⚡ CFB Dashboard

There is a lot of excitement around Kentucky football heading into the Wildcats' 2026 Spring Game. While new Head Coach Will Stein made sure to explain the full scoring system and how the game will function, he also made sure to note the unfortunate, but expected, fact that not all the Cats on the roster will be able to participate. Whether it be for injuries lingering from last season, minor issues from the Spring or anything else, Stein gave a full list of who would not be suiting up for the Cats on Saturday. That list is as follows: -RB No. 1 CJ Baxter -RB No. 2 Jovantae Barnes -OLB No. 2 Sam Greene -WR No. 4 Nic Anderson -WR No. 10 Davis McCray -WR No. 17 Hardley Gilmore IV -WR No. 18 Xavier Daisy -DB No. 24 Jaden Smith -RB No. 28 Tovani Mizell -OL No. 52 Cameron Miller Jr. -OL No. 53 Lance Heard -OL No. 55 Aba Selm -OL No. 58 Alexander DiMartino -OL No. 63 Kyle Mixon -DL/Edge No. 92 Ben Duncum Despite the lengthy list, Stein was quick to make an attempt to calm some nerves. "I just want to make sure there's no uncertainty, everybody is expected to be full-return, full-go by the time they get back from May," Stein said. "Nothing long-term, a lot of it's precautionary." The only note he would make surrounded Heard, an expected starting offensive lineman. "He's gonna be back in four weeks," Stein said. "Lance literally went through the entire Spring football until today, he had a minor procedure done that we just wanted to make sure we get it done now and not wait any longer. He was doing walkthroughs yesterday (and) sweating." Stein would also clarify that others expected to play in the game will also don black "non-contact" jerseys, meaning they'll be in tag mode and won't be able to be tackled. While that's common for quarterbacks, Kentucky is expecting to use tag mode on some of its defenders as well, also as a precautionary measure. "Guys might have a little shoulder here and there," Stein explained. "Just don't want anybody tackling and subluxing (minor dislocation) their shoulders. It's really more for protection for them." Stein would also emphasise that he is completely comfortable with where Kentucky is injury-wise, saying that, by the time the Fall comes around, assuming there are no new injuries, "100%, everybody's gonna be back." "I can say that with 100% certainty," Stein said. "Some stuff you just want to make sure. We just gotta get these guys to the Fall. I'm not going to risk anything with certain players, but I feel really confident about that." With that in mind, assuming Kentucky's Spring game is not affected by inclement weather, the roster will look somewhat depleted for the contest but there seems to be no cause for concern for BBN. For the first time in what feels like a very long time, it seems Kentucky is anticipating going into the Fall with the roster it expected to have when it signed it. Just be sure to knock on some wood, just in case.