When freshman outside linebacker Steven Soles arrived at Kentucky, the one attribute it was clear he had enough of was confidence.
Despite being ranked 20th among Kentucky’s class of 2024 signees by the 247Sports Composite, Soles promoted himself on social media like he was a can’t miss blue chip prospect.
“I am him. I am #SackEmSoles,” he wrote as the caption to multiple tweets documenting his recruiting process.
Four games into his college career, it’s becoming easier to see why Soles was so confident in his future.
“He’s relentless,” UK coach Mark Stoops said of Soles on his radio show Monday. “He plays extremely fast. We can be multiple with him. We can drop him (in pass coverage), we can do a lot of different things. He’s very athletic and he plays extremely hard.”
As a senior at Powell High School just north of Knoxville, Tennessee, Soles was credited with 66 tackles, eight tackles for loss, seven sacks and 38 quarterback hurries. He also grabbed one interception, recovered one fumble and blocked two kicks.
But recruiting analysts saw his 6-foot-2, 225-pound frame and wondered if that production would translate as an edge rusher at the highest level of college football. Soles is the shortest of UK’s scholarship outside linebackers. He’s 3 inches shorter than the starter at his position, J.J. Weaver.
Outside linebacker Steven Soles (35) was rated as a three-star prospect as a senior at Powell High School in Tennessee. Ryan C. Hermens/rhermens@herald-leader.com
In the same way Kentucky once integrated Josh Paschal into a veteran defense as a freshman by using him in pass-rushing situations, Soles has been immediately inserted into the game plan in third-and-long packages. Against South Carolina, Soles recorded his first sack.
He turned heads against Ohio on Saturday when he managed to work his way around the entire Bobcats offensive line to deliver a bone-crushing hit just as a pass was thrown. On the first-quarter, third-and-8 play, Soles was initially matched up against Ohio’s right tackle. After he was pushed toward the middle of the field, Soles blew past the tackle still trailing him and sprinted upfield past the left side of the pocket that had formed around quarterback Nick Poulos.
By the time Poulos, who had scrambled to that side of the field looked up to find a receiver, Soles was already in his face. Poulos’ pass bounced just a few feet away as Soles drove him to the ground.
“He rushes violently, and it affects the pocket quickly,” defensive coordinator Brad White said before the game. “That’s a big deal. If you’re a quarterback and you feel early in your drop that the pocket is getting shaken, especially from an edge or quickly up through the B gap on an up-and-under stunt, it throws the timing and rhythm off of routes.”
Soles told reporters after the Ohio game even he has been surprised by the amount he has played early in his freshman season, but Stoops has embraced using first-year players on special teams and other specific packages in an era where worrying about preserving a redshirt so a player will have a fifth college season he is unlikely to still be on campus for due to the transfer portal no longer seems prudent.
Paschal finished his freshman season with 17 tackles, 4 1/2 tackles for loss, 3 1/2 sacks, three quarterback hurries and one blocked kick in a similar role. It would not have been a surprise to learn Kentucky was considering using one of its freshmen like Paschal this season, but much of the preseason speculation about that role centered on four-star prospects Jerod Smith and Brian Robinson.
Instead, it was the three-star Soles being utilized as a pass-rushing specialist.
Soles committed to Kentucky over reported scholarship offers from Alabama, Virginia Tech, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Miami and others, but it is unclear how many of those other offers were still committable by the time he picked Kentucky in August 2023.
“I don’t really pay attention to my size or what people said about my size,” Soles said. “I just go hard and play 100% every time.”
To overcome some of the disadvantage of being a smaller edge rusher, Soles has put in extra work to study the offensive tackles he will be matched against. Combining a knowledge of his own strengths and weaknesses with those of the opponent’s linemen can present more opportunities to get into the backfield.
The “Sack ‘Em Soles” nickname has followed Soles to college, too. It is a moniker given him by his father, Steven Soles Sr., early in his high school career.
One sack and one quarterback hurry will not cement Soles as an elite pass rusher in college, but his role is only likely to grow in the weeks ahead, including this week at No. 6 Ole Miss.
“I love Soles and the way he plays,” Stoops said. “He’s relentless. I just love his energy. He’s just a good, young player.”
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