Why Kentucky football's Martels Carter will stay on offense in 2026

LEXINGTON — Martels Carter Jr. joined the Kentucky football program as a defensive back. In fact, he’s still listed as such on the roster included on the Wildcats‘ official website.

After a rash of injuries hit the running back room during the spring, however, Carter shifted to the backfield.

So, despite what the roster might display as of Monday, Aug. 3, UK coach Will Stein says Carter now is a full-time member of the offense.

Joe Sloan couldn’t be more pleased.

“He’s an extremely athletic guy, but he can do a lot of things on a football field,” Sloan, Kentucky‘s offensive coordinator, said during the program’s media day Monday. “I think you can see he’s got great eye-hand coordination, great balance, good twitch and then he’s physical. And I think that obviously comes with starting out as a defensive player right in college, so I think you see that.”

While he understood the decision, defensive coordinator Jay Bateman hated losing Carter to his counterpart. After Carter began taking running back reps this spring, Bateman joked with him.

“‘That’s what you get for looking so good in those return drills,'” said Bateman, referring to Carter seeing time at punt returner. “But Martels is a really good player. We’ve got to have a good plan for him. I think he’ll help us on offense.”

Sloan couldn’t agree more. Especially since Carter isn’t splitting time anymore.

“Now it’s about a daily focus. Now you’re no longer a defensive guy who got tossed over there,” Sloan said. “Right now it’s about the daily focus of all the little things he needs to do, and that’s what I want to see from him this August. You’ve got to show up every day, and now it’s got to be all the details, all the little things.

“And those have got to add up so that you can go make plays, because he obviously has a skill set that’s really nice for that position.”

Sloan believed that despite Carter rarely playing running back in high school. While he was a two-way star at Tilghman High in Paducah, Carter primarily lined up at receiver. He logged 12 carries for 122 yards and a touchdown as a running back.

Given the physical toll on running backs, Sloan is thankful he has another one in his arsenal.

“Running back, it’s a violent position, right? So, that’s going to be a position where you’re going to play multiple players,” he said. “There are some positions where you can go most of the year, and you know somebody’s going to get 90% of the snaps. That’s just not the case at running back.

“I think it’s a really great opportunity for him, too. And I think he saw that.”

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Why Kentucky football’s Martels Carter will stay on offense in 2026