{"id":840684,"date":"2026-03-29T10:27:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T10:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/840684\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T10:27:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T10:27:25","slug":"offensive-line-dj-miller-emerge-during-kentucky-spring-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/840684\/","title":{"rendered":"Offensive Line, DJ Miller Emerge During Kentucky Spring Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Stoops<\/a> made it clear that he didn\u2019t want to make headlines, but that\u2019s not unusual for college football coaches, particularly during spring practice. They want players to keep their nose on the grindstone and avoid letting headlines lead to complacency. Will Stein<\/a> has changed how this Kentucky football program operates, but the new head coach is still selective in public praise. <\/p>\n

While that may be the case, Kentucky has practiced six times. Certain players are rising to the occasion during competitive practices. After practice No. 6, Will Stein highlighted the play of the offensive line and wide receiver DJ Miller<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The Strength of the Offense<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s a current strength to our offense, it\u2019s our offensive line,\u201d Stein said on Saturday<\/a>. <\/p>\n

That should be the case. Kentucky invested in upgrading the trenches in the transfer portal and the early ROI is right on the money. <\/p>\n

\u201cLance (Heard)<\/a> has done a phenomenal job; been excited about him. Obviously, Tegra (Tshabola)<\/a>, Coleton Price<\/a> is a pro. Max Anderson<\/a>\u2018s done a great job so far. I\u2019m very impressed with him. He\u2019s tough as hell. Jordan Knox<\/a>, he\u2019s one that we had committed that I\u2019m really excited about. He can play all three interior spots. He can snap it. It\u2019s the same with Max Anderson, who\u2019s got position flex,\u201d said Stein. <\/p>\n

Those are the new guys, but Stein likes what some of the returners can bring to the table. Jayden Clark<\/a> has strained after returning from an injury. It doesn\u2019t sound like Malachi Wood<\/a> is up to full strength as he recovers from an injury, but he believes both can play a role for Cutter Leftwich<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited about that group, and to see what Cutter has done with them, how they\u2019ve been gelling has been huge. Then, as we get going post-spring ball, we\u2019ll really start to hone in on who those five, six, seven, eight guys are going to be and then be able to build rotations that we need to throughout the season,\u201d said Stein. <\/p>\n

Miller Makes Plays for the Kentucky Offense<\/p>\n

Kenny Minchey<\/a> has been universally praised through two weeks of spring practice, and it feels like the Kentucky quarterback has found a reliable target. DJ Miller<\/a> is frequently featured in highlights, and his teammates have not hesitated to give him praise. All of it is earned. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m playing good, but I can always get better. Every practice I feel like I\u2019m getting better,\u201d Miller said on Saturday<\/a>. \u201cEvery practice, I make a play. That\u2019s what I\u2019m here to do. I\u2019m a big part of the offense, and I\u2019m here to make plays.\u201d <\/p>\n

He made another big one on Saturday. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe caught a really big, gotta have it touchdown today from Kenny on a two-minute drive, which I thought that was great anticipation from Kenny, great route detail by DJ,\u201d said Stein. <\/p>\n

\u201cI challenge him every single day. If you want to be a dominant player here and in the SEC and in the country, you have to practice a certain way. It\u2019s not like you can just show up on Saturdays and expect to play at the level that you want and that we want you to. So I\u2019m challenging him every single day. He\u2019s got the body, he\u2019s got the height, weight, speed, and I think he\u2019s got the mental makeup. It\u2019s just being consistent in everyday practice, so I\u2019ve been proud of him. I think he\u2019s grown a ton since we\u2019ve gotten here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller showed all of the tools during his recruitment. An injury got his career off to a slow start. Once he learned that Stein and Joe Sloan<\/a> were coming to Kentucky, he relished the opportunity to take another step forward in his development. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat receiver, what playmaker wouldn\u2019t want to be a part of that?\u201d <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mark Stoops made it clear that he didn\u2019t want to make headlines, but that\u2019s not unusual for college…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":840685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[100334,14674,7,111712,111714,54586,97042,111715,111716,41010],"class_list":{"0":"post-840684","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-coleton-price-22-bowie","9":"tag-dj-miller-25-cardinal-ritter-college-prep","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-jayden-clark-25-northmont","12":"tag-jordan-knox-23-northwestern","13":"tag-kenny-minchey-23-pope-john-paul-ii","14":"tag-lance-heard-23-neville","15":"tag-malachi-wood-23-madison-central","16":"tag-max-anderson-24-reedy","17":"tag-tegra-tshabola-22-lakota-west"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116311992589864538","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840684","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=840684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}