Louisville football: Three ’21 signees who could contribute immediately

S Benjamin Perry

“You are just picking all of their highest rated players.”

I know I am. Isn’t it glorious?

In all serious, this one just has the feeling of another no-brainer. Similar to Cooley, Perry did not play any high school football in 2020 in Illinois so all there has been to go off of is his junior year tape and 7-on-7.

Also similar to Cooley, Perry will be enrolling in January at U of L and will be available to participate in the spring which is absolutely massive for freshmen hoping to contribute.

Perry is one of the most technically sound football players I have seen from the high school ranks which gives me a very good feeling that he will be ready to contribute right away for this football team.

It is everything from his instincts to how clean his backpedal and transitions look to his tackling and ball skills. He has a high football IQ and has clearly worked very hard to get to where he is as a player. I believe that he will come in and pick things up in college very quickly and has been honing his craft with the time off in 2020.

The 6’3″ 190-pounder will have plenty of versatility at the next level. I believe he could play the hybrid linebacker-safety role that Bryan Brown calls the “Card” position or he could move into the strong safety role with ease.

Both of these roles have been recently vacated after Rodjay Burns and Russ Yeast graduated and departed from the program.

The competition is going to be strong at those two spots, but there is no reason to believe that Perry should not at least be garnering snaps on defense. If Brown wants to find a way to put the best players on the field, Perry has got to be out there.

He was rated as the No. 9 safety nationally by 247 Sports and I would expect for him to live up to that billing in college sooner rather than later.