Louisville football: Cards hoping to be choice of three-star running back

A top target for the Louisville football program is set to announce his decision this weekend. Could a commitment be in the Cards?

The Louisville football has been on a roll the last few weeks picking up multiple commitments in the class of 2021, headlined by three-star safety, Benjamin Perry.

Scott Satterfield’s recruiting efforts thus far have put the Cards in a prime spot to finish with one of the best classes in school history. According to 247 Sports 2021 team rankings, Louisville has the third-highest ranked class six commits or less and the fifth-highest average rating in the ACC, and with multiple new commitments expected in the coming weeks/months, the Cards could be one of the biggest surprises on the recruiting trail.

Even in the midst of a worldwide pandemic that has completely shut down all recruiting travel and led to cancellations of the usual summer camps that coaches use to truly determine talent, the Louisville staff is thriving in recruiting.

While there have been a lot of big wins, there are a few losses that have stung – arguably none bigger than four-star running back Corey Kiner. If you’re a regular visitor to our site, you’ve probably read about Kiner on multiple occasions as we’ve highlighted just how important he was as arguably the program’s top target in 2021. Kiner seemed headed towards a commitment to Louisville after visiting campus on multiple occasions, but an offer and a strong push from defending champions LSU ultimately led to a commitment.

Now the Cards are looking for the guy who will be tasked with following in the footsteps of Javian Hawkins and Hassan Hall and it could potentially be Colby McDonald, who is just days away from announcing his college choice.

McDonald picked up an offer back in January from the Louisville football staff and since the two parties have built a strong connection. He released his top eight not long ago and spoke to 247 Sports’ Brian Dohn about his finalists. When asked about Louisville, he told Dohn:

"“They have been recruiting me hard and I love the atmosphere of their games and how their coaches treat the players. I like what they have going on down there and the way they run their offense, and I have a good relationship with their running back coach.”"

McDonald ranks as the 1014th best player in the class of 2021 in 247 Sports’ Composite Rankings and the 70th best back in the country – both of which seem low when comparing it to his offer sheet. The Washington, DC native’s final eight included multiple power five programs including Michigan, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Maryland, and of course, Louisville.

Big Red Louie contributor Dalton Pence detailed McDonald’s game in his recent piece highlighting the top options at running back, writing:

“McDonald is a high-energy back who runs extremely wall downhill. His elusiveness and ability to find holes in the defense grant him large chunks of daylight in the secondary. He carries all of the qualities to become a feature back at the next level; allowing him to get beyond the line of scrimmage either as a ball-carrier or a pass-catcher could spell trouble for opposing defenses due to his extreme burst and strength.”

At 5’10, 200-pounds, McDonald fits the mold of what the Cards currently have at running back and his speed, elusiveness, and ability to provide versatility out of the backfield should allow Norval McKenzie to easily make him a big part of the running game early on in his career especially if Hawkins does decide to leave early for the NFL.

The crystal ball projections from 247 Sports would lead you to believe that Maryland is in the best spot to land McDonald, and that might very well be true (editors note: multiple protections were put in for McDonald shortly after this article was written). However, with Louisville losing Kiner to LSU it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see the staff turn up the volume on his recruitment and go on all in on landing a commitment.

McDonald would give the Cards the star running back they desperately need in the class of 2021.