Max Duffy named to first team, Drake Jackson and Darian Kinnard on second-team offense
LEXINGTON, Ky. – July 24, 2020
Add another preseason accolade to the list for senior punter Max Duffy, senior center Drake Jackson and junior offensive tackle Darian Kinnard as they have been named to the 2020 preseason All-America team by Athlon Sports.
Duffy, a native of Perth, Australia, was named a first-team specialist after an impressive 2019 season. Kentucky led the nation in net punting with a 44.55-yard net average and Duffy led the nation in punting at 48.10 yards per punt. He won the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s top punter and was named a first-team All-American by the AP, Sporting News, ESPN, FWAA, Walter Camp, AFCA Coaches’, The Athletic, USA Today, Phil Steele and Athlon Sports. He is UK’s career punt leader with a 46.3-yard average.
He also has earned 2020 preseason first-team All-America accolades by Phil Steele, Sporting News and Walter Camp and preseason first-team All-SEC honors by Phil Steele and Athlon Sports.
Jackson, a native of Versailles, Kentucky, was named to the second-team offense by Athlon after starting at center in all 13 games last season. He now has a team-high 33 consecutive starts as the anchor of Kentucky’s offensive line, the “Big Blue Wall.” He was also named to the 2020 preseason first-team All-SEC teams by Athlon Sports and Phil Steele.
Kinnard, of Knoxville, Tennessee, started in all 13 games at right tackle last season. He was named to the second-team offense after finishing with 32 knockdowns and just one penalty in 706 snaps. Kinnard was a key cog in last year’s offensive line who helped UK put together its fourth consecutive season of 2,000 or more rushing yards. The Wildcats did it again in 2019 despite missing three departed starting linemen from the previous season, the school’s all-time leading rusher in Benny Snell Jr., and all three top quarterbacks becoming injured – two were out for the season – and Lynn Bowden Jr., the starting QB for the final eight games of 2019, was a converted wide receiver.
Kinnard has also been named a preseason fourth-team All-American by Phil Steele and a first-team All-SEC selection by Phil Steele and Athlon Sports.
