Louisville football roster is already starting to change.
With multiple seasons coming to an end this past weekend, including Louisville football’s, college football’s version of free agency has begun.
Each year the transfer portal becomes a bigger part of building a roster for coaches across the country. With the one-time transfer rule likely going into effect in January & players being granted an extra year of eligibility, there’s a perfect storm for the biggest portal usage yet.
Following their blowout victory over Wake Forest on Saturday, two former starters decided to get a jump start on the next stop in their career. Those two players being quarterback Jawon Pass and defensive back Anthony Johnson.
After graduating both will use their final season of eligibility to transfer as graduate students – allowing them to play right away no matter where they land.
What Louisville football is losing
Many expected Pass to transfer this past offseason with Malik Cunningham securing the quarterback position for good. However, Pass stuck it out for one last year. Appearing in just two games this season in mop up duty, he threw for 17 yards on 2/3 passing and was celebrated on senior night.
Those stats won’t show it but Pass played a much bigger role in his career at Louisville football prior to Satterfield arriving. As the heir apparent to Heisman Trophy Winner Lamar Jackson, Pass started behind the eight ball and never was able to live up to the expectations that came with his recruitment.
Still, Pass leaves with a special place in Louisville football fan’s hearts after all he went through. Overall in his career, he played in 21 games, throwing for 2,545 yards, 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Johnson on the other hand was a penciled in starter at cornerback heading into the season. His playing time was impacted in a big way following the transfer and subsequent emergence of Kei’Trel Clark. With Clark developing into a starter, Johnson played mostly in a reserve role this season totaling two tackles and five pass break ups.
He’ll most definitely land on his feet following two years of playing significant snaps for Louisville. Johnson leaves with 43 total tackles, two interceptions, and 13 pbu’s.
How transfers impact the Cards
Neither of these moves come as a big surprise if you look at the number of snaps and statistics recorded this season. After starting for multiple seasons, both players will be looking to find upgraded roles from 2019 where ever they land.
Louisville has now lost seven players total to transfer this season, but still finds their roster in a very good spot. They’ll bring in 22-25 new players over the coming months from the class of 2021. You can also expect a few seniors to return and other transfers to be targeted.
Assuming that Chandler Jones and Clark return, Louisville will have both starting corners back from a pass defense that finished as the 19th best nationally. They’ll spend the offseason getting younger guys acclimated to new roles, including Greedy Vance, Jamel Starks, and Marquis Lowery.
At quarterback Louisville is expected to return Cunningham as well as backups Evan Conley and Tee Webb. While Pass has been a huge part of the team over the years, his impact dwindled as Cunningham became more comfortable.
The position is likely settled, with Cunningham remaining the starter, but I’d expect to see strong competition all offseason. It remains to be seen if Louisville will pursue a graduate transfer or traditional transfer to help push Cunningham, who struggled with turnovers all season.
