Louisville Football Spring Practice Notes

We’re back again with another batch of practice notes from Louisville’s last two open football practices. Jeff Brohm opened up a Friday and Saturday practice, with the latter having refs and yard markers to conduct some scrimmage segments. If you missed the first batch of notes, they’re right here.

Let’s dive in.

QUARTERBACKS

This group continues to do just about everything to make you feel comfortable, while not doing anything to really concern you. Lincoln (Linc) Kienholz has been impressive in his reps, as he has shown the ability to make every throw needed in this offense. He is accurate outside the numbers while also being very quick with his decision-making.

One thing that I was a bit surprised to see was the timing on some of the throws in the drills. On out-breaking routes, it looks like the quarterbacks are being coached to be a little later than I would expect on their throws. Instead of releasing the ball before the break, the ball is coming out after. It’s consistent, so I’m not concerned, but I do wonder if that’s what they want in games.

The quarterbacks, as a group, have been impressive with their throws. In drills, the ball is consistently where it needs to be with no “bad” throws. When they miss, it’s within the realm of expectations as opposed to being well off the mark, where you question their mechanics or ability to handle pressure. While these guys may not blow me away with what they’ve shown, I’d argue that they are all further ahead than what I’ve seen in the past.

RUNNING BACKS

This group continues to show out at practice with their skills. Isaac and Keyjuan Brown are known commodities, but I’ve been really impressed with how Braxton Jennings and Marquise Davis have run the ball. Jennings has put on good weight while not losing any of the quickness that he displayed against Kentucky. Davis runs hard, but he also has shown nice short-area quickness in space. He can get in and out of his cuts with ease, while also getting back to top speed quickly.

I would love to see the offense feature two of these guys on the field together this year, as well as seeing them line up on the outside to diversify the offense. I also think that any time you can pull the defense’s focus away from just handing the ball off to these guys would be a positive.

RECEIVERS

The sample size is very small, but I’m a little concerned about the receivers. Tre Richardson isn’t practicing, and that must be noted, but there is not a “guy” in this group like we’ve typically seen. While that is likely Richardson, you’d like for them to have another option who could be a consistent playmaker.

Lawayne McCoy is the guy that I’m still looking to be the second option, but he hasn’t looked like that player so far in practice. Maybe he shows us something in the spring game that turns the tide, but at this point, he hasn’t been able to show out.

The rest of the group has been solid, while not being overly exciting. However, I would argue that the whole of the group is better than last year. The quarterbacks should have more options after Chris Bell and Caullin Lacy received the vast majority of targets last year.

The potential game-changer for the offense is the improvement at tight end. Brody Foley has been limited with an injury, but I fully expect him to be an NFL-caliber player for the Cards. Jordyn Reid is also a very good addition to the tight end room and should be a starter in the opener at the “inside” tight end spot, usually on the end of the line. He will be a significant upgrade there just based on his size, but he has also done all of the things you want to see as a pass catcher. He runs good routes, and he can get into the right spots in the middle of the field to be a target.

Jaleel Skinner will also remain as an option, but I think he will rarely be used on the inside. His lack of bulk was an issue as a blocker last year, but he was used in that role as a necessity. Foley will be able to play inside and outside in the slot, so Skinner will likely stick to the slot. When you mix in Dylan Messman as a possible option, you have a much deeper group than last year, with better talent.

OFFENSIVE LINE

I still won’t pretend to be able to break down offensive line play based on practice, but there was one change worth noting. Naeer Jackson was the first man up at right guard instead of Johnnie Brown. I’m not sure if Brown has been passed up or if he wasn’t practicing, but it’s a notable change. Brown is a player who was added from the portal, while Jackson didn’t see the field much last year for the Cards.

Outside of that, the only news is that Cason Henry is still not participating. He is a former starter at South Carolina who is battling Cameron Gorin for the starting spot at right tackle. He has been working out with trainers during practice, but not with the long-term injured guys, who are working out separately. I’ll be on the lookout to see if he’s back before spring practice ends.

