Louisville fans face harsh reality for fan-favorite RB after landing Marquise Davis

Louisville football recently earned its third commitment from the Transfer Portal, landing former 4-star recruit and Missouri transfer Marquise Davis. The Missouri transfer has four years of eligibility remaining and high expectations following a solid first collegiate season and strong high school production.

Davis went on to be a 4-star phenom out of Ohio, ranked as a consensus 4-star and as high as No. 162 in the nation, and the 11th-best running back in the 2025 recruiting class. The newest Louisville running back initially committed to Kentucky, but flipped to Missouri, and committed to the Tigers over programs like Penn State and Notre Dame.

Now, he enters the Louisville program as one of their top running backs, but the fans are beginning to fear what could happen next. With the Cardinals landing Davis and bringing back Isaac Brown late Sunday evening, it feels like Keyjuan Brown is now on transfer watch.

Related: Jeff Brohm stacks Louisville’s RB room after landing former 4-star SEC commit

Louisville fans face harsh reality about Keyjuan Brown's future

The star of the Cardinals next season will be the 2025 preseason All-American, Isaac Brown. The sophomore running back has averaged 7.7 yards per carry, while earning 2,057 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns in two seasons, and has also etched his name in multiple record books.

So, with Isaac back and Louisville adding Davis, where does that leave Keyjuan? Of course, the dream is to have Isaac at RB1, Keyjuan at RB2, and Davis at RB3, but that seems like it could be unlikely. Keyjuan proved last season he can be an RB1 on a Power Four team when he logged 96 carries for 704 rushing yards and six touchdowns.

He had a career season and was Louisville’s RB1 in multiple games, earning 80 rushing yards or more in all six games in which he had at least 10 carries. Keyjuan earned 94 rushing yards or more in his final five games of last season, and 100 rushing yards or more in the final three games. When he gets the ball at least 10 times or more, he averages 110 rushing yards per game and 8.4 rushing yards per carry.

Someone with his skill and after his breakout season, it is hard to imagine he will want to split backup carries, as he thought his time was coming after Duke Watson entered the portal. Now that Davis is here, it’s just as hard to imagine Davis committing to Louisville, knowing Isaac will start, Keyjuan will return, and Louisville has a highly-ranked running back coming in with Lehky Thompkins.

So, for now, Louisville fans are bracing for the worst with Keyjuan Brown and his future with the Cardinals, after Isaac returned and Davis committed.

Related: Predicting which Louisville football players leave or stay with the Cardinals

For all the latest recruiting news and updates for Louisville football, stay tuned.