When Kentucky signed four top-500 recruits in the class of 2020 and beat out Tennessee and Texas in the recruitment of Octavious Oxendine, the bar was immediately raised for the future of the defensive line in Lexington. The Cats signed one of the top defensive line hauls in the country and followed it up with solid additions in both the 2021 and 2022 cycles.
Fast forward to the bye week during the 2022 season, and that five-man group is in the middle of their third year in the Kentucky football program. The Cats are coming up short of preseason expectations, but a true freshman has come in and helped change things for the defense.