Three breakout candidates for Louisville Football in 2020

When you go through a turnaround quite like the one that Louisville experienced in 2019, you're bound to have multiple breakout years by players on the roster that helped pull it off. Tutu Atwell, Javian Hawkins, Marshon Ford and Rodjay Burns are the ones that immediately come to mind.

Prior to spring ball getting cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a few players had started to turn heads in and signal a potential breakout year in 2020.

Here are three players that have the potential to burst into the scene in year two of the Scott Satterfield era:

Jared Goldwire

Few players have made as big of an adjustment in their approach and mentality as defensive tackle Jared Goldwire, and the coaches have certainly noticed.

“I say this until I’m blue in the face, Jared Goldwire was a different human being these seven practices this spring,” defensive coordinator Bryan Brown said in April. “I joked with him after a couple of practices, ‘When is the old Jared going to show up’ because this guy was literally different. He was a different animal.”

With the departure of starting nose tackle G.G. Robinson, the Cards might need him to have a breakout year. Fortunately, he will have the same defensive coordinator for consecutive years for the first time in his collegiate career. He played one season at Fort Scott Community College before enrolling at Louisville in January 2018.

Bradon Smith

Both players and coaches alike took note of how Smith had performed in spring camp. In two years down at Northwest Mississippi Community College, the wide receiver averaged 60 yards & 4.4 receptions per game. Over the course of 21 games played, he hauled in 17 touchdowns and eclipsed the 100 yard reception mark five times with career high of 164 in his penultimate game as a Ranger.

It might be hard to see a ton of playing time since he is a slot receiver like Tutu Atwell, but wide receivers coach Gunter Brewer likes his versatility.

"He's been able to help us in some spots playing multiple positions," he said last month. "That's a guy behind Tutu, but he also plays the Z receiver spot."

Monty Montgomery

For all intents and purposes, Montgomery already had a solid 2019 campaign. Transferring from Hutchinson Community College, the inside linebacker led the team in sacks with five and tied for the most forced fumbles with three.

It's what makes the potential in his redshirt junior year so appealing. Like Goldwire, this will also be the first time in his collegiate career having the same defensive coordinator.

Plus in the limited exposure to the media during spring practice, not was he still a tremendous asset as a pass rusher, but he also showed flashes of brilliance while dropping in coverage. If continues to excel in both aspects, he will become more valuable to the defense than he already was.

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