DEFENSIVE LINE

There were no changes in the depth chart from what I was able to see, and as expected, this group owned team segments against the offense. The defense is always ahead of the offense, but it is also a bit unfair to expect the offense to contain Clev Lubin, AJ Green, Tyler Thompson, and Jerod Smith on the edges. The staff did a great job of upgrading an already outstanding position group.

Defensive tackle will be an area that I will keep an eye on during the spring game. This group is inexperienced as well as not being very productive when they’ve seen the field in their previous stops. Practice doesn’t give me much to go off of, but a true game “style” situation will give some evidence on whether they can make plays, or at least eat up blocks to free up the linebackers. During these last two practices, none of the tackles made a play behind the line, and Joshua Donald was the only player that I saw win a rep in one-on-one drills with the offensive line. I’ll point out that I obviously didn’t see every rep.

LINEBACKERS

This is another position performing as expected. Stanquan Clark and TJ Capers are making plays when they are available, while also not being able to show too much with Saturday being the only live practice. As much as we (and media) talk about the offense and the edge rushers, Clark and Capers could be the most talented inside linebacker duo in the ACC. They were both high-level recruits, and Clark has a lot of experience, while Capers flashed his ability against Miami last year, while also finishing seventh on the team in tackles.

I like Louisville’s depth at the position even though it’s untested. Cameron White and Trent Carter weren’t true contributors last year, but both were the next man up when injuries played a factor. They are the clear backups at this point, with Caleb Matelau and Jacob Smith getting third-team reps.

Blake Ruffin is getting all of the first-team reps at “Star” with Antonio Watts out after surgery. He is holding off Ben Perry at this point and making a handful of plays in each practice from what I’ve been able to see. Ruffin fits better closer to the line, as he does not have great coverage skills deep in coverage. He has shown that he can take good angles to the ball and make plays once he arrives at the ball, which bodes well for him seeing the field as a backup this year.

CORNERBACKS

Louisville went out and landed an SEC corner in DJ Waller in the portal, and it’s pretty obvious that he will be penciled in as a starter this year. Waller has great size, and he plays aggressively in man coverage. He should pair well with Tayon Holloway.

Brycen Scott was the first man up during the first practice of the spring, but the last player I saw have a practice as rough as he did on Saturday was Jawhar Jordan in his first ever practice here. He struggled through every drill I watched and actually forced Steve Ellis to lose it on him. That’s extremely rare from my experience over the last few years. Here’s to hoping Scott shows up on the field like Jordan did.

So far, it seems that the staff has improved their depth at cornerback. Scott, Antonio Harris, Santana Wilson, and Jaydin Broadnax all look good enough to see the field, with Myles Norwood possibly being the third man up. They should have options at the very least, but they should also be able to withstand an injury.

SAFETIES

Koen Entringer can be sharpied into one of the starting safety spots, and I’d argue that he has already shown that he is an upgrade over the safeties from last year. He clearly will play a role in run support as well as against quick and intermediate passes. He gets downhill in a flash, and his angles to the ball are always on point. His aggression stands out as well because he really enjoys just getting to the ball, even when they’re not tackling. It remains to be seen how well he will handle covering receivers down the field or handling deep zone coverage, but he’s been a pleasure to watch so far.

The other safety spot looks to be Kaleb Beasley’s to lose, but TJ Banks is battling to take it away. At a couple of points on Saturday, Banks and Beasley were on the field together with Entringer on the sideline. Throw in Micah Rice, who is also getting reps at Star, and it’s clear that the staff feels good about their depth.

The player who made the most plays at safety was Jordan Vann, who should be getting ready for prom right now. He picked off a pass on Friday that hung up on the way to a post route. He read the play and kept his focus on the ball to undercut the throw. On Saturday, he completed a tip-drill with Broadnax when the corner undercut a throw down the seam to bat the ball away. Vann made a diving interception off the deflection, twisting his body to get underneath the ball before it hit the ground. I’d love to see him get on the field this year.

Read the full article here