How each Kentucky draft pick landed in their respective new home
Here are the thoughts from the general manager’s that selected former Wildcats during the 2024 NFL Draft.
Four former Kentucky came off the board during this weekend’s 2024 NFL Draft.
With four selections, the Cats 2023 draft class tied the 2022 class (Wan’Dale Robinson, Josh Paschal, Luke Fortner and Darian Kinnard) for the third most players go in a single draft in the Mark Stoops era and surpassed last year’s total of three draft picks (Will Levis, Chris Rodriguez and Carrington Valentine)
Kentucky had a pair of players selected in the third round Friday with cornerback Andru Phillips landing with the New York Giants with the draft’s 70th overall selection and inside linebacker Trevin Wallace going 72nd overall to the Carolina Panthers.
After the draft, tight end Brenden Bates signed with the Chicago Bears, wide receiver Tayvion Robinson signed with the Ravens and offensive lineman Jeremy Flax signed with the Minnesota Vikings.
Here’s what each of Kentucky’s four draft picks had to say about joining their respective new team and thoughts from each of the general managers and some of the head coaches who decided to select them.
Phillips, who started 12 games at outside cornerback for the Wildcats this past fall and played in all 13 including making four starts at nickel corner in 2022, heads to the Big Apple after strong Senior Bowl and NFL Combine performances.
The Giants were among the teams he took a Top 30 visit to during the pre-draft process.
“It was one of those top 30s where I went on a nice amount of them, but even after the whole process, the Giants stood out,” Phillips told the Cats’ Pause on a Zoom with Lexington media personnel. “It goes from GM down to the GA’s like the assistants. Everybody was on board, everybody knows the mission and everybody wants to get to work. When I went in there and I showed him who I am and what I can do, we fit the same goals as well as personality-wise.
“It was great people, a great organization and I can’t wait to go play for them.”
Phillips’ high upside and versatility stood out to Giants general manager Joe Schoen.
“He’s sticky. In terms of coverage, he’s around the football a lot. And watching him down in the senior Bowl on one-on-ones, he has a lot of traits and those are things we are going to work on,” Schoen said Friday. He’s in position, but he just has to finish a little bit better. But I really like the athlete, like the kid, look forward to him getting here.
“He’s got the versatility to play inside, and outside. But we have options because Flott [Cor’Dale Flott] can play inside, and outside as well. If he goes inside, Flott can go outside or vice-versa. The versatility is also attractive for all these guys with the new defense.”
With the Giants, Phillips will reunite with close friend and former Kentucky teammate Wan’Dale Robinson.
“Man, I can’t even describe it. We’ve been talking crap for so long, he even just called me,” Phillips said of teaming up with Robinson. “I can’t wait to go against a great player like him. He’s established himself in a way up there in New York, and being able to compete and just go win and get better each and every day against him. It’s going to be a great competition.”
After just three college seasons, Wallace became a third-round draft pick Friday as he, like Phillips, had strong showings at the Senior Bowl and at the NFL Combine.
Wallace was an SEC All-Freshman team selection in 2021, played in 12 games with six starts and made 54 total tackles 5.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and two interceptions in 2022 and this past season started all 12 games he played in (missed Missouri game due to injury) and logged 80 total tackles, 5.5 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble.
“Athletic freak, a guy that can run sideline to sideline, strike ball carriers, and I think his ceiling is really high,” Panthers general manager Dan Morgan said of Wallace upon selecting him with the draft’s 72nd overall pick. “I think he’s a guy that’s going to develop, keep developing and turn into a good linebacker for us.”
Wallace impressed the Panthers on a Top 30 visit to Charlotte.
“We had him in here on a 30 visit, really impressive young man, just the way he carries himself, just kind of talking to us in the room, we kind of fell in love with the kid in there,” Morgan said.
In Carolina, Wallace will share an inside linebacker room with nine-year pro and career-long Panther Shaq Thompson.
“What does it take to be how you is? When you first got to the league, what does it take? Just pick his brain,” Wallace said of joining Thompson. “He’s gonna be tired of me. He’s gonna go, hey man, you need to go off to your kids. I’ll be like nah, man, I’m trying to learn what you learned.”
Davis heads to Buffalo after a college career that started at Temple, included a stop at Vanderbilt and ended at Kentucky.
The San Francisco native set Kentucky’s single-season total touchdown record with 21 this past season. He ran for 1,129 yards and 14 scores while adding 33 catches for 323 yards and seven touchdowns in the receiving game. He earned First-Team All-SEC honors and was the National Player of the Week after rushing for 280 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Florida. He participated in both the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine.
“”We had Ray a little higher than we got him,” Bills general manager Brandon Beane said. ‘He was a guy we really had targeted . This running back was not deep at the top. It was kind of thin at the top. But we did think once you get into mid-three to five, they’re going to start going, and I think four-backs went in a row around when we picked Ray.”
During the pre-draft process, Davis hit it off with Bills running back coach Kelly Skipper and now will get the chance to play for him and along side former Georgia star and now Bills third-year pro James Cook.
“I got a chance to meet with the running back coach throughout the month of March meeting with them, learning what they got going on and I really just like coach Skip,” Davis said. “What he brings to the table as a running back coach and as a mentor, and I think being able to get around him and get in that room with James Cook and the guys, just earn my stripes. Earn my way to be able to continue to be the best person I can be on and off the field, but then just learn how to be a pro and be able to be behind a guy like James is real, real good.”
Leary played five seasons at NC State and had an outstanding 2021 season for the Wolfpack that saw him post a 35:5 touchdown/interception ratio.
He transferred to Kentucky for his final college season, where this past year he started all 13 games for the Cats and completed 56.3 percent of his passes for 2,746 yards and 25 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while adding a score on the ground.
As far as Devin [Leary] goes, I think Tee Martin (Ravens quarterback coach) does an excellent job evaluating, and he thinks he’s a natural thrower,” Ravens executive vice president and general manager Eric DeCosta said. “He thinks he’s an accurate passer. He loves the kid. He thinks he’s got the right mentality to come in and compete and improve. For me, it’s similar to how I feel about kickers. Who better to evaluate quarterbacks than a quarterbacks coach who played in the League? Who better to evaluate kickers than a kicking coach? So, I think Tee did a phenomenal job.
“He’s very, very excited about Devin, and so are we.”
Leary played in the East/West Shrine game, participated in the NFL Combine and hit it off with Martin during the pre draft process.
“I talked to Coach Martin at the Combine had an awesome conversation. Got to talk ball with him and I just remember telling him, coach, anything I could do to help this team win is why I want to be a part of the Ravens,” Leary said. “to get that call and kind of turn my whole world around. It was truly a dream come true.”
Leary will join a Ravens team fresh off a trip to the AFC Championship Game that has two-time MVP LaMar Jackson as its starting quarterback and former Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken as its offensive play caller. He is set to be the team’s third-string quarterback.
“Josh [Johnson] will be the backup quarterback, and I think Devin will develop. He’ll probably be the third quarterback this year in some way or fashion and grow into the job as we go,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said.
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