Kentucky's Defense

All right, so we've gone after the offense, it's time now to discuss Kentucky's defense. Today on the show, we had defensive coordinator Mike Archer. If you didn't get a chance to listen, I'll break down the whole defense for you.

Defensive Line:
The defensive line is looking strong with many returning starters. The way it looks right now, Durrell White will start at Left End, Jason Leger will start at Left Tackle, and Myron Prior will start at Right Tackle. The fight will be for Right End between Nii Adjei Oninku and Dominic Lewis. The defensive line HAS to be strong. Maybe it's because this is the position I played in college, but sometimes the D-Line is overlooked. In order for Kentucky's defense to be strong, the D-Line has to take on double teams so that the linebackers are free to blitz and cover if need be. Myron Prior came off of a great summer and is looking to be a force there. He had a great summer in the weight room. He needs to translate that to the field. With young cornerbacks, look for the defensive line to be one of the key positions for the defense.

Linebacker:
This is shaping up to be the strongest position on the defense for the Cats. Anchoring this crew will be Junior weakside linebacker Wesley Woodyard. Look for him to take charge this year. At middle linebacker, Braxton Kelley is coming back after an injury derailed him his freshman year. If he can bounce back, look for him to be a force. At strongside linebacker, returning starter Joe Schuler is looking to make some noise for the Wildcats.
Here is the catch... Freshman linebacker and top prospect Micah Johnson will be fighting for a spot. If he's going to go anywhere, my guess is that he'll slip in at the strongside linebacker spot eventually. He probably won't start the first couple of games but will still get time. He's as confident as I've ever seen an incoming frosh be. This guy will DEFINITELY be a force.
The linebackers look great, but they're going to have to pick up some slack from a young cornerback crew. Look for the linebackers to drop back into coverage sometimes and look for the defense to call a lot of zone in the first few games while the corners get comfortable.

Safety:
Roger Williams will be returning at strong safety. Free safety will be a battle between Dallas Greer and Marcus McClinton. While the corners are getting comfortable, look for the safeties to have to step up in coverage as well.

Cornerback:
This is THE BIGGEST question mark for me on the team. Although Brooks is confident that everyone has had experience, this is the area on the field that has NO returning starters (although many got playing time last year). Trevard Lindley and Karl Booker are looking to be the two starters right now, but that could always change. This is the position that is going to have to catch up to the team the fastest. Look for teams like Louisville, Texas State, and Ole Miss to try and exploit this weakness in the first few games for the Cats. If they are up to the challenge, the defense will be solid. If they take some time to get acustomed to SEC football, UK will get burned deep for a while. From what I've heard from Coach Brooks, these guys are up to the challenge, but it will be a wait and see game.

Overall, the defense will be solid with a few exceptions. The D-Line and Linebackers should anchor a good run defense, it'll be the pass defense that we'll all be watching for.