Entering the 2024 Louisville football season, these are the position battles to watch.
Louisville football season is rapidly approaching. L&N Stadium beer is so close to being consumed. Train horns and “Cards first down”s are just days away.
As the 2024 edition of the Cards draws nearer, coaches and players are putting the finishing touches on a productive offseason that saw a couple dozen valuable transfers enter the fold.
Along with that comes the need to learn new names, faces, and numbers and determine where each player fits into the 2024 edition of Louisville football.
With that in mind, Louisville football podcast From the Pink Seats engaged in an intriguing discussion about what position battles stand out the most as we near the first kick.
Contibutors:
Host Jacob Lane
Vince Lococo- Former UofL player and staffer
Producer Keith Arutoff- Former college football tackle
Steve Rummage- 93.9 The Ville host
We took a tally of position battles that intrigued each expert the most.
Running Backs
(Jacob, Vince, Steve, Keith)
Unanimously agreed upon by the group, running back could be the most important position battle on this 2024 edition of Louisville football.
That’s not necessarily a surprise given the attrition to last year’s backfield depth.
Louisville football was the only program in the country to have two running backs- Jawhar Jordan and Issac Guerrendo- drafted in 2024.
The staff quickly went to work, landing Toledo transfer Peny Boone in their place. However, Boone transferred immediately after spring ball, leaving a lot of question marks in the QB room.
“Unless something completely unprecedented happens, we are going to see RB3 this season,” Arutoff said.
Producer Keith’s assessment is a wise one. Running back is a position with high volatility in the modern game. With that in mind, there are 4 likely candidates to see the majority of this year’s snaps.
No. 21 Donald Chaney (Miami)
No. 4 Maurice “Mo” Turner (Junior)
No. 22 Keyjuan Brown (RS Freshman)
No. 25 Isaac Brown (True Freshman)
Chaney is a bruising back who showcased the ability to get into the second level and be a game-changer for the Hurricanes.
When I walked into an open practice in the spring, I mistook Chaney for the 6’4, 245-pound Boone because of his size and fleetness of foot.
Chaney feels like the starter right now because of his proven ability to run off guard or off-tackle with consistent production.
However, the yin to Chaney’s yang is certainly Mo Turner, a small, speedy back trying to make the most of a golden opportunity in 2024.
There’s more than enough room for both of these backs in the Cardinals backfield- perhaps even at the same time.
Turner has a burst that won him a viral foot race against Tyreek Hill in high school. But Louisville is looking for him to become an every-down guy. Last season, he often missed holes and ran into blockers. But, with improved vision it’s hard to see Turner continuing his inconsistency.
I’d love to see Turner become a receiver out of the backfield and a weapon lined up against linebackers in the slot. The key here obviously is getting Turner the ball in the open field. Because when that happens, he’s more than capable of breaking a long run.
As previously suggested, the real battle may be for that third spot and it will likely come down to two freshmen named Brown.
Keyjuan was impressive in limited snaps a year ago, utilizing a combination of strength and acceleration.
The staff seems high on true freshman Isaac Brown- a player Brohm called the fastest on the team.
During the spring and into the fall, Isaac has looked ahead of the curve for his experience level, and his speed is nothing short of electric.
For the Browns, it will be all about who can put things together quickly enough to earn the staff’s approval.
LEO Defensive End
(Jacob, Vince, Steve)
Defensive end Ashton Gillotte was tabbed as a consensus preseason All-ACC first-teamer and has made numerous preseason All-American lists- A more than deserved honor.
The bad news? Valuable EDGE Mason Reiger is out with no apparent timetable for his return. The team’s No. 2 in sacks a year ago, losing Reiger is not easy to overcome.
The good news? The staff dipped heavily into the portal to establish defensive line depth.
Here’s a look at guys who have seen significant time at the LEO spot this offseason
No. 33 Myles Jernigan (Cal)
No. 98 Adonijah Green (RS Freshman)
No. 18 TJ Capers (RS Freshman)
No. 90 Rene Konga (Rutgers)
No. 91 Richard Kinley (MTSU)
Jernigan and Konga have brought a veteran presence to the position, impressing onlookers in open practices.
Green seems primed for a step up in play after flashing quite a bit on the back half of the 2023 season. He reportedly ran quite a bit with the 1s in 11-on-11 this week.
However, Rummage feels the former 5-star, Capers could be a player that sees serious playing time as a versatile piece.
“A little birdie told me they’ve really been working with TJ (Capers) a little bit with his hand in the dirt. If he’s put on 15 (to) 30 pounds… If he’s a guy they could move (to defensive end), that could be lethal.”
Don’t sleep on Kinley, either. The Middle Tennessee transfer saw a step up in production over the last two seasons and can play multiple positions on the line.
As can Gillotte, which highlights the importance of a couple of guys stepping up to cut Louisville’s All-American loose.
If others can step up at the LEO spot, the front four has the potential to be the best in the ACC.
Free Safety
(Jacob, Vince)
Louisville football returns its two best defensive pieces from a season ago in Gillotte and corner Quincy Riley.
What many outside the program don’t realize is that the Cards may be returning the best overall player from the 2022 squad in strong safety MJ Griffin.
After a shaky start to Scott Satterfield’s final season that included bad losses to Syracuse and Boston College, Louisville football saw marked improvement after inserting Griffin into the starting lineup.
The result was one of the best defensive teams in the country in the back half of the season.
