Louisville football: 5 players who could be drafted in 2021 NFL Draft
By Jacob Lane
Dez Fitzpatrick – WR
Redshirt senior
Dez Fitzpatrick has looked the part of an NFL wide receiver since the day he stepped on the field for the Louisville football program against Purdue in Lucas Oil Stadium on way to a 700-yard, nine touchdown freshman season.
After a down season in 2018, Fitzpatrick bounced back in a major way in 2019 playing for Scott Satterfield and wide receiver’s coach Gunter Brewer, totaling 635 receiving yards and six touchdowns – trailing only behind Tutu Atwell. While Fitzpatrick didn’t always get the targets he deserved, he took advantage of the ones he did receive – giving Micale Cunningham another reliable weapon.
In 2019 we saw a more complete Fitzpatrick who displayed not only his ability to make huge plays down the field (something we new he was capable of) but also developed into an incredible asset in the running game as a blocker, as well as someone who took the attention off of other weapons with his elite route running and combination of size and speed.
Fitzpatrick could’ve left the Cards a year early, but ultimately decided to return for his senior season thanks to having what his father Greg Fitzpatrick called “unfinished business.” Now he’ll look to take his production to another level as the Louisville offense takes another step towards being one of the best in the country.
Fitzpatrick is the most complete NFL prospect as of today for Louisville and his father, who also is a wide receiver guru, believes he’ll bring a ton to a professional organization. Greg told me:
“I believe that Dez is a complete receiver. I think that his size, speed, route running, ball skills, technical skills, blocking and positional IQ are all things that make him a player with early-round potential. Dez has the ability to make catches from both sides of the field at every catch angle along with the ability to make tough contested catches. He’s equally effective playing outside or inside and has a very high understanding of play and route concepts, which allows him to create separation and maintain leverage.”
There are several reasons why Fitzpatrick made the tough decision to return, including finishing “unfinished business”, playing with his younger brother and incoming freshman, Christian Fitzpatrick, as well as continuing to prove that even with other weapons around him he can stand out and be a leading receiver. Greg told me, “The feedback that we’ve received from several sources has been all about production. Teams have questions as to why his production has slipped since his redshirt freshman year. Dez hasn’t received many targets in career at UofL, but we all feel confident that the offense will hit another gear this upcoming season.”
We saw what happened last season when the offense made getting the ball outside to Dez Fitzpatrick a priority. He. made. plays. And while NFL teams may want to ask about lack of production, up and down seasons, or whatever else may arise, there’s no denying that when Louisville has gotten the ball to Dez he’s done one thing above all else; make plays.
“When he’s targeted, he’s always shown that he can make special plays,” Fitzpatrick told me. “He decided to come back because he feels like he has unfinished business at UofL, he wanted to play with his younger brother and he wants to learn from Coach Brew another year.”
This season will be all about taking his production to another level, something I believe he’s more than capable of doing – should the targets come his way. Last season Fitzpatrick finished with just three games in which he caught four or more passes (THREE, THAT”S IT!!!) and in all but one of those games he went over 100 yards receiving.
If Louisville can replicate the success they had in the three-game stretch against FSU, BC, and Wake Forest where Fitzpatrick totaled a combined 17 catches for 366 receiving yards and four touchdowns – then we could be talking about Fitzpatrick as a very high draft choice.
What would Fitzpatrick bring to an NFL roster?
A dynamic playmaker with good size, speed, hands, and a guy who will do anything to win, and do so at a high level. I asked Greg the same thing about Dez, and he told me “I would say that his ability to adjust to any ball on both sides of the field from multiple angles would be at the top of the list. Most NFL QBs can “throw you open” in tight coverage and Dez can adjust to balls with no wasted movement and make those catches (low, high, behind him, over both shoulders, contested, etc.).”
With a productive final season in Louisville, we should be talking about the Cards first receiver drafted since DeVante Parker.