Peny Boone and Ashton Gillotte headline the Louisville football offense and defense in 2024.
It feels unfair how long we have until Louisville football plays another game. But, as we roll into March, spring camp is just around the corner.
This gives us a great chance to become acclimated with the roster heading into the season.
There are multiple returning players who could be considered the top three players on the 2024 defense.
Linebacker and Secondary
TJ Quinn is one of those players as 2023 was a breakout season for the rising senior. In just his first year as a starter, Quinn led the team in tackles with eighty-seven. In the final ten games of the season, he had four double-digit tackle games. This earned him honorable mention All-ACC honors. He played weakside linebacker opposite of Jaylin Alderman last year, and it will likely be the same duo at linebacker next year. Quinn will be in his second year in Ron English’s defense where he should continue to increase his level of play.
In the secondary, Ben Perry returns for his fourth year as a Cardinal. He has elevated his play each year. In the past two seasons, Perry has ninety-nine total tackles. Last year, he started all thirteen games and had a career-high fifty-six total tackles.
The safety room is stacked this year. Tennessee transfers Tamarion McDonald and Wesley Walker both play safety. However, Perry has played the “STAR” role which is a linebacker safety cross. Walker will also compete for time at this position, but Perry thrived in this role last year and he should continue to do so.
Finally, a returning player who has tons of upside is MJ Griffin. This may be a forgotten name to some Cardinals fans. He missed the entirety of the 2023 season due to an injury. However, Griffin excelled in the back half of the 2022 season, starting the final eight games.
Griffin also had significant production in the first two years of his collegiate career at Temple. Anytime a player returns from injury there will be unknowns. However, despite not playing last year he has had a year learning Ron English’s defense. Until a transfer player makes a case, Griffin should be the baked-in starter at strong safety.
Skill Positions
On the offensive side of the ball, this is a very intriguing year at the skill positions. The trio of skill position transfers that includes Peny “Baby Bus” Boone, Ja’Corey Brooks, and Caullin Lacy has the potential to be among the best in the ACC. Boone and Lacy transfer over from group of five schools. Conversely, Brooks transfers over from SEC heavyweight Alabama and looks to reach the potential that recruiting scouts thought he had coming out of high school.
More on Boone, Brooks, and Lacy below.
Offensive Line
Outside of the top three, there is an abundance of additions out of the transfer portal joining the offense. Pete Nygra is a transfer with high upside that has dominated playing center at Northern Illinois for the past two years. This season he did not let up a single sack.
The only returning player who started every game last season along the offensive line is Michael Gonzalez. He has proven to be a productive player for the Cardinals as he is a multiyear starter. Nygra could easily join him at season’s end at the team’s top in terms of performance.
Additionally, Monroe Mills comes over from Texas Tech where he was a multiyear starter blocking for Tyler Shough when Shough was healthy. On3 recruiting services are extremely high on Mills and he along with Gonzalez and Nygra should anchor the offensive line in 2024.
Tight End and other playmakers
Mark Redman was ranked as one of the top tight ends in the transfer portal. He is a two-time All-Mountain West performer. He was a highly touted high school prospect when he committed to Washington where he started his collegiate career. He has proven to be a talented player who has also produced in his collegiate career. The tight end room was thin for the Cards in 2023. The addition of Redman will add another skilled pass catcher for whoever is playing quarterback for the Cards in 2024.
With that being said the top-ranked players for the Cards on offense are Peny Boone, Michael Gonzalez, and Ja’Corey Brooks. On offense, the skilled positions are as talented as they have been in recent history. Jeff Brohm proved his ability to go to the portal last year and find a game-changing wide receiver in Jamari Thrash.
Ja’Corey Brooks can do the same for the Cards offense in 2024. Additionally, Jawhar Jordan and Issac Guerendo who were the focal point of the offense last year were both transfer players. Peny Boone, a Toledo transfer can exceed the performances of Jordan and Guerendo as he will not be competing for carries with another back to the same extent that they were.
On defense, Ashton Gilotte, Tyler Baron, and Quincy Riley are the three best players ahead of spring practice. With two of the top three players on defense being edge rushers the Louisville defense is going to wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks next season. Quincy Riley took a while to announce that he would be returning for his sixth year of college football. His decision was a big win for the Cardinals’ defense as he has accumulated a double-digit inception total in his college career. He will add valuable experience and leadership to the secondary next year.
The Offense
1. Peny Boone, RB
Peny “Baby Bus” Boone is a big framed back hence his nickname. In 2023 the highlight of the offense was the run game with the one-two punches of Jawhar Jordan and Issac Guerendo. They had the privilege of running behind an experienced offensive line. The offensive line will have some fresh faces this year, but the good thing is Baby Bus does not go down at first contact. He was the MAC offensive player of the year this past season as he rushed for over fourteen hundred yards. He is also a solid pass catcher out of the backfield.
