Notes and Observations from Louisville's First Fall Camp Practice

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Fall camp is officially here.

On Tuesday, the Louisville football program gathered at L&N Stadium, and conducted their first practice of the fall in preparation for the upcoming 2023 season. It also kicked off the first fall camp under new head coach Jeff Brohm.

The session was open to fans and the media, and Louisville Report was there for it all to watch the first day of the Cardinals' two week-long period of fall ball.

Considering it was the very first day of practice, there is bound to be an overreaction or two, especially since players were just in soft shell helmets and shoulder pads. Media was also not permitted to report on depth charts, formations and injuries during the duration of the fall.

That being said, below is our notebook of the more notable happenings that transpired during the first day of camp:

A lot of the individual position drills on the practice fields were hard to see because of the arrangement and how spread apart they were, but the most visible were quarterbacks, wide receivers and offensive line. So a lot of notes from these periods, as well as 7-on-7s, will cover that.
Not exactly breaking news at this point, but Jack Plummer is still the best QB on the roster. His accuracy and arm is just leaps and bounds better than anyone else. Plus, he can demonstrate from time to time his maneuverability in the pocket and when scrambling to extend the play.
Brock Domann is still very much the backup at this point, and looked good today, but it will be interesting to watch the battle for QB3 between Pierce Clarkson and Brady Allen. Clarkson had a few plays where his mobility and ability to throw on the run were on full display, and Allen has a cannon of an arm that can stretch the field in a hurry.
With so many post-spring newcomers on the offensive line, I made it a point to try and watch as many of them as I could. The one that impressed me the most was Lance Robinson. He might be just under 300 pounds, but he demonstrated exceptional footwork and agility in drills. Eric Miller looked solid in the 11-on-11 period, but seemed to struggle at times during the drills. Luke Burgess is continuing to make progress, and could be a candidate to crack the main rotation when the season starts.
Even with all the new pieces at offensive tackle, Renato Brown is still very much going to start somewhere. He's one's of the biggest linemen on the roster in terms of pure muscle, and was one of the most violent hitters on the day.
Onto the wide receivers. This was our first time getting to see Jadon Thompson after he had to miss all of spring ball due to injury, and he did not disappoint. He looks incredibly quick and agile in drills, made a good jumping in traffic during 7-on-7's, and hauled in a pass from Clarkson that was thrown into an incredibly tight window. In fact, Thompson burned Marquis Groves-Killebrew pretty badly during this period a couple times.
A quick note on the 1-on-1 period before transitioning to 11-on-11. Cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. decidedly won almost every single rep that he took during this time. The only wide receiver to challenge him was Jamari Thrash.
Not onto the 11-on-11 period. My biggest takeaway from this first day is that offensive line looks *much* better in pass protection than it did in the spring. You can tell that this area was a massive weak spot at times back in April, and with the additions, they regularly gave Plummer and the rest of the QB's plenty of time to find their targets.
Big or noteworthy runs were a little hard to come by, but when they did, it was, unsurprisingly, usually from Jawhar Jordan. His burst through the line, which was already really good, looks like it has gotten better. Of note, Maurice Turner got a lot of run as well.
There weren't a ton of defensive standouts today, but the main one that comes to mind is linebacker T.J. Quinn. He made the most plays during the 11-on-11 period, and delivered a couple good hits over the middle.
Tight end Jamari Johnson really started to come on towards the end of practice, as he made a couple really good catches in traffic. Josh Lifson is still likely going to be your day one starting tight end, and looked solid himself on the first day of fall camp, but don't be surprised if he winds up as the starter by the end of the season.

(Photo of Jeff Brohm via University of Louisville Athletics)

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