{"id":221409,"date":"2025-07-20T06:51:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T06:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/221409\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T06:51:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T06:51:10","slug":"zach-calzada-brings-elite-arm-strength-to-kentucky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/221409\/","title":{"rendered":"Zach Calzada Brings Elite Arm Strength to Kentucky"},"content":{"rendered":"

It feels like Zach Calzada<\/a> will be the starting quarterback for the Kentucky Wildcats in 2025, even if Mark Stoops isn\u2019t quite willing to say it explicitly. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the fact that we had a local young quarterback on campus that we certainly feel is the future. When that time is, I\u2019m not sure. Whether it\u2019s next week, two weeks, three weeks, next season, next year, I\u2019m not sure,\u201d Stoops said in the Main Media room at SEC Media Days<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith Zach, it definitely played a factor. He won big games in the SEC. Has a ton of experience under his belt. Has a chip on his shoulder. Wants to come back and prove that. I\u2019m excited about Zach.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear there is a strong belief in Cutter Boley<\/a>. In the meantime, Kentucky trusts Zach Calzada\u2019s experience. When you ask anybody about Calzada, that\u2019s exactly what they mention, and not much more about the 25-year-old entering his seventh season of college football.<\/p>\n

What they fail to mention is that the old guy has a cannon. <\/p>\n

KSR\u2019s Adam Luckett was able to peel back a layer in that topic of conversation by asking Josh Kattus<\/a> who throws a harder football, Calzada or Will Levis<\/a>, the quarterback when Kattus arrived on campus in 2022. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the closest \u2014 I don\u2019t even know,\u201d said Kattus<\/a>. \u201cLevis effortlessly; you\u2019d be warming up with him, he\u2019d just kind of nonchalantly zoom it right at your face. Zach does the same thing. Willie Rodriguez<\/a> came off the field yesterday and a ball went by his head, and he said, \u2018I just heard it whistle right by my head. It made a sound.\u2019 I can\u2019t give you an answer, but they both throw similar passes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will Levis\u2019 rocket arm made headlines at the NFL Draft Combine. That\u2019s exactly how Kattus described Calzada. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe has an NFL arm. When he wants to, he throws rockets, but you got to catch \u2019em. I think he\u2019s very friendly to the tight end, so I\u2019m excited about that this season,\u201d said the tight end. <\/p>\n

Finding the right touch may be a problem at times for Calzada, but you\u2019re never going to have to worry about arm strength. <\/p>\n

More Kentucky News and Views on the KSR YouTube Channel<\/p>\n

Kentucky Sports Radio has expanded its coverage of the Wildcats in the most ridiculous manner possible on our YouTube Channel. Here you will be able to find interviews with coaches and players, as well as commentary from the KSR crew. From Rapid Reactions following big events to our lengthy lineup of live shows, subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel<\/a> to stay up to date on everything happening around the Big Blue Nation. <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It feels like Zach Calzada will be the starting quarterback for the Kentucky Wildcats in 2025, even if…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[7,42162,24820,40413],"class_list":{"0":"post-221409","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-josh-kattus-22-archbishop-moeller","10":"tag-will-levis-18-xavier","11":"tag-zach-calzada-19-lanier"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114884240034688833","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}