Former Louisville football 4-star tight end earns major All-America honor

Louisville football had a crazy busy offseason, adding over 32 transfers from the Transfer Portal. The Cardinals had to completely rebuild nearly their entire offense as Brohm lost his entire offensive line, star wide receivers, multiple tight ends, and his starting quarterback.

Louisville went on to have a top-five transfer class in the portal, and one of their key additions was 4-star transfer Brody Foley. The Tulsa transfer had a dominant season, leaving Cardinals fans extremely excited for him in the red and black.

While Louisville fans are stoked for Foley, one former Cardinal tight end keeps them wishing he had stayed at UofL. On3 Sports reminds Louisville fans about former commitment Jamari Jones, as the Oregon tight end just earned high praise from On3 Sports.

Former Louisville football commitment makes All-America Team

On3 Sports just put out its Preseason 2026 All-America football team, and while Louisville fans were looking to see if Isaac Brown or Clev Lubin were listed, they also saw a familiar name instead. Johnson is expected to be a key piece for Oregon’s offense this upcoming season, and On3 Sports went as far as putting him on its First-Team All-America team.

Johnson started his career at Louisville after he committed to the Cardinals in the 2023 recruiting class. The elite tight end was one of the top-recruited tight ends in the recruiting class, ranked as a 4-star prospect from California, No. 190 overall, No. 11 among ATH, and No. 17 among California natives.

He earned over 14 offers in his recruiting process, including from Alabama, Miami, Florida State, Michigan, Michigan State and others. The Cardinals earned the major commitment from the 4-star recruit, but unfortunately he only stayed for two seasons.

Johnson didn’t get much time during his true freshman season because of injury, and in his redshirt freshman season, he played just seven games after his year was cut short by a season-ending ankle injury against Miami in October.  When he was on the field, he was productive, securing 13 catches for 158 yards and one touchdown.

Now, he has emerged as one of the top tight ends in the nation, making the On3 Sports All-America Team. This past year with Oregon, the 6-foot-5, 260-pound tight end caught 32 receptions for 510 yards and three touchdowns.

"The 6-5, 257-pound redshirt junior started his career at Louisville, but in his first season with the Ducks a year ago, caught 32 passes while playing in Sadiq’s shadow and finished second on the team by averaging 15.9 yards per catch. Two of Johnson’s three touchdown catches last season came in the playoff. Oregon has produced 10 NFL players at tight end over the past 20 years. Johnson is set to be the 11th and likely a first-rounder."

Chris Low

Johnson is trending as a potential first-round pick in the future, and now the Cardinals fans can only think about what could have been. The thought of Johnson with this elite running back room and the new wide receivers, Tre Richardson and Lawayne McCoy, would have made for an elite offense. However, Foley is a 4-star transfer, and now the Cardinals fans can only hope he turns into what Johnson is at Oregon.

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