A Lot Of New Faces
Welcome back to the third in our ongoing series previewing Mark Stoops’ 13th Wildcat squad. A big thank you to everyone who checked out the first two. In case you missed them, we started with the quarterbacks, followed by the running backs. Today, we finish up the skill positions, and for UK it’s a room that looks vastly different from the end of 2024. Let’s introduce you to the players with our 2025 Kentucky Fall Camp: Receivers. In addition, we’ll also look at the tight end room.
Projected starters
The two biggest subtractions from last year’s squad are Barion Brown and Dane Key, who are at LSU and Nebraska, respectively. In addition, former wide receivers coach Daikiel Shorts left for Nebraska. The new man in charge of the wide receivers is L’Damian Washington.
Kentucky’s wide receiver group starts with Ja’Mori Maclin. When he decided to come back for one more year, it was a huge boost to the receiver room.
Maclin started and finished strong but wasn’t featured much in the middle of the year. Of his 13 receptions, seven came in the last four games. He had four for 121 yards and two touchdowns in the season-ending loss to Louisville. He’s expected to move outside this year, and the BBN hopes it leads to big numbers.
One of the Cats’ biggest additions is Kendrick Law, who transferred from Alabama. During his three seasons with the Crimson Tide, he hauled in 33 passes for 314 yards and one score. Furthermore, Law is considered a top run-blocking receiver. He likely starts at the slot position.
The third receiver spot is likely helmed by Hardley Gilmore. A part of the Cats’ 2024 class, Gilmore hauled in six passes for 153 yards. It’s a limited sample size, but that works out to a 25-yard average per catch. He followed Shorts to Nebraska after the season but returned to Lexington in April. He should see lots of snaps in 2025.
Continuing on with our 2025 Kentucky Fall Camp: Receivers, let’s look at more players in a crowded room.
Pushing For Playing Time
Our next group features a mix of transfers and returning players. Frankfort native Fred Farrier had 13 receptions last season for 126 yards. This is after spending three seasons at UAB.
Troy Stellato comes to Kentucky from Clemson. During his time with the Tigers, Stellato caught 65 passes for 600 yards and two touchdowns. He missed part of last season due to injury and saw his playing time decline. In 2023, he had 38 catches for 321 yards and a score. He played against the Cats in that year’s epic 2023 Gator Bowl. Stellato caught four passes for 42 yards.
Another transfer, J.J. Hester, comes from Oklahoma. A graduate transfer, Hester hauled in 14 passes for 315 yards and a touchdown. That’s a very impressive 21.2 yards per catch. Hester is familiar with offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan, as he started his career at Missouri when Hamdan was there.
Ashton Cozart is a redshirt sophomore who comes to Kentucky by way of SMU. He caught one pass for 24 yards.
David Washington Jr. is another sophomore who played primarily on special teams for the Cats. However, a huge spring moved him squarely into the mix for more playing time.
As we continue on with our 2025 Kentucky Fall Camp: Receivers, let’s look at some incoming Cats.
Help For The Future
We’ve talked a lot about Montavin Quisenberry ever since he flipped from West Virginia to Kentucky. Playing at perennial power, Boyle County, Quisenberry finished 2024 with 49 receptions for 794 yards and 12 touchdowns. In addition, he ran for 882 yards and 12 more scores. He also completed five of seven passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns.
Preston Bowman comes to Kentucky from Pickerington, Ohio. He caught 59 passes for 1,248 yards and 13 touchdowns. New Jersey native Cameron Miller flipped to Kentucky from Wisconsin. He had over 100 catches and 29 touchdowns during his final two years in high school.
St. Louis native DJ Miller recorded 71 receptions and 11 touchdowns in his final year at Cardinal Miller. An early enrollee, Miller showed great promise during the spring. Finally UK has Cincinnati native Quintin Simmons. In addition to football, Simmons was a track star who possessed great speed.
Let’s finish up our 2025 Kentucky Fall Camp: Receivers with a look at the tight ends.
A New Era
Of course, the biggest off-the-field story involving the Cats was associate head coach and tight ends coach Vince Marrow leaving Kentucky for Louisville. Enter Derek Shay, who was the tight ends coach at Marshall. He inherits a very talented room.
Much like the receivers, the Wildcats had a great deal of turnover at tight end. Jordan Dingle is now at South Carolina, Khamari Anderson at Arizona State, and Tanner LeMaster at Eastern Michigan. As a result, the Cats had to quickly rebuild through the portal.
Josh Kattus, a three-year starter, returns at one tight end position. In three years, he’s caught 21 passes for 310 yards and four touchdowns.
The other tight end position is helmed by Willie Rodriguez. While he only had five receptions, he was very impressive at times in 2024.
UK brought in two players through the portal. Henry Boyer comes from Illinois. He caught three passes in three years with the Illini. The other is Elijah Brown, who comes from Florida Atlantic.
A player to watch in 2025 is incoming freshman Mikkel Skinner. Hailing from Greer, South Carolina, Skinner was a huge recruiting win. Kentucky held off a late charge from the Gamecocks for the 214th-best player in the country and sixth-best tight end. He has the potential to be a matchup nightmare.
Final Thoughts
Kentucky had 13 wide receivers in camp, so sorting out playing time will definitely be an issue. Maclin and Law are two of your starters, while Gilmore looks like the third.
As far as tight ends go, Cat fans have been clamoring for years to use them more. Is this the year it finally happens? The last time a UK tight end caught 30 passes in a season was C.J. Conrad in 2018. Between Kattus, Rodriguez, and freshman Skinner, the potential is certainly there.
Thanks for checking out 2025 Kentucky Fall Camp: Receivers. We’ll be back next time, looking at the offensive and defensive lines.
Main Image: Brett Patzke-Imagn Images
