Josh Minkins Louisville vs. #10 Wake Forest 10-22-2022 Photo by William Caudill, TheCrunchZone.com

2023 Louisville Secondary

Mark BlankenbakerAugust 24, 2023

Louisville’s defense was night & day in 2022 and much of that was related to its play in the secondary. Particularly with moving Kei’Trel Clark back to his normal position and the insertion of MJ Griffin to a starting role after 5 games.

Kei’Trel Clark was picked by the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL Draft, Kenderick Duncan & Chandler Jones both graduated, but Louisville has great options in the secondary for Jeff Brohm. Louisville has the answers on the top-line of the depth chart, but going beyond the first group gets a bit murky with numbers especially when considering that Louisville is starting the season without MJ Griffin, D’Angelo Hutchinson and Aaron Williams all without return dates for 2023 right now.

Cornerback

Jarvis Brownlee transferred from Florida State and was great on the boundary for the Cards in 2022. Jarvis was Louisville’s 3rd leading tackler on the season with 67 take downs, with 2.5 TFLs, 12 PBUs and 2 INTs. Personally, I think Jarvis is looking for an even bigger breakout season without the club on his hand!

Behind Jarvis is a bit of a mystery. Freshman Aaron Williams played through an ACL tear during his senior season at St. John Bosco HS in California and is still rehabbing post-surgery. Enter Marcus Washington from the defending National Champion Georgia Bulldogs. Marcus was the #155 player overall in the class of 2022 as a 4-star prospect with offers from all of the major programs across the country. Could Washington be the mainstay behind Brownlee? Or will the job go to veteran Trey Franklin who played in 12 games in 2021 and 9 games in 2022. Franklin has played a lot of football for the Cards after coming to UofL from Iowa Western CC.

Projected Depth Chart

#2 Jarvis Brownlee 6’0, 190, Jr.
#31 Marcus Washington 6’1, 185, R-Fr.
#28 Trey Franklin 5’10, 185, R-Jr.
#4 Aaron Williams 6’2, 185, Fr. (recovering from surgery)

Cornerback

Quincy Riley transferred from MTSU to the Cards for the 2022 and immediately carved out a spot for himself. Now with Kei’Trel Clark gone to the NFL, Riley looks for his role to expand from his 27 tackle, 3 INT performance in his first year as a Card. But Riley isn’t going to be able to rest easy as Storm Duck was 2nd Team ALL-ACC in 2022 starting 12 games with 46 tackles 3 INTs and 9 PBUs with the North Carolina Tar Heels. Duck temporarily transferred to Penn State during the Spring and landed in Louisville. If I’m a betting man we’ll see a strong rotation of Brownlee, Riley and Duck with Duck going between both positions all year.

Texas A&M transfer Marquis Groves-Killebrew comes to Louisville after his freshman season at Texas A&M. Marquis was the #114 player overall in the 2022 class and had offers from most of the major programs in college football. MGK has Louisville ties and we will see how this young player develops as a Card. UofL could certainly use another able-bodied corner!

Projected Depth Chart

#3 Quincy Riley 6’0, 185, R-Jr.
#29 Storm Duck 6’1, 200, R-Sr.
#19 Marquis Groves-Killebrew 6’0, 185, R-Fr.

Free Safety

Louisville’s MJ Griffin looked like he was sitting on a monster season prior to his season-ending injury (and subsequent successful surgery). Griffin was vital to the Cards’ efforts to turning around the defense mid-year in 2022. Without MJ the Cards have options.

Cam’Ron Kelly came to the Cards from North Carolina where he played 4 seasons. Kelly actually transferred to Virginia and played in the Cavs Spring Game before joining teammate Storm Duck here in Louisville. Kelly started all 12 games for the Tar Heels in 2022 and in 2021 was 3rd Team ALL-ACC after a breakout season tallying 69 tackles and 4 INTs.

Also vying for this spot is Baylor transfer and Lexington’s Frederick Douglass product Devin Neal. Neal was Baylor’s 8th leading tackler in 2022 with 41 takedowns, 2 TFLs and 2 INTs. Neal has 33 games of college football experience in the Big 12. Is it Neal or is it Kelly? We’ll have to see, but it’s nice to have options after losing MJ Griffin.

Projected Depth Chart

#11 Cam’Ron Kelly 6’2, 210, R-Sr. OR
#27 Devin Neal 6’0, 210, Jr.
#26 MJ Griffin 6’1, 210, R-Jr. (out for season)

Strong Safety

Josh Minkins quite literally developed before our eyes in 2022. The Ballard product finished 5th in tackles for the Cards in 2022 with 55 takedowns, 2 TFLs, 1 INT and 3 PBUs. Minkins really grew up during the season…. and he had to….. Louisville needed him to. And now Josh is back and the Cards are going to be retrofitting behind him.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see Cam’Ron Kelly or Devin Neal both rotate behind Josh as needed. The MJ Griffin injury through this position for a loop as the Cards just don’t really have the bodies. Myles Slusher was committed but instead opted for Deion Sanders and Colorado. As it sits Louisville probably looks to move Antonio Watts back to Safety from the Star position. But Watts bulked up to 225 and looks promising there. OR does Ron English decide to turn to Derrick Edwards who has played a lot of corner to try to develop some depth here for 2023? It will be interesting to see. In a season where Louisville has uncommon depth at many positions the Cards are surprisingly thin (mainly due to preseason injury) at Safety.

Projected Depth Chart