Darian Kinnard, left, blocks teammate Abule Abadi-Fitzgerald. (UK Athletics Photo)
One of the big reasons that All-American right tackle Darian Kinnard did not leave Kentucky after his junior season for the NFL was because of feedback he got from NFL evaluations.
“One of the big factors when he was deciding whether to stay at UK or go to the NFL was he was told he needed to get back to left tackle so he would have more film there to increase his draft stock,” Kinnard’s mother, Mandy Rae Headrick, said.
Kinnard had played left tackle all through high school and played in nine games as a true freshman at UK in 2018. He started two of the final three games at left tackle and was credited with 16 blocks at the point of attack in the romp over Louisville.
When Landon Young returned from his knee injury in 2109, Kinnard moved to right tackle and earned All-American honors there last season. With Young now in the NFL, Kinnard moved back to left tackle for spring practice and stayed there until last week when he went back to right tackle and LSU transfer Dare Rosenthal moved to left tackle.
“There was a week where (NFL) scouts and assistant general managers were coming through and he was informed that they wanted to see him at right tackle,” Headrick said. “They were excited to see him at left tackle but wanted to see more of him at right tackle. He had a couple of days to decide what to do but made the move back to right tackle for the team. He also felt like if that’s what they (NFL personnel) wanted to see it probably was best for him.”
His mother said he has played in big games and started at left tackle but the move back there was still different.
“It is sort of hard to learn to dance in reverse from left to right,” she said. “He had struggled with the decision to even move to left tackle but felt it was actually going easier than he thought it would. He also felt the perception had been that he would be locked into a guard or right tackle long term (in the NFL) and he wanted to show his versatility.
“He is disappointed that the move didn’t work for personal reasons that he tends to internalize but he also has the mentality that whatever is best for the team is what he wants to do. Also rather than make his last year, which is really his contract year, more challenging than it needs to be, the move back to left tackle made sense.
“Either way, he has blessings on blessings and if this is the worst thing he is conflicted about, then it is a pretty good situation for him.”
