Quincy Riley Credits Louisville For His Readiness and Preparation for the NFL

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Following a lengthy collegiate career, Quincy Riley has fully immersed himself in preparation for the next step in his football journey.

The former Louisville cornerback recently took part in the Reese's Senior Bowl earlier this month, an annual all-star exhibition that allows some of the top upperclassmen in college football to put their talents on display in front of NFL scouts. This week, the star corner made the trip to Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine, where he will get to have meetings with front office personnel, as well as showcase his athletic intangibles in various drills.

Riley is viewed as not only one of the top cornerbacks in this year's draft class, but one of its top prospects overall. According to The Athletic, he ranks as the No. 77 prospect for the 2025 NFL Draft, which is set for April 24-26.

While the 6-foot-0, 195-pound corner spent the first three years of his college career at Middle Tennessee State, Riley credits his three years at Louisville as what has prepared him the most for the pre-draft process.

"Everything they do, they try to relate it to being in the pros," Riley said during his media availability session at the Combine on Thursday. "Every day in the facility, they want to teach you how to be a pro, even at meals. Just learn how to be a pro at meals, talk to people in the community, everything is just pro about that program."

When head coach Jeff Brohm took over the Louisville football program in 2023, Riley had a breakout season and established himself as one of the best cornerbacks in the ACC. He finished the year with a team-best 12 pass breakups, and was second on the Cardinals in interceptions with three, leading the ACC with 15 pass defenses. He also collected 49 tackles and 1.5 for loss.

Riley gives a lot credit to the Louisville coaching staff for helping mold him into the player he is today, especially cornerbacks coach Steve Ellis.

"(Ellis) taught me a bunch of techniques, ... so I feel like I'm already ahead of the curve," Riley said of his position coach.

"He made me never feel comfortable with myself, no matter what accolade I got, no matter how far I came in college. Every day, he never made me feel like I'm above anybody. He was a hard coach, and I appreciate that."

Riley had the chance to declare for the 2024 NFL Draft, but instead opted to return for his final collegiate season. While he got off to a slow start last year and was hampered by an ankle injury, he was still one of the best defensive backs in the ACC. Playing in 10 regular season games while starting eight, the 6-foot-0, 195-pound corner led the ACC in pass break ups with 13, while collecting 33 tackles (21 solo), three for loss, two interceptions and a forced fumble.

'Iron sharpens iron' is a common trope used among football players when it comes to competing in practice, and for Riley, this rang true during the 2024 season. While he competed against top flight offenses from teams like Miami and Clemson, Riley says his own teammates helped get him ready for NFL as much as his coaches did.

For example, as CB1, he had to go against WR1 in every practice - which for Louisville, was First-Team All-ACC wide receiver Ja'Corey Brooks. His 1,013 receiving yards were second in the conference to Miami's Xavier Restrepo, while his nine touchdown receptions were third and his 61 receptions 10th.

"Every time a scout has been like, 'Who have you played this season that gave you a challenge?' I go, 'can I say practice? If they say yes, I always go with him," Riley said of Brooks. "His route running, his love for the game, he's passionate on the field. It's practice, but you'd think he's playing in the game. If he makes a catch, he's screaming. He lets his presence be known. Going against him every week, he prepared me for the game. Like I feel like nobody was better than him in the game."

But even when he wasn't guarding Brooks in practice, he still had to deal with trying to play against Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough. Starting all 12 regular season games, he completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 3,195 yards and 23 touchdowns to just six interceptions.

"I tell everybody that his plays in practice, I've seen him throwing the ball like- a lot of college quarterbacks would never throw this ball a day in their life," Riley said of Shough. "With him, he's throwing no look, side-arm passes. It was really a challenge. So when I pick him off, I feel like, 'Okay, I did something good,' ... Just playing with him, it was just amazing. I wish I had another year with him."

As Riley is going through the pre-draft process, he's using his family as his motivation. Or as he says, his "mission." He recently lost his grandfather, and also lost his grandmother while he was down in Mobile, Ala. for the Senior Bowl, and his mother had been in a battle with cancer - although she won that battle just last month.

"Any team that gets me, like, they're gonna know I'm on a mission," he said. "It's really for my family. With my grandfather passing, he never saw any of his grandkids make it to the league. My grandma just passed when I was at Senior Bowl. My mom just beat cancer last month. ... I gotta keep going for them."

(Photo of Quincy Riley: Tanner Pearson - Imagn Images)

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