How Kentucky's Other QB Options are Performing this Spring

The early days of the Will Stein era at Kentucky were filled with drama surrounding the quarterback position, and it ultimately produced a surprising result.

Cutter Boley broke multiple Kentucky freshman passing records and was named Freshman All-SEC after starting in ten games for the Wildcats. He tallied 2,160 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions on 7.2 yards per attempt. Many around Big Blue Nation were excited to see the Kentucky native’s development under a coach like Stein, but the day before the transfer portal opened, Boley revealed that he was entering free agency.

Kentucky quickly pivoted and took a big swing at Sam Leavitt. The top-ranked player in the transfer portal visited Lexington just hours after the portal opened. The Cats clearly had a shot, but landing Leavitt would have taken a big bite out of the Wildcats’ roster-building budget. As he planned more visits and drew out the process, Kentucky moved on, surprising many by flipping Kenny Minchey from Nebraska around 24 hours after committing to the Huskers.

Stein and Joe Sloan seemingly had three quarterback options for their first team. Minchey has drawn rave reviews in spring practice. It’s too early to declare if Kentucky made the right or wrong move, but we can at least pull a Bush Hamdan and take a look at how the others are performing this spring.

Sam Leavitt is Out

LSU fans entered a bit of a frenzy when Leavitt shared a photo of his foot wrapped up in an Instagram story with the caption,  “Small step back for a bigger one forward!! Let’s GEAUX!!” Leavitt underwent surgery earlier this week. That’s not exactly what folks in Baton Rouge wanted to hear.

After a brief panic attack in the Boot, Leavitt clarified that the surgery was not for a new injury. He broke his foot last fall. The quarterback needed surgery to remove the pins that were placed in his foot during his time at Arizona State. Lane Kiffin shared that Leavitt’s time at spring ball has ended while he crutches around Louisiana.

Arizona State fans want more Clean Football from Cutter Boley

Kentucky fans are well aware of the flash the Cutter Boley brings to the table, as well as his costly mistakes. That seems to be the same story from Tempe during spring practice.

During Saturday’s scrimmage, Boley led a few promising drives, then threw an interception before their two-minute period. He took a sack on the second snap of the two-minute drill, and then took another with 39 seconds on the clock, forcing him to heave one to the end zone on fourth down. That sounds familiar.

Once again, passing judgment now would be foolish. We have a decent idea of how others have performed so far. Kentucky fans will finally get to see Kenny Minchey in action next Saturday in the Blue-White Game.