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We've gotten a little bit behind on these, and this will be part of the effort to catch up. Frankly, Kentucky probably feels a bit behind the eight-ball this year as well, given how much talent they lost off a team that just made the postseason and then fell apart once it got there. And while much of the success will depend on how Morgan Newton does in his first season as full-time starter for the Wildcats, he's not the only player who will decide just how solid the team is this year.
BIGGEST RETURN | LB Danny Trevathan
If there's a silver lining in the largely mediocre showing by Kentucky's defense in 2010, it was Trevathan. He rang up 16 tackles for loss for a squad that ranked last in the SEC in that department, ranked ninth in the country in tackles on a per-game basis (144 total) and was an All-American on a team that doesn't have a lot of those coming back. In all likelihood, the defense is going to have to pick up a lot of the slack if Kentucky is going to go very far this year; Trevathan will be one of the players that decides if they do.
BIGGEST LOSS | ATH Randall Cobb
You were expecting anyone else? Cobb has 2,974 yards and 35 TDs rushing and receiving in his three season for the Wildcats -- and that doesn't account for his 1,700 return yards. He also chipped in a couple of punt returns for TDs. Oh, and in action as a quarterback -- largely during his first season with the Cats -- he was 62-of-122 for 689 yards, 5 TDs and 5 INTs. So, yeah, the Wildcats are probably going to miss the biggest part of their offense for the last three seasons just a bit.
MOST LIKELY BREAKOUT | WR Brian Adams
This one is a little bit of a potential limb-snapper, but we'll go out there and see what happens. Adams, a centerfielder when Kentucky is playing baseball, had seven receptions for 121 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the spring game. With Cobb gone, the Wildcats are going to look for receiving help wherever they can get it, and Adams could be valuable in that regard, both given his results in the spring game and the athletic ability it takes to play centerfield.
If Adams is able to put together a decent season catching the ball, then Kentucky could have enough of an offense to keep their bowl streak intact. If not, expect to see a lot of stacked boxes from defenses across the league when UK is playing.