Louisville football signed 21 new players into the program on Wednesday. Some are bound to make an impact.
The 2020 college football season was an odd one with a very limited amount of time for young freshman to come in and get used to their new homes.
This past season, many of the newcomers making an impact were junior college transfers like Yaya Diaby and Braden Smith as well as other NCAA transfers such as Kei’Trel Clark and Cam DeGeorge.
Even though those guys were making the primary impacts, that did not stop true freshmen players like Dezmond Tell and Jordan Watkins from playing significant snaps throughout the course of the 2020 season.
Louisville did not sign any junior college transfers and (so far) have not taken in any NCAA transfers into their signing class for 2021. It will be up to freshmen to step up to the plate.
With the turnstiles of new transfers coming into and departing the program, things can certainly change in a hurry for these freshmen hoping to come in immediately to make their mark on the field.
With all of that being said, let’s discuss three newcomers that could make immediate contributions to the team in 2021.
RB Trevion Cooley
This one comes off as obvious for a multitude of reasons. Cooley is one of the best running back recruits in the country for the 2021 recruiting cycle. 247 Sports ranked him as the No. 7 overall back in the nation.
He did not play in 2020 due to Covid restrictions not allowing for high school football to be played in North Carolina.
Cooley may be best suited to put on a little bit of weight once he gets in to college, but that should not be an issue for the 5’11” 208-pound ball carrier.
To make a path even easier for Cooley, he will be enrolling in January to get started with Louisville’s strength and conditioning program, and he will get to practice with the team come spring ball time.
Javian Hawkins‘ departure for the NFL Draft makes this a virtual lock that Cooley will get to contribute a great deal as a freshman. While Jalen Mitchell and Hassan Hall are good football players, neither possess the complete skillset that Cooley offers.
The shear amount of talent that Cooley comes in with is hard to compete with. He is a powerful and violent runner that can shed tackles and bowl over defenders head-on. Not just that, but Cooley has the burst and speed to take it to distance on any given play.
It is the kind of complete skillset that rarely comes around and Scott Satterfield would be wise to take notice and take advantage of it very early on in his career. Cooley could very easily be gone after three years in Louisville.
Cooley may not get 20 carries per game off the bat, but he will be the most talented back in the room day one.
Enjoy Cooley in 2021 and beyond. He will be given every chance to be one of the very best to ever come through the program.