Louisville football: Success in the transfer portal should translate immediately on the field

Louisville football needed immediate contributors on both sides of the ball. How the Cards supplemented last season’s losses, and where the new pieces fit into the rotation.

Louisville football took some tough losses on the field last season and hard hits off the field due to transfer and graduation.

However, the Cardinals staff took the blows in stride, helping shore up some areas of need right away.

The Louisville football roster will feature the No. 14 transfer class of 2022 according to 247Sports.

Let’s break down each player and how they will impact the roster.

Jermayne Lole, DT/ DE | Arizona State
Chance to Start: 98%

If you’re a fan of football, it’s hard not to be a fan of Jermayne Lole.

The massive defensive lineman out of Arizona State is a multi-faceted pass-rushing weapon who feels like the exact type of player Louisville football needed.

The PAC-12 first-teamer was a monster for the Sun Devils, racking up 12 sacks in his time there. He can line up at the nose but has enough speed and strength to create havoc off the edge.

Louisville football desperately needed a sure thing to supplement its bevy of pass-rushers. We won’t soon forget the thrashing the Cards took right up the middle against Kentucky and Air Force last season. Lole helps shore up that issue right away.

Quincy Riley, CB | Middle Tennessee
Chance to Start: 70%

Louisville football returns a stud at corner next season in Kei’Trel Clark.

But, what is better than having one lockdown corner is having a second one on the other side.

That is exactly what MTSU transfer Quincy Riley brings to the fold. He is rangy, athletic, tough-nosed, and self-assured. The type of guy that wants to be on an island. The type of player Louisville football needed to confidently send a rush on obvious passing downs.

Louisville does return starter Chandler Jones. However, it will be interesting to see if Riley is battling it out with Jones for the second starting spot, or serving as a supplemental piece on the same side as Clark. Regardless of how things shake out, it’s tough to see Riley not playing a ton of snaps when it matters most.

MJ Griffin, S | Temple
Chance to Start: 90%

Need another reason to be optimistic about the Louisville football secondary? How about a Calvin Pryor-style hard-hitting piece on the back end.

Last season, Louisville lost Qwynnterrio Cole to graduation, but Josh Minkins, Ben Perry, Shavarick Williams, and D’Angelo Hutchinson return.

Griffin brings a different dimension as a pass rush specialist who can clog things up in the middle for both backs and tight ends. While Perry and Minkins are going to be solid in the passing game, Griffin is a guy you can bring up into the box with Cole and lay the wood.

Jarvis Brownlee Jr., CB | Florida State
Projection: Important depth piece

With Riley, Jones, and Clark in the fold, it’s difficult to imagine Louisville’s newest corner getting a starting nod. That doesn’t mean, however, that the Cards won’t welcome the services of Jarvis Brownlee right away.

Brownlee was more than capable in his time at FSU, starting in 11 games and recording 78 tackles last season.

He will be an important piece on this squad and certainly is a capable, proven starter at the power five level.

Louisville returns solid depth at linebacker in 2022, but has to replace a major piece in former captain CJ Avery.

Replacing a guy that is 10th all-time in tackles in school history is not an easy ask. However, Mississippi linebacker Momo Sanogo should help ease the sting of the loss.

Sanogo is a sixth-year senior who has had anything but a boring career. He was used in a number of ways in his time in the Sip, but most notably was fourth in the SEC in tackles recorded in 2018.

Harper is a guy who looks like he may be a supplemental piece at CARD linebacker in 2022 and beyond. He has two years of eligibility remaining.

Tiyon Evans, RB | Tennessee
Chance to Start: 50%

Louisville is already loaded in the running back room. The cards return last year’s starter, Jalen Mitchell, plus quickly rising do-it-all back Trevion Cooley. Add burners Jawhar Jordan and Maurice Turner into the mix, and you have a complete stable of backs as it is.

The cardinals solidified this room as one of the best in the ACC in the offseason when they added Tennessee transfer Tiyon Evans.

A former JUCO star turned weapon in the SEC, Evans found the endzone 7 times in 6+ games last season. He notched a gaudy 6.5 yards per carry before an injury sidelined him for the back half of the season. However, he is considered one of the top returning backs in the country.

The battle for snaps between Evans, Mitchell, and Cooley should be phenomenal.

Louisville lost high-profile transfers Tyler Harrell and Jordan Watkins to Alabama and Ole Miss respectively in the offseason.

To supplement those losses, the Cards brought in two high-level receivers who are likely to get a lot of balls thrown their way.

Wiggins might be the bigger “name” of the two, but if you are looking at Wiggins as a replacement for Harrell and Hudson as a replacement for Watkins, Hudson is likely to make the much larger impact of the two.

Hudson is a do-it-all guy who can line up all over the field. He is sure-handed, a deep play threat, and a guy the coaches and players cannot stop talking about in the offseason. Hudson feels like a top 3 receiver on this team right away.

Wiggins will heavily factor into the rotation and should be seen in the same light as Harrell was last season. He is a guy who can use his physicality to win balls and turn up field, using long strides to be a terror in opposing secondaries. He might not be the burner that Harrell was, but his game is more polished in other areas.

Louisville has had three long snappers since Obama was in office. Grant Donovan, Colin Holba, and Mitch Hall. Those players ranged from walk-ons who played club baseball but made NFL rosters to five-stars out of school.

Surmise it to say that Shai Kochov is somewhere in between at a position where he may not even be noticed if he does his job well.

Cole Hussung is a local guy who has found new hope in the form of an open competition at kicker this season.

After a phenomenal 2020 season, James Turner caught a case of the yips in 2021. Now, Louisville has a three-way race between Hussung, Turner, and Brock Travelstead.

Jalen Alexander, S | Duke
Jayden Williams, CB | USC

Have not arrived on campus, but could play crucial roles as secondary depth this season.

If you weren’t keeping track, there are five additions who feel like likely starters and two players who will be in the mix with other current starters.

That is a massive haul for a team that often felt a few pieces away from success last season.