Darius Smith lived up to his ranking his senior season, but that was after another year with Brumbaugh. Brumbaugh and Elliot have a proven track record.

Star rankings are proven to matter in the long-run, but getting an unheralded recruit isn't necessarily a bad thing when he's got great position coaches and he doesn't have to start Day One. Let's see where Allen is at in three seasons before we jump off any ledges. If he is Tyrone Riley's "replacement" then UK probably made out just fine in the deal.

In the mean time, enjoy his highlights. Allen probably won't be this weekend's only commitment

.

Update

Ben Roberts has much more on this under-the-radar player who really shouldn't be. Tis is the kind of commitment that can really pay off for teams like Kentucky. The problem is, they are just too few and far between to root out. Kentucky would've never been aware of this kid if not for a heads-up by his high school coach.