Michael Drennen moves to running back

Kentucky football has entered their first full week of fall camp, and there is already another player changing position rooms. Just as Izayah Cummings changed from wide receiver to tight end, another receiver will be making a change of position rooms according to some early reports from some media interviews today.

Michael Drennen, or better known as “Donut,” will be joining John Settle and the running backs this season as the move was officially announced by the Kentucky running backs coach today.

The former four-star all-purpose back came to Lexington after choosing the Cats over USC. Once he arrived on campus, the intention was to get Drennen in a room that needed the most burst, and what better what to show off his playmaking ability than playing in the slot.

Coach Settle also recruited Drennen out of high school during his time at Wisconsin, but he had every intention of using him out of the backfield if he wound up in Madison. Once he came to Lexington, he liked to joke about making the move at Kentucky.

“If you talk to Mike, he’ll tell you that I’ve been joking about that ever since I got to campus,” Settle told reporters Tuesday. “We’d laugh about it, but I was really serious, even though we’d laugh like it was a joke. He really sees himself as a running back that can play some wide receiver, so I’m happy that I went to the receivers’ coach. We talked about it, mentioned it to Coach Coen, then we got Coach Marrow involved, and then eventually we got to the head coach. I really think he’s going to help us in what we’re doing with this offense. He gives us another weapon to put out there on the field on Saturdays.”

Under new offensive coordinator Liam Coen, this Kentucky offense will feature several schemes out of the backfield that will be quite different from Eddie Gran. As Coen utilizes the outside-zone scheme, and pass-catching out of the backfield, getting a player like Drennen with his speed and playmaking ability in this position room will only help them come this fall.

Coen also will throw out a 21 Personnel look, and lining up Drennen next to Chris Rodriguez Jr. will keep opposing defenses honest on what might actually be coming their way.

With the season being a little under a month away this development will be one to follow to ultimately see how he is used in his new role.