Notes and Observations from Louisville's Fifth Open Fall Camp Practice

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Fall camp is quickly progressing for the Louisville football program. The Cardinals are now a week into their preseason, with five practice sessions now in the rear view mirror.

Their fifth practice, which took place on Tuesday, was once again open to both the fans and media. Like we were for the first four practices, Louisville Cardinals On SI was there for it all to watch the fifth open practice of fall ball.

Previous Open Practice Notebooks: Practice One, Practice Two, Practice Three, Practice Four

Below is our notebook of the more notable happenings that transpired during the morning:

Quick injury update: Victor Cutler was back to being a non-participant in team periods with an unknown injury. Jamarice Wilder (ankle) and Kalib Perry (hand) continue to be held out of camp.
A couple depth chart notes I saw during the pre-warmup walkthrough. Clev Lubin was running with the first team again, Naeer Jackson got the first team reps at left guard, as did Makylan Pounders and Mahamane Moussa at left and right tackle.
Anyone who's been to the open practices knows it's not the best setup if you want to watch the defensive players during positional drills. That being said, I got a somewhat decent angle on the defensive line, so I spent most of those periods watching them. During some basic agility drills, both Lubin and A.J. Green looked incredibly explosive, Jordan Guerad moved very well for his size, and freshman Bailey Abercrombie did too. The first and second team units all did well during the drill that tests their burst while maintaining low pad levels. On the loop tackle drill (one of my personal favorites), Rene Konga's force was able to be showcased here, while Denzel Lowry and Green both had great lunging tackle form. In an edge setting drill, Green was the fastest to get off his block, but C.J. May also did very well. The only one who didn't do a particularly good job here is Maurice Davis, although he's coming off of a broken foot.
For a few minutes, the offensive line and tight ends teamed up with the defensive line for a run install segment. Nothing too noteworthy here, except for the fact that Rasheed Miller got some reps at right guard - which kept up with the day's theme of rotating guys around the offensive line.
When the first 7-on-7 segment broke out, I tried my best to watch the defensive line again, most of which was a dummy/hula hoop drill. No surprise that the first teamer all excelled here, with Green and Lubin both looking super twitchy and Guerad once again hustling in a way most big guys can't. Plus, Abercrombie and May both looked surprisingly explosive here. They'll have to bulk up before they become regulars, but there seems to be some promise here.
After this was the first 11-on-11 period of the day. Some depth chart tidbits: T.J. Capers got mixed in with the first team in place of Stanquan Clark (who is healthy now but is seemingly being kept on a pitch count), Jaleel Skinner got the initial first team reps at tight end, Davon Mitchell got some reps as a fullback, Deuce Adams was the second-team quarterback, and the first team offensive line (left to right) was: Pounders, Lance Robinson, Pete Nygra, Miller and Moussa.
Now onto the reps themselves from this period. This was start of what wound up being a really good overall day for the defense. Antonio Watts snagged a pick on the first very rep, Justin Beadles got back-to-back would-be sacks, both Micah Carter and Xavier Porter flashed a couple really good speed rushes, and Caleb Matelau delivered a big hit in the gap. Of course, the offense did have a couple noteworthy reps. Adams had a nice flea flicker play to Dacari Collins, Shaun Boykins Jr. was able to bounce outside for some yards after running into traffic up the middle, Braxton Jennings had a shifty run, and both Adams and Brady Allen mixed in some QB draws.
Following this period, the offense ran a walkthrough with the defense where they worked on screen plays. After that, the quarterbacks and tight ends joined the running backs in running the gauntlet machine. The QB's struggled here, routinely not keeping their eyes up or keeping their pad levels so high that they hit a crossbar that was put in place to keep them low. In fact, running backs coach Chris Barclay, on multiple occasions, yelled "there's a bar there!" when someone hit it.
After this was a brief 11-on-11 segment before the water break. While the defense won the day overall and Miller Moss had a slow start to practice, here is where he started to rebound heading into the final hour of the day, He threw a a dime to Caullin Lacy downfield, and Skinner leapt to high point a ball from him. Other notable reps here was a wide receiver screen from Collins, and the fact that Bobby Golden was able to steal what would have been a pick as he and a defensive back (couldn't tell who) were jostling for the ball.
Following the break was some more special teams work (which, by the way, seems to be a massive emphasis when compared to the first two fall camps under Brohm). Carson Hilbert and Adam Winkenhofer were the two main punters in the segment, and both guys were very hit-or-miss.
When the practice broke out into another 7-on-7 segment, the offensive and defensive line got together for a 1-on-1 drill. I didn't have the best angle, but it had been better than previous practices. Pounders and Robinson started the period out with some really dominating reps, although Lubin and and Green were able to bounce back against Pounders. This wound up being a consistent theme. Carter bull rushed Robinson, then Robinson immediately bounced back and pancaked him. Jackson got whipped by Kendrick Gilbert (who is participating some), but then rebounded for a great rep afterwards. Jimmy Williams III and Carter Guillaume were two other offensive linemen who caught my eye during this, while Lowry and Carter were a couple defensive linemen who also stood out.
Practice then ended on a very long 11-on-11 segment. The offensive side looked the best to start out, as Caullin Lacy had a couple really impressive catch-and-runs from Moss (who ended the day very strong), and Isaac Brown - on what few reps he took - simply exploded downfield each time he touched the rock. Then the defense caught up. Corey Gordon Jr. and JoJo Evans both had massive hits, D'Angelo Hutchinson had a nice PBU, Cameron White made a nice stop for a freshman, and Justin Agu nearly snagged a pick on a screen play after blowing right by a blocker.
This segment then moved a little closer to the end zone to simulate being in the red zone, and the defense continued to ball out. Watts had a TFL on Brown (which isn't easy to do), Micah Rice delivered a massive hit for a PBU, as did Matelau, Evans had a TFL on Boykins, Bailey had what would have been a sack, Carter had a PBU on a screen pass, while a pressure from C.J. May led to a a pick from White. There were a couple notable offensive reps, as Watson had a great one-cut to a score, Keyjuan Brown caught a screen for a touchdown, and Lacy had a great catch in the corner. But of note: Brady Allen seemed like he was back to holding onto the ball for a little bit too long, and Mason Mims didn't have a great showing in this period at all.

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