Kei'Trel Clark Louisville vs. Florida State 10-24-2020 Photo by William Caudill TheCrunchZone.com

Louisville Football Secondary Situation

Mark BlankenbakerSeptember 1, 2022

Cornerback

Chandler Jones (5-10, 186, Sr.) OR
Jarvis Brownlee (5-11, 182, Soph.)
Trey Franklin (5-10, 180, R-Soph.)

Both Cornerback spots are going to be interesting. Chandler Jones is the elder stateman of the boundary side going into his senior season. Chandler has played a monster amount of football during his 4-year career so far with 131 tackles, 23 Pass Breakups, 7 TFLs, 2 FFs and just a lot of really solid play. It stands to reason that he’ll be the front-runner to win this corner job.

But…… not so fast. Chandler has some serious competition in Florida State transfer Jarvis Brownlee who played in 12 games in 2021 for the Seminoles registered 51 tackles and 2 INTs along with 3 PBUs. Jarvis is originally from Carol City HS in Miami and had offers from the big 3 schools in Florida. It will be interesting to watching Jarvis’ impact on the 2022 season, he’s played A LOT of high-level college football. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him at the opposite side some too.

Trey Franklin came to Louisville after a JUCO season with Iowa Western and pulled down 2 INTs. Franklin had his moments in his 1st full season of college football (the bowl game wasn’t one of them). But this Georgia native looks to build on a really solid opening year.

Jarvis Brownlee, Chandler Jones, Trey Franklin? Who wins the job? It’s safe to say that all 3 players are going to be major factors for the 2022 season.

Strong Safety

Josh Minkins (6-2, 196, Soph.)
MJ Griffin (6-1, 210, Soph.)
D’Angelo Hutchinson (6-3, 185, Fr.)

The strong safety position is WIDE open after Qwynnterrio Cole moved on to the Oakland Raiders. Josh Minkins had 17 tackles and an INT last year after playing in 11 games and the Ballard HS product is listed atop the media guide depth chart. But… his Fall Camp is going to be tremendously important to whether or not that remains the case as the Cards open the season vs. Syracuse.

Hot on his heels is Temple Transfer MJ Griffin who was 2nd on the Owls’ team in tackles last year with 65 as a freshman. Scott Satterfield repeatedly praised the Michigan native during Spring Practice. Fun Fact: MJ Griffin’s godfather is former Louisville Cardinal & Indianapolis Colt Aaron Bailey.

D’Angelo Hutchinson is from St. Petersburg, FL and was originally committed to Iowa State and it sounds like he made a big impression in Fall Camp.

Bryan Brown and Scott Satterfield have options here. Because Minkins and Griffin have both played college football it stands to reason that they currently hold the advantage. MJ Griffin has the most stat production while Minkins has played in the ACC. This could be an evolving picture throughout the season.

Free Safety

Kenderick Duncan (6-3, 206, R-Sr.)
Nicario Harper (6-1, 205, Jr.)
Jeremiah Caldwell (6-3, 175, Fr.)
Shavarick Williams (6-0, 185, Soph.)

Kenderick Duncan was UofL’s starting FS in 2021 and finished with 76 tackles after transferring from Georgia Southern. Duncan added 4 PBUs, 1 INT and 3.5 TFLs and was STEADY throughout his initial campaign in the ACC. It’s hard to imagine anyone replacing Kenderick in 2022, BUT….

Nicario Harper comes to the Cards as the OVC Defensive Player of the Year from Jacksonville State and was a FCS All-American. The Atlanta native also spent two seasons at Southern Miss.

Jeremiah Caldwell is also from Michigan comes from football powerhouse Belleville was a 4-star prospect and was formerly committed to Kentucky and held offers from Michigan, Michigan St, Tennessee and others.

Shavarick Williams came to Louisville from SW Mississippi junior college and has yet to play after redshirting the 2021 season.

Who We Are Watching: Antonio Watts comes to the Cards from Columbus, GA as a 3-star prospect from Carver HS (the same HS as Jawon & Khane Pass). Watts is an intriguing athlete that was very productive at the 4-A level in GA. We’ll keep an eye on Watts during his true freshman year.

Cornerback

Kei’Trel Clark (5-10, 180, Jr.)
Quincy Riley (6-0, 181, Jr.)
Rance Conner (5-10, 186 R-Fr.) OR
Derrick Edwards (5-10, 177, R-Fr.)

Kei’Trel Clark was named 2022 All-ACC. So he’s the starter. The biggest question for Clark is coming back from an injury vs. NC State that ended his 2021 campaign. Last year Kei’Trel registered 40 tackles and 3 INTs along with 9 PBUs. The QBs that Kei’Trel faced were ELITE in 2021, but those signal callers still avoided Kei’Trel as much as possible.

And then there is Quincy Riley who might come to Louisville after 3 seasons at Middle Tennessee and just steal a huge chunk of playing time. Riley is a ballhawk from Columbia, SC. He’s played in just 18 games so far during his career but has 7 INTs and 13 PBUs. Riley chose to transfer Louisville after considering Tennessee and helps bolster the secondary.

Rance Conner retained his redshirt after playing just two games in 2021. He was forced into action vs. Air Force and like most true freshman, just wasn’t ready. Getting some game action, going through a Spring and offseason it’s no surprise to see Rance here at #2.

Derrick Edwards redshirted in 2021 and did not register action but did add 8 lbs up to 177 lbs in a year. Edwards came to Louisville out of Palmetto HS in Miami and chose the Cards over Miami, FSU, Tennessee, Pitt, UK, Baylor and WVU.The following two tabs change content below.

Outside Linebacker (It’s Really a Nickel)

Ben Perry (6-2, 212, R-Fr.)
Marvin Dallas (6-1, 190, Sr.)

Ben Perry was Louisville’s highest rated recruit in the 2021 class as a 4-star. Ben played in 3 games, retained his redshirt and then added 42 lbs to his frame in a single year. Perry is JACKED and is ready to take on a much bigger role. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to see a lot of Marvin Dallas. Marvin traded time with Jack Fagot a year ago and tallied 21 tackles. Dallas had some injuries in 2020 but played in all 13 games in 2021. This is an interesting matchup to watch during Fall Camp.