Mark Zerof, USA TODAY SPORTS
The Kentucky Wildcats have announced that four players will not be returning to the team for the 2013 season.
Sophomore receivers DeMarcus Sweat and Bookie Cobbins will not return for the fall. Freshman defensive backs Shawn Blaylock and Sterling Wright are also leaving the program.
The loss of Sweat hurts the Wildcats because he may have been the most naturally talented returnee at the receiver position. Sweat struggled with dropped passes last season, but he did make four catches for 84 yards, including two for touchdowns.
Cobbins came to Kentucky as a quarterback, but was moved to receiver last season. He did not see any game action last year. The previous UK staff had high hopes for Cobbins, who they thought might be able to take on a role similar to that of former Wildcat and current Green Bay Packers receiver Randall Cobb.
Kentucky is already thin at the receiver position, so losing Sweat and Cobbins hurts depth at the position. That could be big for UK as new offensive coordinator Neal Brown is going to have his team throwing the ball. The Wildcats will need the other returnees to step up, as well as some of the recruits that are coming to campus this fall. Blaylock missed all of last season with a leg injury, while Wright was redshirted.
With any coaching change, there is going to be turnover and that’s likely what’s going on here, although Sweat and Cobbins have also reportedly had issues in the classroom as well.
Mark Stoops and his staff hope to improve the talent level at Kentucky, and their initial recruiting class will be an upgrade this fall. Stoops and Brown need for some of the new players to step in immediately, especially at receiver, now that Sweat and Cobbins will not be returning.
