Kentucky needed another tight end and Izayah Cummings offered to make the move

Isaiah Cummings could be a needed athletic tight end for UK. (Twitter Photo)

Once tight end Keaton Upshaw went down with a preseason injury that will likely keep him from playing in 2021, receiver Izayah Cummings of Louisville offered to move to tight end — a move that coach Mark Stoops and his staff decided to make.

“Obviously he was always a tweener. He’s a very big, athletic guy, and we have a need in — really if you look at it and you watch football at the next level, they love the athletic tight ends,” Stoops said.

“There’s always the in-line guys, the physical guys, the guys that can do everything, but the super-athletic tight ends that can get open and are tough mismatches are getting more and more valuable, so we have to find the right way to use him.”

Kentucky was counting on Upshaw to be that guy in offensive coordinator Liam Coen’s new system.

“Keaton has worked so hard, and we were really looking forward to having him certainly with this offense and having tight ends and needing tight ends. Just the way we practice, it’s hard on that position. You need to be very deep,” Stoops said.

“We’re physical, we want to be physical, and we want to be balanced, but those guys take a lot of — it’s hard on them. They’re sitting in there trying to block big dudes and getting hit in the pass game, as well, and all that.

“So they take a pretty good beating at times during practice, and the wear and tear get pretty heavy, so you really feel like you want some depth there.”