Louisville football: One player to watch at every position during spring

QB

Evan Conley – Freshman

A lot of fans questioned the recruiting of Scott Satterfield when he signed three star QB Evan Conley in December, after the 6’1, 205 pound Georgia product had been committed to App State. Conley’s best offers were from Appalachian State and Colgate, even after having a big career at Kell High School in Georgia.

Now that he’s on campus however, the narrative has changed, and many fans and coaches can’t stop talking about the potential gem of the 2019 class. Conley, who enrolled early, is one of just a few freshman who are on campus for Spring Ball, and with the lack of depth at the QB position there is a solid chance that Conley could be the guy come September 1st against Notre Dame.

Conley has drawn comparisons to former Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield, for his raw abilities and size, and while those may be far fetched, there’s no denying that Conley can flat out ball.

As an unheralded recruit and now true freshman, Conley will compete with redshirt junior Jawon Pass, who appeared in 11 games last season, and redshirt sophomore Malik Cunningham, who appeared in 10 games. Both guys bring more experience and probably overall talent to the table, but from multiple reports this season, there may not be a harder working player on the team than Conley.

Louisville fans will get their first look at the freshman QB at the open scrimmage in March.

RB

Hassan Hall – Sophomore

It’s hard to find silver linings in a season that ended with a team that once looked like a 9 win team, but finished 2-10, but dammit there were at least a few. One of them being freshman running back Hassan Hall, who burst onto the scene at the back end of the season for Louisville.

Buried behind Dae Williams, Trey Smith, Jeremy Smith, and Colin Wilson to begin the season, injury and struggles from the backs mentioned allowed for the speedy freshman, who Petrino praised constantly, to finally see the field.

Once he did get on the field he added a new dynamic to Louisville’s offense that was sorely needed, even though it wasn’t enough to put any W’s in the column.

That could change this season in a run heavy offense with a coach who has a plan on how to use his running backs. Last year Satterfield’s rushing offense was ranked second in the Sun Belt and also featured the conference’s leading rusher Darrynton Evans. Hall, who finished with 303 rushing yards & 3 touchdowns, will likely begin the season at the top of the depth chart, but will face stiff competition from Wilson, Williams, and freshmen Aidan Robbins and Jalen Mitchell.

The spring will give Hall the chance to prove that the high production in limited opportunities last season could yield in a breakout year under Satterfield.

WR

Justin Marshall – RS Sophomore

I could have gone 1,000 different ways with the name to watch at WR, seeing as how Bobby Petrino literally only recruited wide receivers. Dez Fitzpatrick is likely in store for the first 1,000 yard season at Louisville since 2007, while Seth Dawkins will be looking to bounce back from a down sophomore season, and Tutu Atwell will look to take a big step as a the slot receiver.

However, the guy I’m still most intrigued with is redshirt sophomore Justin Marshall. I spent a lot of time last season talking about the potential of Marshall, a former four star wide receiver, who is a mirror image of another former Cardinal – DeVante Parker.

I can’t remember seeing Marshall on the field last season, but under Gunter Brewer I really expect that to change. Marshall is a long, athletic, and extremely fast wide receiver who has the ability to go outside and over the middle. With the tutelage of Brewer don’t be shocked if Marshall develops into a reliable weapon for whoever is named the QB at Louisville.