Kentucky Wildcats Football Signing Day Primer: Here’s what you need to know

National Signing Day is almost here!

In what’s one of the most exciting days in college football, the Kentucky Wildcats are in position to land some big time recruits.

With that being said, based on Kentucky’s history no one is locked. The Cats currently have 20 spots filled for next years class thanks to the early signing period, leaving 3-5 open spots for National Signing Day.

Kentucky’s recruiting class currently ranks 37th overall, and 11th in the SEC, according to 247 Sports. ESPN has it ranked 36th, while Rivals has it at 32nd.

Here’s everything you know about Kentucky’s potential signees heading into Wednesday:

Christopher Oats would be a game-changer on defense

Christopher Oats is another standout in this class for Kentucky. He’s an extremely versatile player that has a lot of schools chasing after him. Some of those schools include Ohio State, Georgia, and Louisville. He’s currently ranked 325th overall, and he’s the 22nd best OLB in the class.

Oats is a four-star linebacker and the 12th best player out of Ohio this year. Oats just visited Lexington this past weekend, and all signs are pointing up for him to commit, despite a late push from Ohio State. 247 sports currently has him as 87% in favor of Kentucky.

Kavosiey Smoke looks like a toss-up

Smoke would be a great addition to this Kentucky Recruiting Class. He’s an agile player that is currently listed as an athlete because he can play a lot of different positions on the field on offense, defense and special teams. He’s currently ranked 575th overall by 247 sports, and he’s the 46th best athlete in class as well.

Smoke plays in Alabama and he’s the 17th best player in the state. Three teams have a hot beat on Smoke, and they are; Kentucky, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The Cats would greatly benefit if Smoke chose to attend UK in the fall.

With the addition of Smoke and Oats, the 247 Sports Class Calculator projects Kentucky’s final score to be 207.45, which could push them into the top 30 depending on how other teams’ classes shake out.

Leonard Taylor appears unlikely

Leonard Taylor is one of the best tight end recruits in the country. He’s ranked 298th in the 2018 class and he’s the 16th best tight end, according to 247 sports. Not to mention, he’s the 8th-best player in the state of Ohio along with being a 4-star athlete. Taylor is 6-foot-5 and weighs in at 246 pounds, this guy is a monster on the field.

Kentucky recruited Taylor to be a defensive end since they already have two TE’s, and based on his size, that would be an easy transition. Cincinnati is currently in the lead for him, and it looks like that’s where he’s going. Louisville has also gotten some recent buzz.

Who’s locked in for the Cats?

There’s two players that are currently hard commits for Kentucky, they just haven’t signed yet. Nick Lewis (#837th nationally ) and LiAllen Daily (#695th nationally) are both waiting for National Signing Day to sign their letter of intent, but both are going to be in Lexington next year. Nick is a 6-foot-9 346 pound offensive tackle and LiAllen is a 6-foot-3 196 pound wide receiver. Both of these guys should be able to make an impact early in their college careers.

Any surprises on Signing Day?

There are a couple others that are possible for Kentucky, but most of them are either leaning heavily towards another school or have very little chance of coming to UK. Like I mentioned earlier, the Cats have already secured most of their 2018 class. Knowing this, Signing Day won’t be as crazy as it usually is. With that being said, there may be a couple of surprises sprung in there.

Among the uncommitted recruits Kentucky has been linked to previously include 4-star corner Jairus Brents, 4-star defensive end Malik Langham, 4-star JUCO defensive tackle Emmit Gooden, 3-star athlete Jermaine Eskridge, 3-star quarterback Kevin Doyle, 3-star defensive end John Mincey, 3-star receiver Cadarius Gaskin, 3-star running back Kristian Pechac, and 3-star receiver Alonzo Clark. All of those guys appear very likely to end up elsewhere.

Current Signees

As mentioned above, Kentucky has already signed 20 players for the Class of 2018 during the early signing period, which includes:

We’ll be sure to keep you up-to-date with everything Kentucky on National Signing Day!