Sophomore receiver Lynn Bowden continues to show coaches and teammates he could be the home-run hitter the University of Kentucky offense lacked last season.
“He is just a tremendous athlete. He is a junkie. He likes playing ball. When you have that, now it is refining it and being the type of receiver you need to be to win at this level,” new UK receivers coach Michael Smith said. “But as far as football junkie, he loves playing football and that’s awesome for us.”
Teammate Isaiah Epps calls him a “freak athlete” who can be a dominant player. Epps said the progress Bowden, a quarterback in high school, made in his first year at receiver was amazing.
“Just his athleticism, I think he could mold to just about any position on the field. He can go. I think he’ll be great this year,” Epps said.
He was perhaps the best high school player in Ohio in 2016 when he had 2,277 yards rushing and 1,366 yards passing and accounted for 57 touchdowns for Warren Harding High School.
He didn’t score a touchdown at UK in 2017. The 6-1, 195-pound Bowden did average 23.5 yards per kick return, seventh best in the SEC, and had a 93-yard kickoff return against Vanderbilt. He was 3-for-4 passing for 92 yards and caught 17 passes for 210 yards.
For most players, those would be acceptable numbers. For a player that had never lifted weights, never played wide receiver and only got on campus a week after preseason practice started because of some academic issues, the numbers would be outstanding. But Bowden came to UK with huge expectations.
“I learned everything is not easy,” Bowden said. “I wasn’t here last spring like some guys. I wasn’t even here in the summer like everyone else. But I’ve learned to go harder every day.”
He admits becoming a father has motivated him to work even harder.
“I want to be able to support my son. I don’t want him to go through what I did when I was younger,” Bowden said. “I want to be the best leader and best person I can be for this team.”
Could this be a breakout year for him?
“I hope it is for me and the team but I want it to be bigger than me. I want to go the next step. We went 7-5 last year. I don’t think nobody came here to be 7-5. We want to win more,” he said.
Recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow said when Bowden signed he was a “rare” talent and compared him to some of the best players he’s ever seen play. The coach believes UK fans will see a lot more from Bowden starting with the Blue-White Game on April 13.
“He’s the guy now. He is not alternating with anybody. He was behind a good player last year in Garrett Johnson, a veteran guy,” Marrow said. “But he can make spectacular catches. Big Blue Nation is going to see a lot.
“Lynn never lifted weights in high school. He probably never ate right. He is almost 200 pounds now and is muscular. He is going to be dangerous. He is strong, explosive. He looks tougher. Last year it was just ability. Now he is doing all the right things. He’s that good.”
Marrow expects him to be UK’s go-to guy on offense and says Bowden “will get the ball some kind of way” often to take advantage of his playmaking skills.
“I think he will be a better kick returner. He could be a great punt returner. The key is he has experience now playing receiver along with that ability he already had. It’s going to be exciting to see. It really is,” Marrow said.
Bowden knows he learned a lot — and still has more to learn.
“I don’t know what is in the bag for me. I will try for everything I can to help this team,” he said. “I just know I am going to be a better player for a lot of reasons and that there’s no reason I shouldn’t do a lot more to help this team than I did last year.”
(STORY BY LARRY VAUGHT)
