The top three recruits Louisville football wants to land on National Signing Day

Louisville football is looking to solidify what has been an extremely productive period of recruitment for its first class under Scott Satterfield. Here are the three biggest fish for the Cardinals with a week remaining.

National Signing Day early signing period is on December 18th, and Louisville football is rounding out a class that should consist of some marquee instant-impact type of players.

Still, Louisville has quite a few positions of need and they are looking to add 3-4 more players before things are said and done.

Though the “regular period” begins on February 5th, Louisville, like most other power five schools, is going to look to get the bulk of its class to sign early in order to begin planning out the season to come.

Let’s take a look at three players Louisville fans should want to land most.

Marcus Dumervil – OT

6’6,” 305 | St. Thomas Aquinas, Fort Lauderdale, FL

We start with the biggest long shot for the Cards in stud offensive tackle Marcus Dumervil.

In college football, if you want to keep up with the Joneses you have to start by building up your play in the trenches. That’s seriously the only way to keep up.

Look at Louisville’s losses this year: Notre Dame, Florida State, Clemson, Miami, Kentucky. Those are the five teams that the Cards faced with the most talent on the offensive and defensive line. And in each of those games, Louisville was exposed on both sides of the football.

You can coach technique, discipline, etc., but you can’t teach big, strong, and fast. When Louisville could hold its own upfront, they blew the doors off of some teams this year, but when they faced the big-name squads, things got ugly fast.

The Cards need a few big-time linemen and they would land perhaps their best player ever in the legacy recruit Dumervil.

His uncle, Elvis, was an absolute terror in the early 2000s at Louisville and ranks No. 2 among our All-time Louisville football player rankings. His older brother, Dejmi Dumervil-Jean redshirted this year in an effort to get into better playing shape for the 2020 season.

Dumervil would be a massive get, but the Cards have stiff competition for his services. Ohio State, Alabama, Florida, LSU, Clemson, Oklahoma, and Auburn are among the 60 + schools to offer him, and according to 247Sports experts, he is a lean towards LSU.

Still, you know offensive coordinator Dwayne Ledford and recruiting mastermind Cort Dennison are going to be in on him until the end.

The opportunity to play with his brother and get immediate playing time are likely to be enticing.

Greedy Vance- CB

5′ 10,” 160 | Edna Karr, New Orleans, LA

While Dumervil feels like a longshot for the Cards, they are certainly the favorites to land the services of talented New Orleans cornerback Jamie Greedy Vance.

Vance has offers from the likes of Auburn, Arizona State, and Houston, but he has been trending towards the Cards for a while.

Here’s what 247Sports recruiting analyst Gabe Brooks had to say about Vance, who he projects as a soon-to-be power five starter with a high upside:

"Athletic cover corner who compensates for lack of size with impressive on-field athleticism. Owns adequate height, but has a lean, thin frame and must add some bulk in college. Plays with awareness. Has played plenty of snaps in press coverage, off-man coverage, and zone. Looks most natural lining up on top of the receiver at the LOS. Shows a smooth, upright effortlessness about his gait. Willing to hand fight with receivers and mixes it up pretty well relative to size. Willingness to defend the run and screen game are encouraging, particularly relative to size. Competitive, fiery player. Plays for consistently talent-laden program and faces strong competition in practices and games. Play speed is good, but 40 time has not been verified in a combine testing environment. Could be targeted in the red zone against taller, go-get-it wideouts. Flashes some surprising pop behind his pads, but needs to clean up occasional glancing blows. Size concerns are there, but instincts, on-field athleticism, and motor suggest a quality Power Five starter at the next level."

A 5’10” corner with a slender frame, excellent instincts, and great motor? Sounds like another corner that panned out just fine at Louisville in second-year Packer Jaire Alexander.

Not that Vance would become a first-round pick by any means, but he is the kind of talent that could wind up having an extremely successful career as a Cardinal. His size and speed fit perfectly with what Louisville is trying to do on defense.

Yaya Diaby- DE

6’4,” 255 lbs | Georgia Military College, Atlanta, GA

There’s always mixed reception for JUCO players, and the Louisville staff is perhaps the most skeptical of building recruiting classes off of two-year players. However, in the 2020 class, there is a need to fill some vacancies with guys who can play right away.

In 2019, Louisville dipped into the JUCO ranks and snagged Monty Montgomery, who was a solid contributor this season, and Justin Ford, who provided depth at corner late in the season.

The Cards will return those two impact players on defense and bring in Diaby’s teammates Trevor Reid and Marvin Dallas as well as JUCO receiver Braden Smith.

If Louisville can grab Diaby, he and Dallas would be two players who are at the very least rotation players who have a chance to compete for a starting spot.

It seems likely that Diaby commits to the Cards. One look at his social media, and you’ll see a ton of love for the Cardinals.

The edge rusher would fill a huge need for Louisville’s defense that struggled to get much of any pressure in 2019.