Identifying Louisville's Biggest Post-Early Signing Period Roster Needs

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The early signing period is now in the rear view mirror, and the Louisville football program took full advantage of it.

On the first day of the period, the Cardinals secured National Letters of Intent from all 12 of their previously committed scholarship high school prospects, as well as three more recruits who committed during the three-day period.

But even with all the moves that Louisville made this week, roster building never sleeps.

While the transfer portal doesn't officially open until this Monday, Dec. 9, the Cardinals have seen 13 players announce their intention to enter it when it does open. There are also bound to be some NFL Draft declarations and additional transfer portal defections, especially after Louisville's to-be-determined bowl.

Given the current state of the roster, some spots need more attention that others. So which positions should they target the heaviest? Take a look below:

Multiple Spots in the Secondary

Of course, Louisville is going to have to address nearly every single position group on their roster given the amount of open scholarships they currently have. But there's no position group that needs more work in the transfer portal more than the secondary.

Whether it's at corner or safety, Louisville is not only losing multiple impact playmakers, they're losing a lot of players, period. M.J. Griffin, Tamarion McDonald, Tahveon Nicholson, Quincy Riley, Corey Thornton have all ran out of eligibility. Devin Neal and Aaron Williams hit the portal before he season even ended. Not to mention that Tayon's Holloway's future is in question given his arrest and subsequent suspension after the Stanford game.

Outside of that group, Louisville is left with just five returning scholarship defensive backs, and the only regular contributor in 2024 was D'Angelo Hutchinson. The other four - Jathan Hatch, Daeh McCullough and Rae'mon Mosby and Blake Ruffin - played a combined six snaps on defense in 2024.

Even if that aforementioned quartet all takes big steps forward, purely from a numbers perspective, Louisville is going to have to bring in several new players at both cornerback and safety. Especially since the only true freshmen from this group joining are Antonio Harris and Micah Rice.

Same Story with the Defensive Line

If you thought Louisville was losing a lot of players on the back end of the defensive, just look at the pure roster movement from the defensive line.

Ashton Gillotte, Thor Griffith, Jordan Guerad, Myles Jernigan, Richard Kinley II, Tramel Logan, Ramon Puryear and Dezmond Tell are all graduating. Louisville's even already had a transfer portal defection in Mason Reiger, who had the potential to have a great comeback year.

The only reason that defensive line is not the top priority is because they do at least have a two-deep's worth of returning players. That being said, the only returner regular contributors are pseudo-starting tackles Jared Dawson and Rene Konga plus reserve edge rusher Adonijah Green. The other six players - Selah Brown, Micah Carter, Maurice Davis, Saadiq Clements, William Spencer and Xavier Porter - played just 65 combined defensive snaps.

Louisville is also adding four freshman linemen (Bailey Abercrombie, Eric Hazzard, C.J. May and Dillon Smith), so they're not in as dire of a spot from a numbers perspective as they are at secondary. But from a production standpoint, the Cardinals will absolutely need a few more linemen at both the edges and the interior.

A Starting Quarterback

While Louisville does have four scholarship quarterbacks on their roster already, their actions over the last week, along with Jeff Brohm's own words at his signing day press conference, suggest that they are going to go back to the portal for their starter at QB for the third straight season.

Louisville emerged as a potential destination for USC's Miller Moss not long after he hit the portal, and is set to visit the Cardinals next week. They've also kicked the tires on Texas A&M's Connor Weigman after he went portaling. There's probably several other signal callers that they are monitoring as well.

Going with a portal guy as the starter yet again might not be what fans want, but it seems like an inevitability. Harrison Bailey has been serviceable as a backup, but he's just that - a backup. Pierce Clarkson has been a longtime fan favorite, but his arm strength is holding him back from vaulting to QB1 in Brohm's system. Deuce Adams has that strength, but likely needs another year of coaching/preparation before he's ready to start. Then there's Mason Mims, but he's a true freshman.

Could it be possible that someone from this group takes the necessary steps forward in spring ball and become the unquestioned QB1? Of course. But Brohm has made mention on multiple occasions that, in order for the Cards to be competitive, going the portal-heavy route is the way to go.

(Photo of Jeff Brohm: Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)

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