With Griffin holding down one safety spot, there should be a healthy position battle at free safety.
The battle should primarily include two players.
No. 12 Tamarion McDonald (Tennessee)
No. 27 Devin Neal (RS Senior)
Neal came into his own a season ago, but his production could be labeled as inconsistent (see: Holiday Bowl vs USC). Still, most Cards fans would likely feel comfortable with Neal seeing significant time.
McDonald, however, comes over from Tennessee after a super productive 2023.
A long, rangy, athletic, and hard-hitting safety, McDonald will likely see time at multiple positions and should be a valuable stop-gap for this secondary group.
Like competitions at Defensive End and Corner, though, whoever is at the free safety spot is likely to see a lot more balls come their way due to Griffin’s reliable, lockdown nature. With that in mind, this position battle feels crucial for the success of the defensive side.
As for what the depth could look like, it may depend on the opposition and packages that defensive coordinator Ron English throws out there.
“I have a feeling we might use that dime package a little bit more to get an extra DB on the field,” Lococo said. “Especially with none of these guys being afraid to come up and hit somebody.”
Corner opposite Quincy Riley
(Steve, Keith)
That leads to our next area of interest: Corner.
Specifically, the corner that lines up opposite star DB Quincy Riley.
Rummage pointed out that “(Louisville) went 9 quarters last season without (Riley) getting a single target.”
That means that whoever is opposite Louisville’s star defender could very well see a lot of balls come their way.
4 names will likely rotate in at that opposite corner spot and in Nickel packages.
No. 14 Corey Thornton (UCF)
No. 23 Tahveon “Taz” Nicholson (Illinois)
No. 20 Tayon Holloway (UNC)
No. 13 Aaron Williams (RS Freshman)
Working backward, Aaron Williams is a name that Louisville football fans are going to want to remember.
A member of UofL’s strong 2023 class, Williams recorded a highly impressive season during his senior year while playing the entire season on a torn ACL. No joke.
Unsurprisingly, after a redshirt year, he is getting back to full health and drawing rave reviews from coaches and onlookers.
Williams will be battling North Carolina veteran transfer Tayon Holloway for snaps. Holloway is a quality piece that is likely to be used in lots of packages.
The two guys to beat out opposite Riley are Illinois transfer Tahveon Nicholson and UCF transfer Corey Thornton.
Nicholson is a hard-nosed ball-hawking corner who recorded 6 PBUs, 2 fumble recoveries, and a pick a season ago. He started 23 career games, and figures to play a factor in Nickel packages as well.
Thornton is the man to beat right now opposite of Riley.
Entering the season with 38 starts under his belt, Thornton was an All-AAC performer who became known as a lockdown defender for the Knights.
With the requisite size and length for the corner position, Thornton is the perfect replacement for NFL draftee Jarvis Brownlee. He’s built like a prototypical NFL corner and has the production to show for it.
If teams are avoiding the side of the field where Riley is, Thornton is not a bad complement to his style of play.
The staff should be confident, though, in whoever is at that second or third corner position.
Backup QB
(Keith)
The starting QB position has been locked up since day 1 of spring camp. 7th-year Senior Tyler Shough has as many degrees as Louisville football has BCS bowl wins (3) and is looking to use this season as a chance to prove he can stay healthy.
If Shough does stay on the field, that bodes extremely well for a Louisville team that won 10 of its first 11 games last year with more of a game manager at QB.
The problem, however, is that Shough is a multi-faceted athlete who has not survived a season without injury- in large part due to his aggressive style of play.
If, for whatever reason, Shough isn’t able to go, his backups are going to be
No. 15 Harrison Bailey (RS Senior)
No. 10 Pierce Clarkson (RS Freshman)
The fans want Clarkson. The centerpiece of the vaunted 2023 class, Clarkson showed savvy and charisma as a true duel-threat QB in limited action last year.
Looking to take a step up, coaches have lauded his ability to grasp the playbook, with Brohm even calling Clarkson the backup heading into the fall.
Clarkson will almost certainly take the role that we saw Evan Conley assume in 2023, and coaches have hinted at special packages for the redshirt freshman.
Don’t count out Harrison Bailey, though. A former starter at Tennessee and UNLV, Bailey is looking for one more magical ride and has proven himself as a more than capable power four starter.
Backup offensive linemen
(Keith)
Lastly, the guys are interested in seeing how things shake up on the depth chart- Particularly on the interior offensive line.
If there’s attrition in the trenches and other names are called upon to step up, these are likely candidates to see playing time.
No. 51 Austin Collins (RS Junior)
No. 73 Madden Sanker (RS Freshman)
No. 59 Vic Cutler (Ohio State/ LA Monroe)
With veteran Lance Robinson out for the season, the importance of these three can not be understated.
Collins is a name that fans should watch for. He started the last 7 games in 2023, filling in admirably in place of starter Renato Brown.
As Brown returns to health, Collins should be the first man up at the guard and center spots as a depth piece.
Sanker is the highest-rated offensive lineman to ever commit to Louisville football. Now, the 6’5, 310-pound redshirt freshman is working his way into the rotation.
With the versatility to move around across the middle of the line, he appears ready to step into an important role this year.
Veteran Ohio State transfer Vic Cutler will play a major factor for Louisville football this season.
In four seasons at Louisiana Monroe, Cutler played at tackle, guard, and center. The Louisville coaching staff could take advantage of that versatility if needed in 2024.
