Louisville Football Fall Camp: Day One Notes and Observations
(Photo of Louisville Players via University of Louisville Athletics)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Fall camp is officially back. On Sunday morning, the Louisville football program gathered on the fields outside of the Trager Center, and conducted their first practice of the 2021 preseason.
Not only was the session open to the media, but it was the first day of fall camp open to fans in the Scott Satterfield era. Louisville Report was there for it all to watch the first day of the Cardinals' two-week long fall camp.
Considering it was the very first day of practice, there is bound to be an overreaction or two. In fact, players were just in helmets and shoulder pads. That being said, below is our notebook of the more notable happenings that transpired during the first day of camp:
- It hardly comes across as a surprise, but quarterback Malik Cunningham had a good first day of practice. He was accurate in both drills and 11-on-11's, delivered a smooth ball that had some noticeable zip on it on intermediate throws, and his overall throwing motion looks improved.
- Evan Conley looked good with the second guys, but it was surprising to see how well JUCO transfer Brock Domann performed with the third string guys. He has a cannon of an arm, and look much better in person than his film at Independence C.C. shows.
- Again, it's just one day, but true freshman QB TJ Lewis struggled a tad. He did rebound towards the end, but he had inconsistent accuracy throughout the first part of practice.
- You could tell that several guys have hit the gym hard over the spring and summer. Wide receiver Justin Marshall, defensive end YaYa Diaby, and Alcorn State transfer safety Qwynterrio Cole are all massive. True freshmen defensive lineman Caleb Banks is naturally big, and could see reps at nose in his future.
- Speaking of Marshall, he seems like is he destined to have a year that is indicative of his skillset. Looked a lot more consistent in his game. Fellow wideout Braden Smith dropped a few balls early, but looked good towards the end.
- Wide receiver Tyler Harrell is every bit as fast as the coaching staff makes him out to be. Not only that, but he not just speed, speed, speed. One of the highlights of practice was him adjusting his body on a back shoulder throw to make a great catch just short of the end zone.
- True freshman wide receiver Ahmari Huggins-Bruce has a ton of potential. Not only is he agile, but had a couple plays where he displayed great change of direction after the catch.
- Shai Werts, who is transitioning to receiver after a four-year career at Georgia Southern as a QB, might have a bigger role than we realize. He practiced like he has been a receiver all his life, and his mechanics are much better than anticipated.
- Now for the running backs. Jalen Mitchell is every bit as bulked up as Scott Satterfield has raved all summer. He took most of the first team reps during 11-on-11's, so while it will still be running back by committee, it seemed Mitchell will get most reps.
- RB Maurice Burkley looks like he has returned to form after he suffered an injury last season that required hip surgery, so that's promising. True freshman running back Trevion Cooley, is indeed, very fast.
- This was my first time seeing walk-on converted wide receiver Greg Desrosiers in his new position at RB, and it does seem like he will get some time this season. He seemed very agile in his 11-on-11 reps, and had a play where he had arguably the best cut move/juke of the day.
- Syracuse transfer RB Jawhar Jordan, who joined the program just last week, did make it to practice. He might not see much early playing time in the season, as he is still in the process of getting acclimated. He drew the ire of running backs coach De'Rail Sims a couple times for messing up drills, but that's to be expected.
- As expected from the depth chart, the first team offensive line in 11-on-11's was more often than not: Trevor Reid at LT, Caleb Chandler at LG, Cole Bentley at C, Adonis Boone at RG and Renato Brown at RT.
- Reid looks considerably bigger than he did in 2020, as does Boone. Austin Collins got reps at center with the second string guys, but occasionally had low snaps. Bryan Hudson, as expected, was the main substitution with the first team guys.
- With how much bigger Diaby has gotten, it's not a surprise that he was the best performer out of the defensive linemen. He was physical and fast all day in drills, and was hard to block in 11-on-11's.
- After seeing him in practice, it's easy to understand why walk-on defensive end Ramon Puryear was named a starter in Louisville's preseason depth chart. Edge rushers Yasir Abdullah and Tabarius Peterson also looked the part.
- Surprisingly, Jack Fagot took most of the reps with the ones over Marvin Dallas at 11-on-11's. But once practice got underway, it was obvious that his transition to from safety to CARD outside linebacker has gone incredibly smoothly.
- Cornerback Kei'Trel Clark was absolutely fantastic. He is breaking on the ball even better than last year, and he is shaping up to have a monster year. Fellow corner Chandler Jones also looked impressive.
- Safety Benjamin Perry is not your normal true freshman. Sure, he had some 'freshmen moments', but he is a physical specimen who has great football IQ.
- Only two players out of the 116 scholarship and walk-on players on the roster did not participate: safety Josh Minkins and defensive lineman Dayne Kinnaird. Minkins, however, wore an orange jersey to signify non-contact, and was shadowing the secondary.
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