At 6-1 / 240 lbs he is among the biggest backs in the country. For comparison, Issac Guerendo was the Cards’ bigger back in 2023 and Boone is twenty pounds heavier than him. Boone should receive the bulk of reps at running back next year. However, Jeff Brohm will surely look to smaller framed backs Don Chaney and Maurice Turner to compliment Peny Boone.
2. Michael Gonzalez, OL
Offensive line might not be an eye-popping position for a list of top players, but Michael Gonzalez is the key to the Louisville football offense in 2024. Gonzalez is the only returning offensive lineman who started the entirety of last season. All of his starts came at guard, and he was very productive at the position. The Cards lost a trio of starters from the offensive line in Bryan Hudson, Willie Tyler, and Eric Miller. These departures led to a significant portal haul of six offensive linemen. Gonzalez, a senior next season, will play a crucial role as a returning starter along an offensive line with a lot of unfamiliar faces.
Gonzalez is listed as 6’4, 305 lbs. He is very athletic as he has started at both guard and tackle during his college career. His build fits best at guard at the next level, where he has played most of his college snaps. He has the athleticism and experience to be an All-ACC performer next year and he will be the leader of the offensive line.
3. Ja’Corey Brooks, WR
Ja’Corey Brooks might be the most intriguing player on the Cards’ offense next season. As a high school prospect, Brooks was a top twenty-five player nationally and the number two ranked receiver in the class of 2021. He had over eight-hundred yards receiving in his first two seasons at Alabama. As a sophomore, he caught thirty-nine passes for six hundred and seventy-four yards. In 2023, his season was cut short due to an upper-body injury. His most significant moment with the tide came as a true freshman when he caught the game-tying reception at Auburn to send the game to overtime where Alabama won. Brooks is clearly talented, and he brings collegiate production as well.
This past year the offense desperately needed a second receiver to step up behind Jamari Thrash. He is now gone along with Ahmari Huggins-Bruce and Kevin Coleman who were among the leading receivers for the Cards last year. This means Brooks should be getting a lot of targets. He has a big frame at 6-2 and should play on the outside. Louisville also brought in Caullin Lacy who was another top receiver in the portal. He is only 5-10 and will play in the slot. The contrast in body type between Brooks and Lacy will allow them to complement each other well in the
The Defense
1. Ashton Gillotte, DE
This offseason has featured tons of wins for the Cards. Jeff Brohm brought in another impressive transfer portal class and key pieces from the 2023 roster are returning for their final year of eligibility.
The biggest win was Ashton Gillotte deciding to return for his senior season. Gillotte, a runner-up for ACC Defensive Player of the Year last year, was also a first-team All-ACC performer. Before he decided to return for his final year of eligibility, NFL draft boards projected him as an early-day two pick in the draft.
He had eleven sacks and three forced fumbles last year and an additional seven sacks in 2022. He has proved more than enough to NFL scouts in his college career, but he clearly believes the Cards have more to prove as a team in 2024. If he can amass the same production numbers, this upcoming year as he did in 2023 it will be beyond impressive. This is because he will be lining up at defensive end opposite Tyler Baron who had six sacks for Tennessee last year.
2. Tyler Baron, DE
Tyler Baron is the top-ranked transfer in the twenty-six-member Louisville football transfer class that ranks first in the country. Baron, a Tennessee transfer, played a significant role in the Vols defense for four seasons. He had over one hundred total tackles in his career and eight and a half sacks in the past two seasons.
This year was his most productive in which he had six sacks. He is joining former teammates Tamarion McDonald and Wesley Williams who also transferred over to the Cards this offseason. Both play safety and started for Tennessee in 2023. This will provide tremendous continuity for him knowing he has two former starting teammates in the back end of the defense.
Baron will play the “LEO” position in the Cards’ defense. This is a cross between defensive end and linebacker that will allow Baron to be more than just an edge rusher. Look for Baron and Gillotte to be at the top of the ACC in sack totals at seasons end next year. Outside of this talented duo, Mason Reiger, who had five sacks last season, returns for the Cards.
3. Quincy Riley, DB
The news that Quincy Riley would return for his final season as a Cardinal was significant. Like Gillotte, he was projected as a draft pick by several draft boards. However, he can continue to elevate his draft stock this year. In three years as a cardinal, he has eleven interceptions. He is the only returning starting corner from the 2023 roster with the departures of Jarvis Brownlee and Storm Duck to the NFL draft. His experience (sixth year) as well as his nose for the ball put him in a position to thrive in 2024.
The defense is loaded with fresh faces via additions from the transfer portal. Jeff Brohm added eleven defensive players out of the portal. All of these additions bring significant collegiate experience or high rankings as high school prospects. Tyler Baron is the only transfer that ranks inside the top three on this defensive list. However, players like Tamarion McDonald and Wesley Walker are former SEC starters. Thor Griffith and Blake Ruffin both dominated at lower levels of college football and will look to do the same at the highest level of college football.
