2016 Football Recruiting

Blessed to say I have received the Paul Hornung award.

— Kash Daniel (@KashDaniel15) November 26, 2015

Paintsville linebacker/quarterback and UK commit Kash Daniel appears to be the winner of the annual Paul Hornung Award, presented to Kentucky’s top high school football player by the Louisville Quarterback Club.

SB Nation's National Recruiting Director Bud Elliot lists UK as one of six college football teams that needs to take a step forward this season to continue recruiting momentum.

My list of Schools As training camp starts I want to be focused on my grind, future and my team so I created my list pic.twitter.com/reSNDolitQ

— King Walton #77 (@Bwalton72_44) August 2, 2015

Brandon Walton, a Rivals 3-star offensive tackle with interest from a whole host of schools including Cincinnati, Iowa St, South Florida, Central Florida and Vanderbilt, now has UK on his list. As far as I can tell, that wasn’t the case before the tweet that Patrick Loney just passed along.

Hmmmm pic.twitter.com/GwpgMrByu9

— Cash7⃣ (@Tob7as_) May 31, 2015

Tobias Gilliam, a 3-star UK defensive back commitment from Fort Wayne, Ohio, put up some big numbers today at The Opening Nike Combine. Very impressive, young man. Look at that 40 and the vertical. That’s what we need.

Truly blessed to say I have verbally committed to The University of Kentucky #SEC #BBN #ALLIN ⚫️⚪️ pic.twitter.com/U68seAB1w4

— Gunnar Hoak (@GunnarHoak12) April 19, 2015

After striking out with Austin Kendall, the University of Kentucky picked up a commitment this weekend from Gunnar Hoak. Hoak is rated as a three star quarterback by 247 Sports, and the 51st best prospect in the state of Ohio. The 6'3'' Hoak makes for the 10th Ohio commitment for UK in the 2016 Class. More analysis is forthcoming.

Ohio OL Luke Fortner is the commitment for Kentucky. Much more coming at CI.

— Justin Rowland (@RowlandRIVALS) March 4, 2015

UK lands another recruit today with Luke Fortner's commitment. Fortner is listed as a 6'5'' 280 pound offensive tackle by 247. He is also rated a three star by their composite grade. UK is now up to 14 commitments for the 2016 Class, and 8 of them are from Ohio. Vince Marrow is earning that raise so far. I'd expect at least one more offensive linemen, almost certainly a tackle, this cycle.

Kentucky has yet another 2016 yahtzee, this time from Justin Rigg, a 6‘6” 240 pound tight end. Rigg is a 3-star for most of the recruiting services and was recruited by the likes of West Virginia, Purdue, Pittsburgh, and many others. Shannon Dawson was his primary recruiter, and it looks like this is one he dragged over from his days as the Mountaineer offensive coordinator. For those of you with subscriptions, you can read the Q&A with Rigg that Justin Rowland of Rivals did with him today. Here’s how he’s ranked: Rivals.com: 3-star Scout.com: 2-star ESPN.com: Unranked 247Sports.com: 3-star His Hudl video can be found here.

I guess we can call this a "double Yahtzee" as Kentucky got their second commitment yesterday and #10 for the year when Asim "A.J." Rose, a 6‘2" 185 pound running back from Garfield Heights, Ohio, picked the Wildcats. Rose is unranked by Rivals but is a 3-star over at 247 Sports, who generally does a better job than Rivals at ranking football players. He is considered the 22nd best running back in Ohio. Earlier yesterday, Kentucky landed Benny Snell, a prime target for the Wildcats out of Westerfield, Ohio. Rose has also played quarterback for his school, but considers himself a running back first and always. Rose had offers only from mid-majors Bowling Green and Toledo up until now. He styles himself a "downhill runner."

The Wildcats just got the commitment of Benny Snell from Westerville, Ohio, courtesy of Vince Marrow as usual. Snell is 6‘0” tall and a solid 210 lbs. He had offers from Boston College, Cincinnati, Iowa, Bowling Green, and more. Snell is ranked the #24 running back in the state of Ohio and is, as you might expect, a power runner. We can expect Kentucky to be looking for more running backs in the 2016 class, having signed only one in 2015. Per Steve Jones, the Snell commitment lifts Kentucky to a #7 national ranking for 2016 recruiting. That won’t last, most likely, but it’s nice to be there now.

Kentucky pulls another one down from Ohio. ($) I think this is Kentucky’s 8th verbal commitment from 2016. He is a 6‘2" 182# cornerback. That’s excellent size for a college cornerback, and of course, Vince Marrow was the guy on the case. Gilliam had offers from the likes of Cincinnati, Miami (OH), Indiana, and Bowling Green. Michigan had also shown interest. ESPN profile 247 profile Hudl highlights Scout profile