Louisville Football Depth Chart Preview: Quarterback
By Cole Murray
Puma Pass leads a group that faces the almost impossible task of replacing one of the greatest players to ever wear a Cardinals uniform. While he’s definitely not Lamar Jackson, I think Puma Pass is absolutely capable of leading this Cardinal offense to another great season. I’ll elaborate on why I think that, and also talk about what the other QBs bring to the table.
While the Cards begin the post Lamar Jackson era, Puma Pass is set to lead the Louisville offense into what we all hope is a successful season. Behind Puma, there are three other players who are yet to take a snap at the collegiate level. Although they haven’t yet played in a game, that’s definitely not indicative of the talent level in the group of backup QBs for the Cards. Let’s take a look at what Puma Pass and the rest of the quarterbacks bring to the table this year.
In order by expected position on the depth chart:
By now, every Louisville fan on the planet knows that somehow the Cards are going to have to replace Lamar Jackson’s productivity, or at least attempt to. The best case scenario for the Cards is that Puma can take hold of the reigns and show how talented he truly is.
In limited game action this past season, Puma played much more in control than I would’ve expected out of a redshirt freshman who hadn’t yet seen game action. When he got the chance, he didn’t try to force any throws or try to do too much with his feet, he just simply took what the defense was giving him.
He completed around 66% of his passes in the action he saw, which is definitely impressive when you take into account he was considered to be a bit of a raw prospect in regards to throwing the ball coming out of high school. To me, I think it shows that Pass is accepting the coaching he’s getting from Nick Petrino, and that the year he spent watching Lamar showed him a lot about the college game.
While I realize it was a small sample size, I find it very impressive that Puma was able to calm his nerves and perform like you’d expect a seasoned veteran to, and definitely not like a freshman typically would. Since he’s shown that he is a coachable player, it definitely bodes well for this season because he can continue to build off of what he’s already done and can continue to improve throughout the season.
I definitely think it’s worth noting that Louisville fans shouldn’t expect to see the same kind of numbers as what Lamar put up for the Cards. Obviously, nobody can be expected to be Lamar Jackson, but I simply mean that Puma will not be responsible for as much of the offense as Lamar was, therefore he won’t put up as gaudy of stats. Coach Petrino has mentioned a couple of times that he would like to get the power run game going, and with a good line returning, I think it’s definitely a good possibility.
If Louisville is able to get a power running game going, it will open up the play action pass which is an area that Puma Pass can excel in. He has shown a great ability to launch the deep ball and hit crossing routes which would certainly get the Louisville offense on track. I’d expect to see a lot of play action passing this year from Puma and the Louisville offense.
Standing in at 6 foot 4, with a bulkier frame, Puma is definitely not as explosive of a runner as Lamar is, but he can definitely still run very well for a Pro-style quarterback. I wouldn’t expect as many designed runs for Puma this season, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see him carry the ball around 5 times a game out of the read option look. He’s shown the ability to be a patient runner and let the holes open up instead of trying to run before the play develops.
Puma absolutely has the talent to excel at this level, which he has previously shown glimpses of. If he can continue to take the coaching that he is getting and develop, I see no reason that he and this Louisville football team can’t put together a nice season on the gridiron.
If you were to put Cunningham in a #8 jersey, I would have to do a couple double takes to convince myself that I wasn’t watching a young Lamar Jackson. Malik plays a very similar style of QB that we saw Lamar play for the last 3 seasons, meaning he’s an incredible athlete that can make plays with his arm and his legs.
During this years spring game, Cunningham dazzled early with his ability to scramble and pick up extra yards, but also with his ability to take what the defense was giving him and check down to tight ends or running back out of the backfield. To me, this shows that he is very mature for a young guy because he doesn’t try to force the ball and doesn’t try to do too much when the play isn’t there. He simply progresses to his check-down and takes what the defense gives him.
With Cunningham presumably taking on the #2 spot on the depth chart this year, I’d expect to see him come in during the second half of blow out games. Although they were both classified as “dual threat” out of high school, Malik Cunningham’s game isn’t as similar to Puma Pass’ as you may think. Malik is a much more explosive athlete when he’s running the ball and tends to look a lot more like Lamar in that aspect compared to Puma.
Cunningham doesn’t have the greatest arm strength at this point, but as he matures a little bit, and gets a little stronger, I think it’ll come along just fine. A thing that impresses me a lot about this guy is how accurate he is. He has shown a great ability to put the ball right where it’s needed and he puts it where only his guy can get it. He showed this a couple times in the spring game but showed it game in and game out looking back at his high school highlights.
Now I’m not saying that Malik Cunningham will overtake the starting job if Puma has a poor game or two, but he certainly has the talent level to challenge him for the next couple of years. It’s always a good thing to have depth at the quarterback position, and it’s even better if the guys who are in backup roles can push the starter to get better and compete.
If he can truly learn from Puma Pass and the coaching staff then I would expect Malik to be very exciting and to be a good player when he gets the chance.
Coming into his redshirt-sophomore season, McCormack is a guy who has yet see game action for the Cards. That’s not to say ,however, that he isn’t a talented player.
During his senior year in high school, he was selected as a member of the all-state team after throwing for over 3,000 yards and 40 touchdowns. Standing at 6 foot 5 and 200 pounds, he’s got the frame of a Division 1 quarterback and definitely has some solid arm strength to go along with it.
After watching some of his old highlights, McCormack definitely has the ability to zip the ball into tight spaces and make some good throws over the middle of the field. I wouldn’t expect him to compete for a starting spot this year or next, but he’s definitely a talented guy who adds great depth to the Cardinal QB room.
His last name should look familiar to Card fans as Clay is the little brother of former Louisville quarterback Kyle Bolin. Like his brother, Clay is a talented football player who played high school ball in Kentucky.
He played at Bourbon County High School, where he now holds every passing record in school history. His senior season, he had over 3,000 yards to go along with 23 touchdowns. He was also voted to the Courier-Journal all state team.
Clay Bolin’s playing style reminds me a lot of his brother, Kyle. He displays very good mechanics and is always moving his feet around in the pocket, which is a great trait for a young QB to have.
He shows very good accuracy to all parts of the field, and has a lot more arm strength than I would have thought. Looking at his tape, he didn’t hesitate to make any throw on the field which shows that he’s obviously confident in his skills.
Like Sean McCormack, Bolin has yet to see game action, so he hasn’t been able to show that his skills translate to the college level. If his high school tape and family lineage is any indication, then I’d say Bolin is quite the competitor.
I wouldn’t expect Clay to push for a starting spot, but I would expect that he and Sean McCormack will be in a pretty tight race for that number 3 spot on the depth chart.