Landon Young suffers major knee injury and is out for 2018

Starting offensive tackle Landon Young has received news that you don’t want just one week before the season starts: He has suffered a major knee injury and will miss all of this season, according to a report from Kentucky Sports Radio.

Kentucky has now confirmed the news, adding that Mark Stoops will address the injury during his Monday press conference.

Young is a third-year junior, so he’ll be able to maintain his last two years of eligibility. The Wildcats also have depth at the position with Nassir Watkins, EJ Price and George Asafo-Adjei. Darian Kinnard is an incoming four-star lineman that was worked all along the line in fall camp, so he too may get reps on the blindside now.

Young became a key part of the offensive line in 2016, his freshman season, as part of a unit that was named a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award, which recognizes the most outstanding offensive line in college football.

He was a member of the 2016 recruiting class that included multiple in-state talents that aimed to turn around the Kentucky program.

Young, for his part, has played a major role in the team’s success the last two seasons, as a member of the offensive line rotation during his freshman season and then taking over as the full-time starting left tackle last season.

This year, he came into fall camp leading to keep his spot on the offensive line and become a leader with a position group expected to be a strength for the Wildcats.

Young had earned solid reviews from head coach Mark Stoops this summer.

“I’ve very rarely, if ever, said a bad thing about Landon,” Stoops said. “He gives us everything he has. He’s talented. As he gets older, gets more mature, gets more physical, gets more confidence. He is a very good football player and again, one of those guys that really does everything, tries as hard as he can in everything he does.”

Last year, Young was expected to be a heavy part of the offensive line rotation behind Cole Mosier, but when Mosier went down, Young was forced into the starting role where he had a solid season.

The offensive line meshed well together last season, as players settled into roles and continued to gain more comfort in their positions. A major part of that was Young settling in and becoming more comfortable as the team’s starting left tackle.

Now, Kentucky is left to find a new left tackle for the 2018 season.