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Kentucky Football Player Profile: Kengera Daniel

Will Daniel put it all together for his senior year?

NCAA Football: Eastern Michigan at Kentucky Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

He doesn’t tweet much.

When he does tweet he’s usually showing support for his teammates, players from his hometown, or his team.

Off the field he is a consummate student-athlete. He was an honor-roll student in high school, where he was also in chorus. He chose to play at Kentucky, because of his abilities to succeed both on and off the field. He’s even noted for his help in the Special Olympics.

But on the field, there’s a glaring question that has yet to be answered: Who is Kengera Daniel?

Kengera Daniel

Position: Defensive end

Class: Senior

Measurements: 6’5”, 260 lbs

Hometown: Raleigh, N.C.

School: Millbrook

Go back to high school, and you can see why there was legitimate excitement around Daniel. Daniel had confirmed scholarship offers from Louisville, Michigan, Tennessee, and, the big kahuna of college football, Alabama. He was a three-star prospect by ESPN and Rivals. He enrolled early January of 2015, almost assuredly to get a leg up on the competition.

Then, nothing.

On the field, Daniel’s activity mirrors his tweets. Daniel has 10 career tackles. His only career Tackle For Loss was also his first Sack, which he recorded last season. His career highlight was making a tackle on 4th-and-1 in 2016 against Ralph Webb and Vanderbilt. Honestly, that’s all there is to his career.

And yet, there’s hope.

The first time I saw Kengera Daniel, I didn’t know who I was looking at. The first thought that came through my head was, simply, “My God, who IS that?”

Daniel is an athletic phenom who looks like a prototype NFL defensive end. He will be a true senior (he never used a redshirt), and, luckily for him, Denzil Ware decided to transfer, opening a gaping hole of playing time to fill.

I can’t tell you Daniel will turn into a superstar. I can’t even tell you he’ll double his career tackle total. What I can tell you is that there is plenty of potential left to untap. Daniel is a solid person that wants the best for his teammates, and will do what he can for the team.

He may not tweet much now, but, after the season, hopefully he will have something to tweet about.