Jager Burton
Offensive coordinator Liam Coen was not overjoyed with how spring practice went for his unit Tuesday. However, he still could not hide his excitement over how true freshman Jager Burton, the 2020 Paul Hornung Award winner given to the state’s top player, is progressing.
“Really excited about Jager. He has done some nice things,” Coen said. “He has athleticism. He can get out on the perimeter and run. He’s really an athletic kid and can really move in space.
“He is a little lighter than some of these other guys but he has big-time potential and I am really excited about him moving forward.”
All-American tackle Darian Kinnard believes Burton, like most young linemen, has some technical issues to correct.
“He’s a good athlete and has good speed,” Kinnard said. “Me and (Luke) Fortner and some older guys are going to get him coached up and he will be a great player in the future.”
Burton is working at both left guard and right guard where UK returns experienced players in Fortner, Kenneth Horsey, and Austin Dotson.
Before spring practice started Burton said he knew the experience would be “extremely beneficial” to him.
“Starting from square one (in a new offense) with all the other offensive linemen is kind of nice,” he said.
He also knew practice would help “accelerate” his learning of Coen’s playbook while he learned from players with more experience.
Burton said Kinnard has already taught him that the “biggest thing is that football IQ” is the most important attribute.
“Kinnard has physical ability and football IQ,” Burton said.
Coen, though, says there is “no question” Burton can play and help the team this season.
“He has to get more developed but there is no question about his ability to play this year,” the UK offensive coordinator said.
