Louisville football 2021 spring preview: Running backs

As part of a celebration to the upcoming start of spring football, we will be kicking off our positional preview for the 2021 Cardinals. We will go through every position group and highlight potential starters and what they may bring to the table in 2021. There are a ton of new and old faces to pay attention to across the entire roster.

Louisville football loses their No. 1 running back in Javian Hawkins after he decided to opt-out midseason in 2020 to pursue the NFL Draft. Hawkins was just a redshirt sophomore so his early departure is a sting to the team and a big loss as he is likely to be drafted at some point in the 2021 draft where a team can utilize his vision and speed.

The Cardinals proved that they have some intriguing players to replace Hawkins with all of them having different skill-sets for the position.

It’s going to be one of the most heated position battles throughout the spring and fall camp.

Let’s preview the running back position

Competing to start

Jalen Mitchell – 3rd year RS Fr.

2020 stats: 5 GP: 52 rush, 347 yards, 2 touchdowns; 4 receptions, 33 yards

Measurables: 5’10” 221-pounds

Mitchell is not a player who will “wow” you with electric speed or short area burst. He’s a strong, smart runner with the vision and patience you covet in any back as he allows the blockers in front of him to move bodies  before he picks his lanes. That combination allowed him to average 6.7 yards per carry in limited playing time last season.

After Hawkins’ opt out, Mitchell found himself on the field much more while proving to be a huge difference-maker. He’s rather slow as far as long speed is concerned. But his mix of contact balance and vision make him a very healthy option to get on the field for a ton of snaps in 2021.

Maurice Burkley – 5th year RS Sr.

2020 stats: 33 rush 180 yards, TD; 3 receptions, 21 yards

Measurables: 6’0″ 210-pounds

Similar to Mitchell, Burkley thrives as a back whose strength is contact balance. Once again, he won’t blow you away with athletic gifts as a former walk-on. But he is a back that fights for every last yard on every single play. The sample size has been very small for Burkley, but what he has shown has been very promising.

Burkley suffered a season-ending injury at the end of the 2020 campaign, but he should be a factor for significant snaps as the Cardinals head into camp.

Hassan Hall – 3rd year Jr.

2020 stats: 54 rush, 223 yards, 2 touchdowns; 3 receptions, 6 yards

Measurables: 6’0″ 204-pounds

This is one of the fastest players on Louisville’s roster and surely the Cardinals’ best speed option for the position. He’s not like Burkley or Mitchell where guys will bounce off of him and he powers through contact. He’s much better suited as the team’s home run hitter at the position.

Hall easily has the most experience of the bunch with over 230 carries in his career. The problem with him is injuries. Hall has struggled to stay on the field or play at his highest level because of a constant flow of being hampered by nagging pain. If head coach Scott Satterfield wants to deploy a home run threat to the offense, Hall is the guy. He also offers versatility as a threatening kick returner.

The unknown star freshman

Trevion Cooley – True Fr.

Measurables: 5’10” 200-pounds

He is a member of the true freshman class and is already on campus at Louisville. Barring some sort of injury, he will be participating in spring practices for the Cardinals with the opportunity to throw himself in the four man mix at running back.

As a recruit, Cooley was ranked as the No. 134 overall player in the country and the No. 7 running back by 247 Sports.

He has everything you could possibly want in a running back prospect with size, contact balance, short area burst, and long speed. Cooley truly is a do-it-all back. While he may need time to learn to run behind Louisville’s zone blocking run scheme, he could certainly find himself with a bunch of snaps when fall comes around.

Cooley was one of the prized recruits for Satterfield in the 2021 recruiting class. Look for him to push the veteran trio and make this a very tough four-way competition.

Depth

Aidan Robbins – 3rd year RS Fr.

2020 stats: 5 rush, 10 yards

Measurables:  6’3″ 230-pounds

Robbins is a locally groomed running back from Louisville who has had a hard time finding playing time in this offense. Mitchell, Hall, and Burkley were clearly selected over him in 2020 and, unless he makes a strong push this offseason, will likely behind those three once again and potentially Cooley.

He is a strong back who was considered to have potential to play running back or linebacker in college. Unfortunately, he hasn’t seen the field much. But he has an enforcer’s kind of frame that may be limiting his upside as a runner. For right now, he’s not in the best spot on the depth chart.

Overall

Satterfield has a nice selection of depth at his disposal with a stable of runners with a variety of skill-sets. Does he have a veteran star? Probably not. But Cooley’s development is a storyline to follow through spring. He already has a college frame. If he gets up to speed for fall, it would be genuinely shocking to not see him getting reps.

Louisville will have four backs that have proven they can compete at a high level in the ACC. But playing four running backs is almost impossible. Somebody will lose snaps. Burkley and Mitchell bring the same skill-set to the table. Could one of them be squeezed out of the rotation?