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Louisville native J.J. Weaver among Kentucky football 2020 breakout candidates

LEXINGTON – It did not take an expert to predict Lynn Bowden was going to be an important player for Kentucky football a year ago.

But what about Yusuf Corker, who went from eight tackles in 2018 to a team-high 74 stops in 2019? Or Ahmad Wagner, who did not catch a single pass in his first season at UK in 2018 then emerged as the Wildcat’s best receiver (non-Bowden category) in 2019? Or running backs Kavoisey Smoke and Chris Rodriguez, who combined for four carries in 2018 and 12 touchdowns in 2019?

Every year a group of returning players take big leaps, either from obscurity to competence or from backup roles to stardom.