The 2024 Louisville football regular season ended, and immediately their 2025 roster was being impacted. This talented Jeff Brohm roster has NFL talent up and down the roster when glancing over it, and the Cardinals had to hit the transfer portal in many areas to try and replace these elite level players.
UofL is going to come across significant changes and challenges next season on the defensive side of the ball. Cardinals lost four of their top five cornerbacks, leading tackler, and best pass rusher all to the NFL draft.
Cardinals did hit the transfer portal and are ranked in top 25 for majority of way-to-early rankings. Their FanDuel wins total line is set for 8.5 and Cardinals have the fourth best odds to win the ACC Championship at +500.
The NFL combine is a few weeks away and the NFL Draft is just a couple months away. Louisville football will hear many players names called on draft night, as they plan to transition to the next level.
This is every Louisville football player from the 2024 roster that declared for the draft.
Every Louisville football player who declared for the 2025 NFL Draft
Tahveon Nicholson, CB
Tahveon Nicholson is one of three corners that declared for the draft from the Louisville football team. He was a speedy corner, that was able to track the ball down and cover man-to-man well. He had two pass deflections, one interception and 23 solo tackles in 2024.
Before Louisville, he played three seasons at Illinois, where he had an impressive 2023 season with 36 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, six pass deflections, one fumble recovery, and two forced fumbles.
Ja'Corey Brooks, WR
Ja'Corey Brooks was the Cardinals No.1 target at wide receiver in the 2024 season. Brooks brought in 61 catches for 1,013 yards and nine touchdowns. He was first team All-ACC, as he had five 100-yard receiving games, and became the Cardinals first wide receiver since 2022 to record 1,000+ receiving yards.
Brooks was the first UofL wide receiver to score two or more touchdowns in consecutive games since 2010. His receiving yards finished 27th nationally, and 20th in touchdowns. It goes without saying, but when watching film on Brooks, his speed, ball tracking, and ability to make big play and big time catches stand out immediately.
Ramon Puryear, DE
Ramon Puryear is 6-foot-3, 275 lbs., and was a dominant force for the Cardinals front line. Puryear was named honorable mention All-ACC, as he had 34 tackles, 3.5 tackles were for a loss, 2.5 sacks, and recovered three fumbles for a touchdown. In his career, he recorded nine sacks, and has a program record for games played at 67.
Michael Gonzalez, OL
Michael Gonzalez started in every game over the past two seasons, and helped lead this offense to be one of best in country. Cardinals averaged over 30 points in 2023 and 2024. He played in over 850 snaps in 2023 and recorded 31 knockdown blocks, and helped the Cardinals average 178 yards rushing per game.
Dan Foster Jr., LB
Dan Foster big season came back in 2023 when he started all 13 games for the Cardinals and had the fifth most tackles on the team with his 52 tackles. Of those 52 tackles, 25 of them were solo, 3.5 were tackles for loss, and he also forced one fumble, had fumble recovery and 3 quarterback hurries.
In 2024, he came of the bench, and ended the season with 23 tackles.
Thor Griffith, DL
Louisville defensive tackle, Thor Griffith, transferred to UofL and instantly showed off his NFL skill. Griffith had 14 solo tackles, 21 total tackles, and three sacks in his 2024 season. He had 132 tackles, 33.5 tackles for loss, and 13.5 sacks in his collegiate career.
Thor Griffith defensive grade of 89.3 was PFF's second-highest rated defensive tackle in the FCS in 2023. Griffith run defense was one of the best in the nation, and his ability to get to the quarterback is what makes him NFL ready.
Dezmond Tell, DL
Dezmond Tell is listed as 6-foot-1 295 lbs., and finished the season with 28 tackles, 14 tackles listed as solo, 4.5 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks. He ended his career with 98 total tackles and 6.5 sacks for Louisville.
Corey Thornton, CB
Corey Thornton had 38 total tackles, 27 of them were solo, two interceptions and six pass deflections in the 2024 season. Thornton was one of the Cardinals best defensive backs this season, and helped make this UofL secondary one of the best in the country.
In 2023, Thornton had a 76.2 defense grade on PFF and was top 15 in the Big 12. Thornton ability to play lockdown man-to-man defense and use his mobility and speed to guard is why he is so special.
Mark Redman, TE
Mark Redman was the Cardinals starting tight end in the 2024 season and was ranked fourth on the team with 24 receptions third in receiving yards with 256 yards. He also placed third in touchdown scored for the team, as he found the end zone three times in 13 games.
Redman ability to block as a tight end is why he is most definitely ready for the NFL. He is a sound in-line blocker but also has the ability to make plays after the catch. Redman is pro-ready and is a tight end is a big weakness for the Cardinals next season.
Ashton Gillotte, DE
Ashton Gillote was a star defensive lineman for Louisville football last season, as he finished the 2024 season with the most tackles for the Cardinals. Gillote played all 12 games with 23 solo tackles and 43 total tackles. He also led the Cardinals in total amount of sacks with 4.5 for 22 yards.
In 2023 Gillote had 45 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss and 11.0 sacks, which was tied for the ninth most in the 2023 season. He earned first team All-ACC, and second team All-American. Gillotte is an all-around pass rusher who will find the quarterback and wil make an impact on every play.
Quincy Riley, CB
Quincey Riley is becoming one of the top cornerbacks in the draft, as his ability to locate the ball and impact the play is almost second to none. In his full college career, he stacked up 159 tackles, 106 solo, 6.0 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 13 interceptions, 34 passes deflections, 1 forced fumble, and 2 touchdowns
Riley had 21 tackles in the 2024 season and had two interceptions with one force fumble. The former Louisville cornerback led the Cardinals in pass deflections with nine and demonstrated that all weekend long. Riley will be drafted most likely in the top two rounds.
M.J. Griffin, S
M.J. Griffin was one of the best defensive backs on the Cardinals 2024 team, as he had the third most tackles on Louisville football with 63 total tackles, and the second most solo tackles with 39. He had one sack, and two pass deflections. The Cardinals safety started every game, 13, last season.
Tyler Shough, QB
The Cardinals were led by quarterback Tyler Shough, who threw for over 3,100 yards, and had 23 touchdowns on just six interceptions. Shough had the 24th best QBR in the nation at 75.0 and led this Cardinals offense to be one of the more elite offenses in the nation. Shough was just the 13th quarterback in program history to throw for 3,000 yards or more in a season.
UofL had a total of 5,840 yards in their season, which was top 20 in the nation, and averaged 450 total yards per game, 264 yards through the air and 36.5 points per game. Shough declared for the NFL draft and will most likely be drafted in the first five rounds.
Shough is receiving a lot of media praise from Louis Reddick and even said the Cardinals quarterback is going to be the “steal of the draft”.