One Of The Best Groups In The SEC
Welcome back to our ongoing series looking at the 2024 Kentucky Wildcats. A huge thanks to everyone who has checked out the previous installments. The most recent featured the offensive and defensive lines. Today our focus continues on defense and one unit in particular. Brad White’s linebacker room is one of the best in the SEC. With tons of experience and a huge transfer from Georgia, it’s a group that will cause issues for league offenses. Let’s begin our 2024 Kentucky position preview: linebackers with a player coming back for one more year.
A Surprising Return
J.J. Weaver went through senior day festivities back in 2022. However, he decided to come back to school. Then after the 2023 season Weaver announced he was taking advantage of his extra COVID year and returning to school.
The edge rusher struggled during the early part of last season, however he finished strong. In the regular season finale against Louisville, Weaver had eight tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries. As a result, he was given the Howard Schnellenberger Award as game MVP as the Cats upset the Cardinals on the road. A strong 2024 will get him drafted.
Tyreese Fearbry and Noah Matthews are the backups to Weaver. Both players had six tackles in limited time last season. Behind them, freshmen Caleb Redd, Jacob Smith, and Steven Soles are all competing for time behind Weaver and Fearby.
Moving on with our 2024 Kentucky Position Preview: linebackers with a look at a huge pickup for the Cats.
Instant Impact Transfer
The biggest loss from 2023 is linebacker Trevin Wallace. A Georgia native, Wallace declared for the NFL Draft after the end of his junior campaign. He was taken by the Carolina Panthers with the 72nd pick in round three.
Wallace’s spot will be manned by Jamon Dumas-Johnson. The Georgia transfer was a huge pick-up for the Cats on National Signing Day. As a sophomore, he recorded 70 tackles, nine for a loss, and four sacks. As a result, he was a finalist for the Dick Butkus Award awarded to the nation’s best linebacker.
During the 2023 campaign, an arm injury limited him to nine games. Even so, he still managed 34 tackles, 5.5 for a loss, and 3.5 sacks. He chose Kentucky over Auburn and Florida State. Again he’s a day-one starter for UK. He ranks high on Last Word’s list of top returning linebackers for good reason. He’s on the Butkus watch list again as well as Comeback Player Of The Year.
Strong In The Middle
Rounding out the linebacker group is D’Eryk Jackson. Last year the Georgia native recorded 89 tackles, eight for a loss and two interceptions. One of those picks he returned for a touchdown. While he went through Senior Day activities in 2023 he’s returning for one more year. Jackson starts 2024 as one of the SEC’s best linebackers. He joins Dumas-Johnson on the Butkus list.
Daveren Rayner is the Cats’ top backup behind both Jackson and Dumas-Johnson. The Northern Illinois transfer made 30 tackles last year. Alex Afari has moved to a linebacker spot for 2024. However, he’s likely to see action in several positions. Former four-star recruit Grant Godfrey missed all of 2023 due to injury and has switched positions. Jayvant Brown is another name to watch.
Continuing on with our 2024 Kentucky position preview: linebackers let’s look at some incoming Cats looking for immediate playing time.
Tons Of Talent
One of the areas the Wildcats hit hard during signing day is linebacker. In fact, seven of the 24 commits fit that description. Brian Robinson, an edge defender out of Ohio, turned heads during spring practice and that’s continued into the fall. He’s a guy who’s going to be tough to keep off the field. However, there’s a chance that due to his size, 6-5 and 255 pounds, he ends up on the line.
Another edge defender, Jacob Smith comes to Lexington as the second-best player in Kentucky. First is defensive lineman and his brother Jerod. A trio of Smiths, Antwan, Devin, and Jaden are more incoming freshmen offering depth at an already strong position. Finally, Tennessee native Stephen Soles played edge in high school but will be a linebacker at the college level.
Final Thoughts
Mike Stoops’ linebacker group is arguably the strongest on the 2024 Wildcat team and certainly one of the deepest. Dumas-Johnson has to be considered one of, if not the biggest recruiting wins for Kentucky in recent memory. Expectations are going to be really high for him, Jackson, and Weaver. The potential is there for each to be an all-conference selection.
While the Cats starters are strong the concern is what happens if any of those guys miss time. It’s a very talented, yet relatively inexperienced group. That’s part of the reason why Afari is working at linebacker. For the Big Blue Nation, it’s something they hope they don’t have to worry about.
Thanks for checking out our 2024 Kentucky Position Preview: Linebackers here at Last Word On College Football. Next time we’ll finish our previews with the secondary and special teams.
