The Kentucky safety room has quietly stacked up some quality recruiting wins over the last three cycles. Cam Dooley and Martels Carter Jr. were each blue-chip prospects with multiple other SEC options. Dyllon Williams flipped from Missouri to Kentucky.

Messiah Tilson has joined that group.

The Cats recorded a rare recruiting win in Illinois on Monday evening when the three-star defensive back committed to the Wildcats over Iowa, Minnesota, Rutgers, and Wisconsin.

What is Kentucky adding in the top-500 recruit? Messiah Tilson is a hard-hitting defensive with range to pursue from sideline-to-sideline. This is a true safety prospect.

Range and physicality

Messiah Tilson stands out as a tall safety on tape with long arms and the ability to do multiple things in a defensive construct. The Rockford (Ill.) Guilford star has the speed to pursue and cover ground in coverage.

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Tilson also can deliver a blow once he arrives.

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Tilson is a tall safety prospect with sideline-to-sideline range who can run the alley and shows a good feel in coverage. On the interception (clip No. 3), the defensive back peels off his assignment and find his way to the football to win in a tip drill scenario. When it comes time for contact, the 2026 prospect is a collision player who stones ballcarriers with a physical right shoulder dip tackle.

There is plenty to like on tape. The speed and ball skills also show up on offense.

A balanced skill set

Kentucky’s pursuit of Messiah Tilson remained quiet throughout the recruiting process but the Cats were able to make a big push when the prospect took his official visit in June. That led to a recruiting win in Big Ten country.

This one was notable for Kentucky.

When you took a closer look at the safety board, there were not a lot of names out there. This was not a huge position of need for the program but it is room where the program has not needed to go portal-heavy. To prevent that from happening moving forward, you must consistently address the position year-over-year in high school recruiting.

Messiah Tilson gives UK a solid prospect at the position.

The defensive back brings positional size, range, and physicality to the position. There could be an immediate spot for him on the field in year one due to the special teams value he will provide. Tilson is yet another quality young prospect that this program has added at safety.

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