Eddie Gran is seeing improvement in his offense

Kentucky Wildcats offensive coordinator Eddie Gran took the podium today after his offense finished practice this morning.

Gran felt like his offense has made progress, especially over the last two days of practice. He stated that the scrimmage on Saturday was not good enough, and that this week of practice is huge.

“I thought we got a lot better,” Gran said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we got a lot better from Saturday.”

When asked about his freshmen receivers, Gran sounded cautiously optimistic that maybe one or two might get a chance to make an impact this coming season.

“I think we got a couple that got a chance. We’re still waiting,” Gran said. “The big deal for them will be on Saturday in that scrimmage. Kind of everything is in and it will be a good test to see where we are, both offensively and defensively.”

Gran also spoke highly of Dorian Baker. Baker has not seen the field since the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl when the Wildcats went head to head with Georgia Tech. In that game, Baker logged two grabs for 38 yards and a touchdown.

“Coming through when you’re out so long, there’s still a little bit of rust,” coach Gran said. “But he practices so hard, and there’s different types of leaders, and he’s one is how he goes about practice every day.”

When Lynn Bowden’s name came up, Gran eluded to Bowden’s speed being his greatest asset, and he expects him to make plays this year.

“The expectations are he’s got a chance to make a lot of plays, but you’ve got to do it every single day, day in and day out. You’ve got to learn how to play with that speed that he has because that is his weapon,” the UK offensive coordinator said after he was asked how Bowden looked so far in practice.

Gran also sounded excited about using multiple tight ends this upcoming season. The versatility that it will give to the offense, by allowing the Wildcats to present different looks and formations, will help Gran open up his playbook.

The one player that has stuck out to Gran during these first several practices is David Bouvier. Bouvier, a walk-on who just received a scholarship for his senior season, may be counted on quite a bit to play the slot for the Cats this upcoming season.

“The one guy that’s really showed up to me is David Bouvier,” Gran said. “You want to talk about a guy making plays. I go back (through) this whole camp right now and he’s our MVP.”

Gran also recognized his tight ends’ abilities to block, saying he wants a balanced attack on offense, and needs his tight ends to help block up front in order to establish the running game. Benny Snell is widely regarded as one of the best running backs in college football, but he’ll need as many guys blocking as he can get to help open those holes.

Speaking of Snell, Gran spoke of Benny’s pride as being one of the things that really helps drive his star rusher.

“He’s got a lot of good pride. He’s got pride and he wants to be great. I think that’s how you’ve got to play the game,” Gran responded when asked about where Snell gets his edge. “He’s got that old-school mentality. He’s going to give you everything he’s got, every single play.”

Let’s hope that every member of the Kentucky Wildcats football team adopts that old-school mentality that Benny Snell possesses. Wildcats fans will get their first chance to see Gran’s offense on September 1st when the season kicks off at Kroger Field in Lexington.