Sam Greene can be ‘tone-setter’ for Kentucky’s defense

USC EDGE transfer Sam Greene became Kentucky’s first of many transfer portal commitments in the offseason when the DMV native committed to the Cats on Dec. 14 just one week after entering free agency. The former top-500 recruit did not wait long to make a splash in Lexington.

The redshirt sophomore with three years of eligibility remaining enrolled in classes at UK for the spring semester and was seen running with the ones during open practices last week. It’s clear that Greene is expected to play a big role on Kentucky’s defense this year both on the field and in the facility.

“He brings that tough, rugged physicality. A guy that I had that he’s very similar mentality wise in Indianapolis in Erik Walden. He reminds me a lot of that,” Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White said on Thursday. “He’s sort of a tone setter with that physicality and that strength. He’s strong as an ox but he’s an unbelievable teammate, worker. He walks in and he’s got an infectious smile.”

Walden is not a bad comp for Greene. The former sixth-round pick out of Middle Tennessee spent a decade in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers in 2010. Walden recorded 11 sacks in 2016 with the Indianapolis Colts when White was his position coach. Greene will look to have a similar impact on the field but he’s also helping Kentucky in the process of coalescing as this program breaks in 50 new players.

Kentucky’s defensive coordinator points out that folks back at his high school (St. Frances Academy in Baltimore) talked glowingly about Sam Greene as a person and that you can never tell that he has a bad day. UK’s new starter at Jack linebacker always brings good energy to the building with a smile on his face. That should help as Kentucky looks to eliminate the sour taste from last year’s highly disappointing 4-8 campaign.

The new outside linebacker is making a true two-way impact for this football team by being a tone-setter on and off the field.

Luckett’s Scouting Notebook: Sam Greene

Over at KSR+, I put together scouting write-ups on each of Kentucky’s transfer additions from the offseason after watching film and collecting data. This is my breakdown of Sam Greene.

A 3-4 outside linebacker with three years of eligibility remaining. Greene recorded 16 tackles, three tackles for loss, and one sack in 205 defensive snaps as a redshirt freshman at USC. Undersized outside linebacker who shows the ability to get under the pads of tackles in pass rush reps. Plays with good physicality in his rush but needs to develop a primary move outside of a power bull rush to produce more consistent wins. Owns the base to be a sturdy run defender who can set hard edges.

Projects to play the Jack linebacker position in Kentucky’s 3-4 scheme. There are some length concerns but the blend of power and high effort level on tape gives the front seven defender a high floor.

Luckett’s Scouting Notebook: What Kentucky added to roster via the transfer portal