"It's great experience for us to have them all back. It drastically changed our look for this year," Peters said. "If those three guys leave, we are basically going to have to rebuild our defense.
"You are looking at three guys that are anchors of the defense. Trevard anchors the secondary, Micah anchors the linebackers and Jarmon anchors the line. If you lose the three anchors, you would need all new leadership and that's a tough task for younger guys to fill."
With the three returning, Peters knows the defense starts at a far higher level than it would have without them.
"I feel more comfortable with guys that I know what they are doing. I know what to expect from them. I have been playing next to Jarmon for three years now. I can look at Jarmon and figure out what he is thinking or going to do," Peters said.
"That is the big difference. Now we just have to get used to some different people. Spring practice will help with that."
Even with the three standouts back, Peters expects to become more of a leader for the Cats' defense this year, too.
"It is something I am looking forward to. I have accepted that challenge and know everybody in the defensive line will be looking at me to see what I am doing so I have to make sure I am going hard all the time and doing all the right things," Peters said.
"That is a little bit different, but at the end of the day, I feel it will make me better and hopefully will make our team better."
Peters knows he has one obstacle to overcome this year since he'll no longer have Myron Pryor playing beside him at the other tackle. Instead, he's counting on Ricky Lumpkin to fill that void.
"I will miss him tremendously. I live next door to Myron even outside of football. I will probably miss him more outside of football than actually on the field," Peters said.
"He is a funny guy. I could look at Myron for a good laugh at any point at any time. At a certain point, though, you have to move on. I expect Ricky Lumpkin to step in and have no drop-off."
Peters is convinced Kentucky can have a far better defense next season than it did last year.
"We just have to be mentally focused and make sure we tune in at the meeting rooms as well as the practice field all year," Peters said. "The times we got hurt the most last year were simple mental mistakes when we were out of position. If we take care of those mistakes, we will be fine."
