Depth Chart Update: Chris Rodriguez Back at Running Back

The star senior is set to make his return on Saturday in Oxford against Ole Miss

No. 7 Kentucky has released its week five depth chart ahead of Saturday's upcoming ranked-tilt in Oxford against No. 14 Ole Miss: 

The big news of the week for the Wildcats is the return of running back Chris Rodriguez Jr, who finally returns after missing the first four games of the season. 

Rodriguez pled guilty to a DUI charge in July, and rumors have also circulated surrounding an "off-the-field" issue that coincided with him not seeing the field for the first few games of the season. Reports revealed that an investigation was launched by the University of Kentucky in February, looking into players on the Kentucky football team for allegedly filing inaccurate time cards while working under UK HealthCare. The names of the players were redacted. 

On Sept. 12, Stoops announced that the senior would make his return on Oct. 1 against Ole Miss, ultimately ending his hiatus/suspension at four games.

Today, Stoops had this to say about welcoming his star RB back to the field: 

"For Chris, it was a mattering of managing him while he was out...for Chris, he just needs to be himself, he doesn't need to come in and be our savior. We just need him to be him."

Rodriguez is listed in the starting spot along with Kavosiey Smoke, who has started the first four games of the season for UK. The workload may be split fairly even this weekend against Ole Miss. 

Running back JuTahn McClain is also listed on the depth chart once again after making his return to the field last weekend against Northern Illinois. The junior went down with an injury in the season-opener against Miami (OH) and missed the next two games. He is listed as the No. 3 back behind Rodriguez and Smoke.

Outside linebacker J.J. Weaver is missing from the depth chart for the second week in a row after suffering a left arm injury early in the 31-0 win over Youngstown State in week three. Stoops listed Weaver as "week-to-week," but said on Monday that it didn't look good for the team captain seeing the field against Ole Miss. Freshman Alex Afari remains the starter at the outside linebacker. 

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