LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As any coach in college football will tell you, games aren't won and lost in the spring. Louisville still has a little over five months until they travel up to Syracuse for their 2022 season opener.
We can put together our best educated guesses as to how the Cardinals will look in their fourth year under head coach Scott Satterfield, but for now, it's just that - a guess. This is especially true when you consider how many players aren't participating in spring practice.
Top playmakers such as Kei'Trel Clark, Monty Montgomery and Braden Smith all suffered season-ending injuries in 2021, and have yet to be fully cleared. Caleb Chander, Kenderick Duncan and MoMo Sanogo also had injuries this offseason that have kept them out of spring ball. Several others have been dinged up in some form, fashion or severity.
With so many projected game one starters and impact players forced to sit on the sideline during spring practice, or at least be limited in what they can do, it makes it that much harder to determine Louisville's ceiling for next season.
With that being said, Satterfield has been excited from what he has seen out of the players who have been able to participate. With 11 of their 15 allotted practice sessions now in the books, the head man of the Cards says that the only subpar practice they've had was the Monday after spring break.
"There's been great energy, great competitiveness," he said. "It means something to them. It's not just, "they say you got to get 15 days of practice in the spring, let's just go show up." That's not happening. They're coming out, and they're working really hard and very intentional in their approach, really in all three phases."
In fact, Satterfield named several players on both sides of the ball when asked who has shown the most improvement during the spring. The offense, in particular, garnered the most praise from Satterfield.
In the running back room, Satterfield said that Trevion Cooley "has been one of the players that's improved more than anybody else," adding that his growth, maturity and ability have "really gone up." Satterfield also mentioned that Jawhar Jordan has "turned a lot of heads" during the spring, and has popped at least one long run every time he gets reps.
The fourth-year head coach was extremely complimentary of offensive guard Luke Kandra, saying that he has come into his own and ready to start. Considering Bryan Hudson is taking over at center full time, Kandra very well could push for starting reps.
"He just creates a ton of depth," Satterfield said. "Caleb Chandler is not even going this spring, and we haven't missed a beat up front, and he's a First Team All-ACC lineman. Once we get him back, it's another body that we're going to be able to put in there."
Scroll to Continue
While wide receivers like Tyler Hudson, Dee Wiggins, Braden Smith and Ahmari Huggins-Bruce have received a lot of coverage this offseason, Satterfield made sure to note that Tyler Harrell has had a "great spring." Harrell has spent most of the spring working on the finer details of being wideout in an attempt to shed the notion that he is just a deep threat because of his speed.
"He's made a point of underneath catches, curl rounds, digs, catching the ball," Satterfield said. "He's improved, in the three years I've been here, the most of anybody on the team. His work ethic every single day, it's been tremendous."
Of course, Satterfield also highlighted several players on the defensive side of the ball that made tremendous strides in their game during the offseason.
He noted that defensive ends YaYa Diaby and Ashton GIllotte are both "showing up and making some great plays. With the middle linebacker duo of Montgomery and Sanogo out, K.J. Cloyd and Dorian Jones have been "doing some good stuff" according to Satterfield, who also said that cornerback Trey Franklin has "gotten better".
He did admit that the offense was ahead of defense right now, which was to be expected given the circumstances. The Cardinals surrendered 403.3 yards of offense per game last year, and are still waiting on a few summer additions to make it to campus. That being said, he likes what he has seen out of the first unit, and believes the spring will give others a chance to get better and thrive.
"They're impact players on that side of the ball, and we're gonna need those guys to help the defense.
(Photo of Scott Satterfield, Louisville Players: Scott Utterback - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)
You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:
Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter - @LouisvilleOnSI
Instagram - @louisville_report
You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter
"ball" - Google News
March 27, 2022 at 11:58PM
https://ift.tt/lGIZnSW
Several Players Showing Improvement in Louisville's Spring Ball - Sports Illustrated
"ball" - Google News
https://ift.tt/PGZCpg2
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
No comments:
Post a Comment