A Deep Dive Into the 2024 Louisville Cardinals

Intro Jeff Brom Le team is always going to be fun and the Louisville Cardinals should be no exception to that this year this is a team that finished 10 to four made a really fun run in 2023 and now they are back to potentially make another one it's going to be a little bit different this year this is going to be a more underrated group in the ACC but again if it's Jeff Bram leading the show I trust what that group is going to do before we dive into the leville Cardinals make sure you subscribe to the channel like the video and share the video goes a long way in helping the channel grow goes a long way in helping this series continue and it's been really fun to see how well this Series has done you all have really liked it so let's keep going with it we'll dive into the Louisville Cardinals Coaching Staff here and obviously everything starts with Bram and Brian Bram is going to be the offensive coordinator so you have two really good offensive minds and you saw what happened last year now you're going to have to replace the quarterback position the running back position as well as multiple other players on that offense so that's going to be interesting but then also you have a a defense that needs to replace plenty of players but I think that the handful that you have returning as well as the transfer portal should leave room for optimism you also Transfer Portal have some concerns because of the transfer portal you added certain players like Penny Boon your main L you know if have guys that have come in at one point and now are off at different schools you also lose some key players in the NFL draft you lose some key players to other schools as well I think though they brought in some talented players that are going to probably fly under the radar maybe not the biggest names but then you'll also get you know get guys like Cory thoron who was solid for UCF but maybe not a name that people are are gushing over jolil Skinner coming from Miami that was another guy that could be a big time player then you get guys like jakori Brooks now jakori Brooks at his Peak at Alabama was one of the best receivers in college football so you get him back to that point Colin Lacy was a stud for South Alabama that was a huge addition and then you get some defensive backs like tamaran McDonald Tavon Nicholson you have a lot of options coming into this program it's just that you also lost some players that maybe you would have liked to keep so we'll see what happens I think that this is still a very talented team I believe that Jeff ROM knows what he's doing I mean at worst when you look at his teams at Purdue you have maybe a potential to be a team that flies under the radar and surprises some people this year that's maybe what Louisville is going to be but we'll find out it's going to start with the quarterback QB & RB position for though and you look at getting Tyler shook from Texas Tech I think that people were excited about it and I think that the staff likes what they have and when Tyler shu is healthy he is really fun to watch he is a talented quarterback who is very capable of making big time throws and being a threat both with his arm and with his legs the problem is that he does not stay healthy he has not played a full season of college football and that is going to be the talking point for the rest of his career for this entire year it's going to be can he stay healthy can he play an entire year because if the answer is yes this is going to be a fun offense to watch you have plenty of talent at the wide receiver position you have talent at the quarterback position so you're going to have a passing attack that'll be really fun and a passing attack that could take a step forward is they finished 57th in passing last year which is not bad but you want to see them take maybe a little step forward if the rushing attack isn't going to have a jaar Jordan running the ball but that being said Tyler shuck has to stay healthy now you have Pierce Clarkson behind him you could also see Harrison Bailey and Brady Allen you have competition behind him but Tyler shuck is the most talented quarterback on this team but again can you stay unhealthy so far the answer has been no to that question that is the biggest concern surrounding weille football this year is can he stay healthy and can he stay on the field enough to be an impact player because if you're not on field it doesn't matter how talented you are you're going to hurt your team because you're not playing so that's going to be the biggest thing the rushan attack is going to have to find some Replacements when you look at the running backs that they lost last year there a big reason why they finished 38th and rushing and now you need to find new starters and you need to find new contributors Donald Cheney comes in from Miami they expect him to be the starter there to be the Bell call if you will Maurice Turner is going to play a factor as well and then you look at I a freshman like Isaac Brown they expect big things from him and with the uh uncertainty of the running back position he is someone that could become more of a contributor could become more of a factor in that rushing attacking and this offense has talent I trust what the brms are going to do with this offense but again you need certain players to step up and you need guys stay healthy that's probably the biggest thing there we talked about the passing attack and how good it can be obviously WR & TE shuck plays a huge role in that but I really like what this group has in terms of potential because you kind of have guys that are flying under the radar right now not many people know who Chris Bell is people know who jakori Brooks is but they're kind of EX you know they've kind of forgotten about him and what he's capable of doing col and Lacy comes from the goober five so I think a lot of people are uncertain about what he's capable of doing Mark Redmond at tight end comes in from the group of five from San Diego State so you have a a group of players that are going to fly under the radar because people just don't know who they are or they're not on their their mind right now now I think that jakori Brooks if there's a guy who can get him back to that level it's going to be Jeff braam this staff knows how to create explosive Playmakers at the wide receiver position and Victor Brooks is a great candidate to be a a want to say breakout because he already had his breakout year but re-breaking out to breakout again Colin Lacy can he handle the transition to the ACC that's going to be the biggest question for