A new start for UK’s secondary: After saying no to the NFL Draft Lindley is the only guarantee

Rising senior cornerback Trevard Lindley may be a member of the UK football secondary, but his performance last season was second to none. He was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection by both the coaches and writers last year, and was voted team MVP by his fellow players.

After the season, Lindley was one of three defensive stars for UK who pondered the NFL. He was projected as a second or third round pick in the draft. During Friday’s SEC football teleconference, UK head coach Rich Brooks said he advised Lindley to turn pro. Despite that, Lindley decided to return for his senior season, saying the decision was his.

Lindley, a cover corner who has started all three seasons at UK, said he’ll have to become more effective against the run and improve his tackling to take his game to the next level and possibly become a first round draft pick.

Rising senior Trevard Lindley returned for his senior season hoping to improve his draft stock. Photo by Kristin Sherrard | Staff

“I can get more physical and just tackle better,” Lindley said. “Hopefully I’ll get bigger. That’s my goal, is to tackle better and be more physical.”

Outside of Lindley’s spot at cornerback, there is competition for the other positions in the secondary. Marcus McClinton, who had been a staple at free safety, is now gone. So is cornerback David Jones, who started opposite Lindley during last season. A pair of Cats split starts at strong safety last year, and both return in 2009.

Rising senior Calvin Harrison entered spring practice as the starter at McClinton’s free safety spot and players have praised him for his performance so far. But rising sophomore Taiedo Smith has also earned rave reviews for his athleticism, and he’ll likely find his way on the field at one place or another in the secondary.

Paul Warford, a rising junior cornerback, redshirted last year and was expected to compete for a starting job, but has missed much of spring practice with a foot injury.

­With nine career starts at strong safety, rising senior Ashton Cobb has returned to the team after off-field issues forced him to miss time in the fall. Rising sophomore Matt Lentz could also compete for the job.

“We’ve got a lot of young cats, but they’ve got a lot of potential and they’re doing really good right now,” Cobb said. “I think the sky’s the limit. Each year, we get better so who knows what’s going to happen.”

Cobb and Lindley cited rising sophomore Winston Guy and redshirt freshman Cartier Rice as players who have been particularly impressive during spring workouts. Regardless of who wins the starting jobs, Lindley is likely to leave the secondary much better than he found it when he arrived in 2005.

“We’ve got a lot of depth, it’s just that half the guys are freshman and young guys,” Lindley said. “We’ve just got to get them out on the practice field and see what the flow of the game is. When I came in, they just got off probation. We’ve got more guys and they’re a lot better.”