Hello everyone and welcome back to the fourth in our ongoing series looking at the 2023 Wildcats. We started\u00a0with the quarterbacks,\u00a0 <\/a>moved to the running backs, <\/a> and last the receivers.\u00a0<\/a> Mark Stoops’ <\/a>club has a couple of weeks left before practice ends on April 8th. As the spring moves along so do our position previews of the Cats. This time out we’re looking at the big guys up front whose job is to protect\u00a0Devin Leary<\/a>. We begin our 2023 Kentucky Spring Preview: Offensive Line with a look at the group needing to step up this season.<\/p>\n For anyone who’s watched Kentucky football over the last few years one of the hallmarks of the program is the offensive line. Under the late John Schlarman<\/strong> the name “Big Blue Wall” was coined for their abilities. In fact, they were one of the finalists for the Joe Moore Award <\/strong>for the nation’s best line in 2021.<\/p>\n Unfortunately for the Big Blue Nation, 2022 was not up to expectations. The group allowed 47 sacks which were fifth most in the nation and second-most among power-five schools. Only Boston College was worse. They all struggled opening up running lanes as the Cats only averaged 3.26 yards per carry. As a result Stoops and offensive line coach Zach Yenser<\/a> looked to the transfer portal for instant help.<\/p>\n Kentucky landed in the top 20 in the transfer portal rankings.<\/a> A big part of that was two offensive linemen heading to Lexington. Transfers Tanner Bowles<\/a> and\u00a0Marques Cox<\/a> from Alabama and Northern Illinois respectively provide a huge boost for the line. Bowles, a Kentucky native, is listed as a guard but played all five positions for the Crimson Tide. Cox graded exceptionally high last year before suffering a season-ending injury ironically in a game against Kentucky.<\/p>\n Marques Cox started at left tackle for 33 straight games at NIU. PFF gave him an 88 (!!) pass set score in his four games before injury this year.<\/p>\n — Justin Rowland (@RowlandRIVALS) December 15, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nBack To What’s Expected<\/h3>\n
Instant Impact Transfers<\/h3>\n
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