him there are certain players that I think can handle it and I believe that Colin Lacy is one of those guys and when you ask a lot of people in the college football Community they expect that as well behind them Antonio Meeks tus transfer could be a fun player to watch again another guy that flies under the radar which is kind of what I like about Jeff prom teams they get players that not a lot of people are paying attention to there really been that's like the most of what we've talked about besides of guys like George kofus and Rond Del Moore you have certain players like that that they're able to get but for the most part it's a bunch of unknown players that are just exceeding expectations jayen Thompson could be a factor as well this year if one of those guys can't handle it Jimmy Callaway is also a solid dep piece behind them as well behind redond we talked about jul Skinner I think that he could be really fun to watch and Jill mlan a Richard freshman is also in the mix there as well so you have options at the pass catchers and again this is a group that's going to fly under the radar people are not really paying attention to them which is fine I think that Louisville likes being in that spot where they're ready to shock the world and Jeff Bram is more than capable of doing that if he can get his team to buy in together and find ways to play together then you're looking at a team that's going to be really fun and could shock some big names in 2024 the offensive line obviously plays a big OL role in that as well and this is a group that has good experience and has plenty of talent now you bring in a couple of players from the transfer portal so that's going to be something to keep an eye on the tackle positions specifically Monro Mills and Rasheed Miller Mills comes in from Texas Tech Miller comes in from Georgia Southern both of them are capable starters for sure and they'll have some competition behind them travante Sylvester should be a factor on the offensive line as well and Jonathan Mendoza's Yale transfer that could see some time as well so the tackle positions are going to be set and really interesting to watch whoever replaces Brian Hudson probably is going to be the biggest question the center position is so important and we'll see what happens there you have a couple of options and you have Pete there and you also have Victor Cutler coming in from ULM so you have plenty of options there it's just can you meet that level that Hudson left and that's going to be a big question ronado Brown is the best player on this offensive line if you ask my opinion he's an experienced player that will be a staple for this offense so again this offense has plenty of options the offensive line to me is in good hands they have plenty of experience they have plenty of talent it's just finding ways to gel and how do you get back to what we saw from this group last year this has been a really good offensive line for Louisville the past few years so I think they continue that that that Trend there you Al like I said you bring in transfers that are going to help that Miller is really fun to watch Mills is is going to be fun as well Lance Robinson was a very underrated transfer coming in from Houston they had a couple other players that parted but you have again plenty of options to be a successful offense in 2024 the defense is probably wor things DL get the most interesting because you lost a couple players that were big- time contributors but I also really like this group heading into 2024 Ashton gelotti is going to be one of the most exciting players one of the most explosive players on Louisville's team and in the ACC he's a big time threat on the edge 6'3 275 lbs at 14 and a half tackles for a loss 11 sacks three Force fumbles he is someone that everyone knows and that opens things up for players around him so guys that are are going to thrive are going to be at the Leo position you're going to see the defensive tackle those tackle positions Thrive because everyone knows what who he is and that's going to require extra attention throwing his way so guys like Thor Griffith and Jordan Gad coming in from Harvard and FIU respectively those are guys who would really Thrive and this is a group that was extremely explosive and disruptive especially against the Run they finished 10th against the run last year and it's easy to see why now behind gilotti is going to be Richard Kinley Jr the second excuse me B Tennessee transfers six and a half tackles for L three sacks you're going to see him not quite a bit but if if Jo needs a break you're going to see him desmell could compete for starting time at the knows tackle position and Raymond per year is going to be a factor at defensive tackle could be the starter as well so you have good depth at defensive line and that's a group that needs to be deep and needs to be talented because if you're disruptive you're going to open things up for the guys behind you and also slow teams down and as you can see this has been a really fun group the last couple years Louisville's defense has been one of the more exciting groups to watch and that should be the case once again this year especially up front the linebackers LB should be no different TJ Quinn comes back after a 92 tackle season he also had two and a half tackles for loss one interception and one fumble recovery so you have a natural playmaker who returns to this team a guy that's taking a step forward if Stan Quan Clark someone who is not as experienced as TJ Quinn but someone who the staff expects big things from in 2024 miles jigan is another player that fits that role as well coming in from Cal looking to get a little bit more experience and more playing time this year to play a little bit bigger role behind them is is really where the depth is not going to be a question because I think they have good pieces jury and Davis and TJ capers come in with various levels of experience but you're looking at two guys that are expected to be depth pieces for that group Mason rer 22 tackles six tackles for loss five sacks he is someone that could also take over the Leo position he will push jigan for that spot so this is a linebacker group and a defensive line so this front six if you will they are going to be fun to watch they are going to be a big reason why this team succeeds because of when you look at the talent they have there's plenty of options there's plenty of players that can make big time plays and that's huge for a team that like I said is looking to be a better group in I shouldn't say better this is a group that's looking to replicate or it keep Pace with