Observations from Kentucky’s depth chart for Florida week

The Kentucky Wildcats have updated the depth chart ahead of their matchup with the Florida Gators.

As expected, Sawyer Smith is now the starting QB with Walker Wood as his backup. Wilson suffered a season-ending torn patella injury in Saturday’s win over Eastern Michigan, so Smith is now QB1 moving forward.

Wood, a former three-star recruit out of Lafayette High School, was the fourth-ranked prospect from the state of Kentucky in the class of 2017. He’s more of a dual-threat runner compared to Smith being a pure pocket passer. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kentucky actually uses Wood on some Wildcat QB plays at some point this season.

Things get dicey if one of those guys get hurt. With true Nik Scalzo already out with an ACL tear, fellow true freshman Amani Gilmore could be elevated to the back role if another QB injury occurs. Gilmore is a three-star recruit who was ranked 39th among pro-style QB recruits in the 2019 class.

While losing Wilson is a major loss, Kentucky did get some good news this week with the return of Phil Hoskins, who was suspended for the first two games for academic reasons. The 310-pound senior is now the backup defensive tackle behind Calvin Taylor. This defensive line has played great thus far into the season, and having a guy like Hoskins coming off the bench will only make it stronger.

With Hoskins back, Abule Abadi-Fitzgerald is no longer on the two-deep. The former three-star recruit in 2017 was viewed as a long-term project, and he played sparingly over the first two games.

At running back, it’s still A.J. Rose on top with Kavosiey Smoke OR Chris Rodriguez as the backup. However, Smoke was the best back in the win over Eastern Michigan with 92 rushing yards on just 10 carries compared to 82 yards on 17 runs for Rose, who also had a fumble in the red zone. Rodriguez did not get a single touch.

It’s safe to think the real depth chart in Eddie Gran’s head is Rose OR Smoke, and it may be Smoke alone on top very soon.

Kentucky vs. Florida Depth Chart