[Stardust]

LEXINGTON, KY. — Marcus Caffey’s conversion from running back to cornerback for the University of Kentucky football team couldn’t be going any better, it seems. After breaking up several deep passes in last Saturday’s scrimmage, Caffey intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown Friday in the Wildcats’ 11th of 15 spring practices.

“It was one of the biggest plays that I’ve seen made here on defense,” coach Joker Phillips said. “I was excited to see that. The guy has unbelievable talent.”

That’s obvious, considering Caffey was a running back for Kentucky last fall, during his redshirt season. Now, in fewer than a dozen practices at corner, Caffey appears to have already locked up a starting job.

Caffey was rated a top-40 running back nationally coming out of high school, but Phillips said the Cats’ staff is not surprised by his smooth transition.

“We were recruiting him as a corner,” Phillips said. “Marcus Caffey was a guy that wanted to play running back, wanted to give it a chance, give it a shot. But we all thought he was a cornerback. It was convincing him that corners nowadays are more high-profile than running backs. How do you convince him? Look at the salaries at the next level. Look at the draft.”

In the last three NFL drafts, 21 cornerbacks and 16 running backs have been taken in the first two rounds. In the same span, 10 corners and seven running backs have been first-rounders. Sold on that information, Caffey has wasted no time making an impact.

Defensive coordinator Rick Minter on Friday called Caffey “your prototypical corner.”

“Once we were able to convince him … it was definitely a natural position for him,” Phillips said. “So now we’ve got a 205-pound, 6-foot-1, long-arm cornerback that everybody’s playing with in this league. We think he’ll be a big-time player here.http://www.courier-journal.com/article/2...t|Sports|p