Louisville football has speed and youth at receiver for spring 2021

As part of a celebration to the upcoming start of spring football, we will be kicking off our positional preview for the 2021 Cardinals. We will go through every position group and highlight potential starters and what they may bring to the table in 2021. There are a ton of new and old faces to pay attention to across the entire Louisville football roster.

For the first time since 2015, Louisville will have neither Dez Fitzpatrick or Tutu Atwell in their receiving corps. It’s a new era for receivers coach Gunter Brewer and the Louisville offense. The two aforementioned names are going to be NFL draft picks and have already cemented themselves as two of Louisville’s most beloved sweethearts.

There’s plenty of talent that has been injected into this receivers room with a whole lot of youth at the position. This will be a very important season from a development standpoint for one of Louisville’s youngest position groups.

Let’s talk about the 2021 receivers.

Likely starters

This can get extremely tricky with two lost starters from a year ago. But we’re going to give our best projection with this one. Keep in mind that these spots are very much up for grabs as spring practice begins.

Braden Smith – 5th year RS So.

2020 stats: 11 GP: 27 receptions, 370 yards

Measurables: 5’10” 192-pounds

Smith is a guy who has a ton of straight-line speed and is a likely candidate to fill out the slot receiver role in place of Tutu Atwell. He may not be as dynamic in straight lines, but there were certainly flashes of what he was capable of in this offense.

2020 was his first year in the program after signing from junior college. He’s not a guy you want to line up on the outside too often because of his inexperience and lack of size for the position. But he will likely thrive from the slot with speed and burst in the short areas. Look for Smith to see a ton of action in 2021.

Jordan Watkins – 2nd year Fr.

2020 stats: 9 GP: 8 receptions, 57 yards; 1 rush, 23 yards, TD

Measurables: 5’11” 175-pounds

He got some late run in the 2020 season and clearly showed he has the talent to start for this team in 2021 despite just minor production as a true freshman. He fell into good favor with the coaching staff and Scott Satterfield made it a point to get him reps with Fitpatrick and Atwell still being key players in the offense.

Watkins is a perfect option to fill out the “Z” receiver role in the offense where he can line up wide and off the line of scrimmage so he can be utilized often in motion. The ability to threaten with Smith and Watkins in motion will be a huge luxury as they threaten to stretch the field sideline-to-sideline and vertically.

Justin Marshall – 5th year RS Jr.

2020 stats: 10 GP: 7 receptions, 87 yards

Measurables: 6’3″ 213-pounds

Marshall seems like the most likely option to fill out the “X” receiver role where he lines up on the line of scrimmage and can take on some sort of press coverage if necessary. He’s a big-bodied receiver with the ability to win at the catch point.

In 2020, he was a bit disappointing. He was given plenty of opportunity to perform with Atwell and Fitzpatrick still involved. When he was given chances, Marshall frankly failed to perform and seemingly fell out of favor with the coaching staff. Clearly he was thought highly of in the 2020 preseason. But he lost that the longer that the regular season wore on.

Marshall should get the opportunity to be a massive contributor in 2021 once again. Will he prevail this time around?

Key reserves

Josh Johnson – 5th year RS Sr.

2020 stats: 7 GP: 4 receptions, 40 yards

Measurables: 5’11” 187-pounds

He has been with the program for a long time while struggling with injury issues throughout his career. Johnson thrives with the ball in his hands. Speed and short area burst are the name of the game with him just like many of the receivers on this team.

Johnson didn’t get much run as a receiver in 2020, but he made do with the time he was given. He had four receptions for 40 yards against Syracuse last season. That was the only time all year he had a big sample size of opportunity.

Christian Fitzpatrick – 2nd year Fr.

2020 stats: 1 GP; no stats registered

Measurables: 6’4″ 215-pounds

Have no fear. There is still Fitzpatrick family blood with the Cardinals. The brother of Dez, Christian is a potential option at the “X” position. It would not be shocking to see him start this season even if it’s rather hard to project given he had next to zero snaps in 2020.

He should at least be the primary backup behind Marshall in the worst case scenario. After all, a 6’4″ target is always a nice luxury to have when 5’11” Watkins and 5’10” Smith are likely your rock-solid starters.

Newcomers on the radar

Shai Werts – 6th year RS Sr.

2020 stats (QB at Georgia Southern): 11 GP: 146 rush, 720 yards, 11 touchdowns

Measurables: 5’11” 205-pounds

We already discussed Werts in the quarterback preview, but his primary position is likely to be at wide receiver for the Cardinals. After one day of spring practice, Satterfield was already praising the newly positioned star.

If Werts can continue making a valuable impression, he will be quality depth added to a position room filled with unproven talent. Werts fits in as a veteran presence playing a very new position. He has a lot of ability as a runner in the open field and he offers a running back’s frame at wideout. It sounds like he’s off to a very good start.

Ahmari Huggins-Bruce – True Fr.

Measurables: 5’10” 160-pounds

As Satterfield said above, Huggins-Bruce is already making a very good impression on the coaching staff as a true freshman. In high school, he was a dynamite athlete in the short areas that showed plenty of potential for nuance as a route runner.

It’s not shocking to see him thriving in this kind of system where he can utilize that burst and long speed to his advantage. Obviously, Huggins-Bruce needs to put on a decent amount of weight to be a consistent contributor. But first-day praises are always good for a player that had some hype when he signed in December.

Overall

This is a very inexperienced unit that has a lot of potential. There are generally a lot of unknowns that will need to step up in 2021 to elevate offensive efficiency. Jordan Watkins is the young stud that will be the talk of the city leading up to the season while a player like Justin Marshall has a ton to prove after disappointing a year ago. A new group will be plenty of fun to watch with a critical eye through the offseason.