There’s a quarterback Louisville football should keep an eye on

Even with an ongoing quarterback competition, Scott Satterfield would be wise to take a look at this transfer quarterback for Louisville football.

When Scott Satterfield took over as the new head coach of the Louisville football program in December, the Cards had just two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster after Jordan Travis officially announced to transfer to Florida State right before the Early Signing period.

They quickly turned to Evan Conley, a Appalachian State commit at the time, who’s only offers were from low mid major programs. Conley would eventually flip his commitment to Louisville, ultimately signing and enrolling early, thus giving the Cards three scholarship QB’s.

With those three guys competing through the winter, spring, and now ultimately into the fall there is an ongoing conversation around the program about whether another scholarship QB is needed to compete with Jawon Pass, Malik Cunningham, and Conley.

With several available open scholarships and a QB job that seems to be wide open, bringing in a QB hasn’t been ruled out by anyone, including Scott Satterfield. In December, when speaking about how he likes to stock up on quarterbacks Satterfield said:

"“Really you’d like to have four or five on your roster that can do it, because we all know guys get dinged up they get hurt, you’d better have another one that can do it when he comes in the game.”"

At the same time he didn’t rule out adding another QB to the roster, whether it be a graduate transfer or a JUCO player, saying “There’s certainly a possibility at that position (QB), either that or a potential junior-college player there. Again, that’s a pretty big need for us.”

While the Cards new head coach has had plenty of good things to say about all three of his guys this spring, that doesn’t mean a graduate transfer stopgap should be ruled out.

Enter Tommy Stevens.

While it’s hard to tell how good a kid after only seeing him in limited opportunities, Penn State redshirt senior QB Tommy Stevens provided glimpses of promise every time he got onto the field that he was going to be the heir apparent to longtime starter and 2018 AP All-American second team, Trace McSorley come 2019.

While mostly only playing during blowout, Stevens showed a lot of good things through his three years as a backup. He threw for 304 yards, four touchdowns and one interception, but that’s not it. He also showed a willingness to play other positions, and help provide a different level of versatility to the Penn State offense by playing in the wildcat and different formations at running back and even tight end, combining for 568 all-purpose yards and 10 more touchdowns (8 rushing, 2 receiving).

This offseason with McSorley leaving, Stevens was expected to be the guy for the Nittany Lions  but a lingering foot injury that required surgery left him sidelined for the majority of winter workouts allowing for Sean Clifford to emerge as a possible contender. Stevens did get back in time for spring ball, but was limited in what he could do, which closed the gap between the “penciled-in” starter and the up and coming backup.

The performance of Clifford was enough to not only open up a competition at QB that would go into spring and fall camp, but one that was enough for Stevens to move on as a graduate transfer, officially entering the transfer portal this week. Now the long-time backup will be looking for a fresh start for his final season of eligibility. Could Louisville be the answer?

While Stevens hasn’t played a full quarter at the QB position since his high school, his highlight tapes show a lot of skills you’d expect a Scott Satterfield quarterback to have; the biggest being mobility.

Much like Pass, Stevens is a big QB, standing at 6’5″ 240 pounds, but he moves much more like a running back than a QB at his size. Used in a “gadget” role throughout his career, Stevens showed good speed, even better power, and a surprising elusiveness that allowed him to rush for several touchdowns in key moments of Penn State games through his time as the backup. Much like the clip below.

While Pass is not slow by any means, Stevens showed an ability to get outside of the pocket and extend plays when pressure came up the middle while keeping his eyes down field for open targets. Louisville did have a “run first” QB in Malik Cunningham last year, who made some electrifying things happen with his legs. But when forced by defenses to make throws down the field or to the sideline he struggled.

The clip below is a perfect example of what Stevens is capable of.

Stevens also showed the ability to stand big in the pocket and make throws in the face of pressure, something that was sorely missing last season from both Jawon Pass and Malik Cunningham.

While there are certainly questions that would need to be answered on why Stevens felt the need to transfer from Penn State after being considered the starter for so long, as well as if he’s another player who thrived as a backup but is mediocre as a full-time starter, there’s also a lot of things that line up with Scott Satterfield’s scheme.

His mobility, familiarity with run, pass, option, as well as his ability to get the ball downfield makes him a great fit.

We have no clue if Louisville will show interest in the redshirt senior, but on a surface level, he could be a great fit to the current roster for coach Satterfield.

In a year where improving and growing is the key, adding a veteran QB who has seen some things and is hungry for a chance to show what he can do, could go a long way.