what we saw last year and the front six plays a huge role in that but the secondary also needs to continue doing what it's doing now you lost a couple players but you also returned plenty of experience so Secondary getting a guy like Quincy Riley back was a little bit surprising honestly I don't think a lot of people expected him to return to Louisville last this this year in 2024 so that was nice the safety positions are set I MJ Griffin is set to have I think a bounce back year after you know missing last year and when you look at Devin Neil he is a productive player from last year 74 tackles three tackles for loss four interceptions so you have a couple of ball Hawks on the back end of that defense that are capable of making plays then you also had Cory thoron at the other quarterback position another player who knows how to make plays on the football and that's huge Benjamin Perry probably will have the most eyes on him because he's inheriting a new new role where you maybe don't have I think teams are gonna definitely test him a little bit more because he's the most unproven player I guess of this and this is a talented secondary where if you're the unproven guy that's a good thing because Perry still had 56 tackles six and a half tackles for loss four passes defended so he has experience but if you're going to pick on someone I think teams would probably look his way but again I wouldn't say that's something that's a guaranteed success because he's had the experience and he knows what's going to be thrown his way behind them maybe has the more questions if you will when you look at ton Holloway is a North Carolina transfer that is a backup there Illinois transfer Tavon Nicholson will be really interesting to watch at the at certain position positions at the the cornerback position think Tam Maran McDonald Tennessee transfer Blake Ruffin coming in from Eastern Illinois so you have options behind some of these players so the secondary feels like it's in good hands and if you can take a step forward in the secondary and defending the pass then you're looking at a much better group in 2024 and again this has been a secondary that's kind of flown under the radar in the college football world but they've also proven to be very disruptive and create turnovers as you can see Riley and Neil have a combined seven interceptions coming back Cory Thorton's playing in a different conference but he has three interceptions there so you have guys that are capable of making plays it's just a matter of replicating that and then getting other guys behind you up to speed strength and concerns for Strengths & Concerns Louisville should be pretty easy to identify the strengths to me the defensive line really just put the defense here honestly just put the entire defense a strength I think that they're still going to be really good even with some of the new faces that they bring in the defensive line has obviously a couple new pieces that need to step up so keep an eye there the offensive line starters to me are a a a strength maybe the concerns behind them uh would be the depth pieces but I don't really have too many concerns about that running back is probably a concern when you lose the talent that you lost last year you're you're going to need to find new players and until further noise that's going to be a concern to me quarterback is a concern simply because the X Factor for this team is Shuck's Health if Tyler shuck does not stay healthy you probably have more concerns about the backups getting the job done because if shuck is healthy this offense will be really fun to watch but that's a big if we have yet to see that and it'll be fun to see what he can do when he is healthy but if he can't play a full year this offense could be a a much worse group than if he is healthy obviously so that's pretty obvious to me the schedule is going to be dictated by Schedule that X Factor if shuck stays healthy you're looking at a team that's capable of winning nine maybe even 10 games I think the ceiling to me is 9 and3 the floor is six and six though because there's not too many teams that you have to concerns about if you're a Louisville fan the over under is eight and a half as of right now so that could be a tough number to meet so if you're a betting person you're maybe staying away from that number you should start two and0 Austin P is going to be a win Jacksonville State could be a little bit tricky but Louisville is a team that should win that game Georgia Tech is expected to be better this year that's a game that's definitely capable of going the wrong way but Louisville should win that one I just trust what Jeff brah is doing so much at Notre Dame probably going to be a loss whether you look at it optimistically or pessimistically but again like I said before this feels like a team that could surprise some people now this is a road game so it's probably not going to happen to this one but don't count this team out that's one thing I've learned with Jeff Bram is you can't count them out they will win a couple random games that you don't expect this year SMU at home is very interesting I don't know what SMU is going to be they have plenty of talent so that's going to be a really interesting game at Virginia should be a win Miami at home will be tough that's another one that's probably a loss but again Louisville is definitely capable of beating the Hurricanes at Boston College is very tricky you also have three Road games in a row here at Clemson obviously tough as well that's probably a loss I'd probably actually switch that it's going to be a loss at Stanford is a tough road trip now you get two weeks to prepare for that so you don't have to worry too much about it uh so that should be a win but we'll see what Stanford looks like towards the end of the year pit at home should be a win at Kentucky is obviously going to be tough so again I think six and six is the floor I don't expect them to take a huge step back I would probably feel like they're more of a seven an eight- win team to be completely honest but betting the over feels like not a a smart move right now I think the under is probably the more likely play but this is still an interesting team to watch again Jeff ROM I trust what he does so much he has been a proven coach that knows how to win games and knows how to get his talent to play together and if they're able to do that you're looking at a team that's still going to be really fun to watch a very explosive offense a defense that's going to be disruptive and that's a formula for success it's just a matter of how many wins go into that windfall