Tennessee football vs. Kentucky: Five Wildcats to watch

6’2″ 292 pounds; Hometown: Versailles, Ky.

There are multiple offensive linemen for the Kentucky Wildcats who could have made this list. Landon Young was first-team All-SEC tackle in the preseason. Darian Kinnard was a second-team All-SEC tackle. Both have done a great job allowing the offense to get creative on the ground, which is why it’s the No. 1 rushing attack in the SEC.

However, with such reliance on a mobile quarterback and a three-headed monster of rushers in the backfield, center Drake Jackson is the most important player of the group. Like Young, he was a first-team All-SEC preseason lineman, and he’s probably the best center in the SEC. There’s a reason he was just named a candidate for the 2020 Rimington Trophy.

So far this season, Jackson hasn’t allowed a sack or a quarterback hurry, and he has had 18 knockdowns in 212 plays. By every stretch of the imagination, he’s been difficult to handle and one of the best blockers in the nation, and he will do everything he can to try to establish the run game for the Wildcats on Saturday.

As a result, Tennessee football will have to be prepared. The Vols’ defensive line actually played pretty well against the Georgia Bulldogs, but it had some issues the weeks before that. If it looks like it did against the Missouri Tigers, where it did not get the push it needed a lot of times, Jackson could pave the way for a dominant rushing attack.