Louisville football: Cards offer two local prospects

Louisville football ended a big-time recruiting weekend by offering two talented hometown prospects.

Finally, Louisville football fans are getting what they had been asking for on the recruiting trail.

After a recruiting weekend that saw the Cards land two players and rocket 27 spots up the 247 Sports rankings, the Louisville coaching staff capped it off by offering two of the biggest names in the 2020 recruiting class from the city of Louisville.

Josh Minkins Jr. and Jordan Watkins are close friends from Louisville who had been anxiously waiting for their hometown team to offer them a scholarship.

During Bobby Petrino’s second stint at Louisville, the former head coach was hesitant to pull the trigger on some of the area’s local talent and was notorious for not even visiting some of the high schools in his own back yard.

First-year head coach Scott Satterfield and his staff are making sure that that changes sooner rather than later. Satterfield placed an emphasis in his opening press conference on the fact that they were going to recruit locally and operate in the area and states around Louisville the hardest in order to keep the local studs at home.

They weren’t kidding either. The Cards are recruiting almost all of the top 15 players in the state of Kentucky and they are the favorites to land at least three of them.

Now, add to the list Minkins and Watkins, who both camped with the Cards over the weekend and received offers before they left.

Minkins would be a legacy player for the Cards. His father, Josh Sr., was a defensive back who played for the Cards from 2000-2004. Now, his son is excited for the opportunity to possibly follow in his father’s footsteps.

Minkins is a defensive back who could play corner or safety for the Cards. He is a rangy 6-3, 190 pounds, and has solid speed and athleticism. At Ballard high school Minkins plays both ways, and he is a do-it-all playmaker for the Bruins.

The rising senior is a Louisville lean and has 100 percent of his crystal ball predictions to Louisville according to 247Sports.

https://twitter.com/joshminkins/status/1135312630384594946

His close friend and workout partner Watkins is out of Butler high school where he played his Junior year after transferring from Desales.

Watkins is a lesser-known prospect because he sat out most of his junior year, but he has elite-level speed. His first two years of high school, Watkins played running back, but he has found a role as a wide receiver.

At 6-0, 180-pounds, Watkins could be versatile for the Cards. With sub-4.4 40 speed and a knack for beating defenders to the edge and evading would-be tacklers, one could see Watkins playing a similar role to current Louisville running back Hassan Hall.

https://twitter.com/jordantwatkins/status/1135289077027225603

Both of the prospects seem extremely excited about the offers, which is excellent news for Louisville football. Finally, a staff that understands and appreciates the importance of recruiting your local players and giving them a chance to play for their hometown schools.

No matter how the rest of the Louisville football recruiting class pans out, it’s good to know that those in charge have a good understanding of what the fanbase wants, and what could potentially be best for the future of the program.