Where Kentucky football offensive line stands after two important return announcements
Kentucky football’s offensive line gained some much needed stability heading into the offseason Tuesday.
Left tackle Marques Cox and center Eli Cox announced they would return to UK for the 2023 season. Both players were listed as seniors on UK’s 2023 roster, but Eli Cox will use the extra year of eligibility granted all players in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic to return and Marques Cox will presumably use a medical waiver for a seventh season of college football.
A former West Jessamine High School standout, Eli Cox has appeared in 43 games across five seasons at Kentucky. He has started every game the last two seasons and the first nine games of the 2021 season before suffering a season-ending hand injury.
Eli Cox was a midseason All-America at right guard in 2021 but moved to center in 2022. UK coaches moved him back to right guard to open the 2023 season, but with sophomore Jager Burton struggling at center early in the season, he moved back to center in week four.
Marques Cox joined Kentucky as a transfer from Northern Illinois last season, immediately sliding into the starting lineup at left tackle. He was considered Kentucky’s best offensive lineman in 2023, helping provide stability at a position that struggled in 2022 because guard Kenneth Horsey was forced to play out of position there due to injuries.
With Marques and Eli back, Kentucky should return four starters on the offensive line. The Wildcats will lose right tackle Jeremy Flax and left guard Kenneth Horsey, who missed most of the 2023 season due to injury and announced Wednesday he would not play in UK’s bowl game as he prepares for the NFL draft, as both have exhausted their eligibility. Burton, who moved to right guard after Eli Cox moved back to center, and former West Virginia transfer Dylan Ray, who started games at both guard positions and can play tackle, are also expected to return.
Backup guard Tanner Bowles and backup tackle Courtland Ford have eligibility remaining. Former Ohio State transfer Ben Christman, a guard who missed the 2023 season with injury, could contribute if healthy next season. Sophomore Paul Rodriguez was listed as the backup left guard all season on UK’s depth chart but played primarily on the field goal unit.
Center Koby Keenum, guard Austin Ramsey and tackle Malachi Wood redshirted during their first season on campus in 2023. Former four-star guard Grant Bingham, a Johnson Central graduate who played just two games in 2023 before suffering an injury, announced he was entering the transfer portal Tuesday.
Kentucky is also expected to look for more contributors on the offensive line in the transfer portal.
“We’re still building up front on the offensive line,” UK coach Mark Stoops said Monday on his weekly radio show.
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