Louisville Football's 2025 Final Position Group Grades

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The 2025 season is now officially in the books for the Louisville football program, so it's time to update their position group report card for the final time.

Year three under head coach Jeff Brohm offered a little bit of everything. The Cardinals started 7-1 and ranked as high as No. 14, only to go on a three-game losing streak. But that was capped off by back-to-back wins over Kentucky and Toledo in the Boca Raton Bowl to finish at 9-4 overall.

It might not have been a perfect season, but it's was an overall successful one. There were some incredible highs, a handful of lows, and a little bit in between. As you can imagine, some position groups met or exceeded expectations, while some left a little to be desired at times.

Louisville Cardinals On SI offered an analysis midway through UofL's season, and we've reassessed the team's performance and our previous grades to offer a look at what went right and what went wrong:

Quarterback

Midseason Grade: C-
Final Grade: C

Part of the "what if?" factor that will be attached to this season is due to the fact that Miller Moss had a very inconsistent season. On paper, completing 64.2 percent of your passes for 2,679 yards and 16 touchdowns to seven interceptions - as well as being a good goal line QB sneak asset as evidenced by his nine rushing touchdowns - isn't that bad. However, his at-times questionable pocket presence and lack of willingness to throw the deep ball held the offense back at times, and was the main reason why Louisville had a three-game losing streak. He did ball out against Kentucky and helped the Cards win their bowl, so at least he finished strong.

Running Back

Midseason Grade: C
Final Grade: B+

There's no doubt that the ground game had a very slow start to the 2025 season, but that was partially due to an (at the time) fledgling offensive line plus some various injuries. But following that slow start, Louisville's collective rushing attack took a massive step forward in the second half of the season. Isaac Brown still finished with 884 yards and seven scores, not to mention his 8.8 yards per carry leads the nation. Keyjuan Brown broke out down the stretch for a career year, finishing with 822 total yards from scrimmage. Even Braxton Jennings and Shaun Boykins Jr. exploded against Kentucky. Even though the running back room was slow to really get started, they certainly carried their weight down the stretch.

Wide Receiver

Midseason Grade: A-
Final Grade: B+

The majority of this grade belongs to Chris Bell. Had the First-Team All-ACC receiver not missed the final two games after getting hurt at SMU, he could have very well earned All-American honors and threatened to post the best season by a receiver in Louisville history. He caught 72 passes for 917 yards and six scores in 11 games. It's also worth noting that Caullin Lacy - while a little boom-or-bust at times - also finished with 60 catches for 635 yards and two touchdowns, not to mention his abilities as a return man. The rest of the room? It was just okay. Guys like Dacari Collins, Antonio Meeks, TreyShun Hurry and Kris Hughes certainly had good moments throughout the season, but the consistency with the third WR spot was very much hit-or-miss.

Tight End

Midseason Grade: B-
Final Grade: C

It continues to mystify me why the tight end room simply does not get as much involvement as they did during Brohm's days at Purdue and WKU. Jaleel Skinner has a super high ceiling thanks to his athletic intangibles, and Nate Kurisky has been a reliable option when called upon, but they combined for only 361 receiving yards and three scores - albeit on 41 combined catches. Sure, they were third and fourth on the team in catches, but it was clear from a game-to-game basis that tight end continues to not play a massive role at Louisville under Brohm. Not to mention that Jacob Stewart was barely utilized at all (four catches for 70 yards and a score), and the collective blocking from the room was good - but not great.

Offensive Line

Midseason Grade: F
Final Grade: C

Everyone that watched Louisville over the first half of the season knows that the offensive line was certifiably putrid. That being said, they took a monumental step forward in the second half of the season - especially once Trevonte Sylvester returned from injury and the Cardinals finally nailed down a starting lineup. Over the first five games vs. FBS opponents, Louisville was giving up 7.2 tackles for loss and 2.8 sacks per game, while only rushing for 93.0 yards. Over the final seven? Those numbers improved to just 4.7 tackles for loss, 1.6 sacks and 205.3 rushing yards per game. The first half is certifiably an F grade for the O-line, while the second half is about an A, so I'll split the difference for the season.

Defensive Line

Midseason Grade: A
Final Grade: B+

While there was a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde storyline going on with the offensive line, the defensive line for Louisville was consistently disruptive throughout the entire season. Third-Team All-ACC defensive end Clev Lubin was an absolute monster, compiling 13.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and five pass breakups. Not to mention fellow edge rushers Wesley Bailey and A.J. Green complimented him very well, and Second-Team All-ACC defensive tackle Rene Konga was quietly one of the better interior linemen in the league. While the D-line wasn't quite as efficient in both rushing the passer and clogging rushing lanes in the second half of the season, they still did a very good job overall.

Linebacker

Midseason Grade: B+
Final Grade: B

Considering how the linebacking corps for Louisville played last season, this position group collectively looked much improved in 2025 - and it was done without standout 'backer Stanquan Clark for much of the season due to injury. T.J. Quinn once against was a force against the run, leading the team in tackles as a result (95), while also making vast improvements in pass coverage. The same can be said for Antonio Watts, who was an absolute X-Factor at STAR, and was certainly missed when he went down as well. T.J. Capers took a step forward in his game, as he looked good in coverage but was hit-or-miss with his tackling. The same can be said with Kalib Perry and his tackling efforts, plus Clark didn't look great when he returned for the final few games. While not perfect, this unit was absolutely better than they were last year.

Cornerback

Midseason Grade: B-
Final Grade: B+

As I've mentioned before, entering the season, I had concerns that the cornerback position could single-handedly hold the defense back. I'll gladly eat crow on this one. Tayon Holloway and Jabari Mack were asked to do a lot this season (1,592 combined defensive snap vs. 206 for the rest of the position), and they both performed exceptionally well, allowing just a combined combined 55 receptions on their 97 targets against for only 660 yards allowed all season. Rodney Johnson also serviceable as the third option in the room. While there was some shakiness in man coverage at times, the cornerback room still did a fantastic job for the season. When paired with the safety room, they helped Louisville posted the No. 1 passing defense in the ACC (26th in FBS) at 188.8 passing yards allowed per game.

Safety

Midseason Grade: A-
Final Grade: A

On top of getting excellent production out of the cornerback spot, Louisville's safeties also put together a very good 2025 campaign. D'Angelo Hutchinson ended his college career on a high note, being the second leading tackler and tying Holloway for the most pass breakup in UofL's secondary. JoJo Evans was great in the strong safety spot and did very well close to the line of scrimmage. Corey Gordon Jr. also stepped up at STAR when Watts went down, and was already playing great football as the third man in the safety rotation. Plus this group was crucial in not giving up the big play, as the Cardinals' 11 plays of 30+ passing yards allowed and two of 40+ yards rank 12th and 1st, respectively, in the FBS.