Since Jeff Brohm returned to his alma mater in 2023, he immediately elevated the program to the upper tier of the ACC with 10 and nine-win seasons consecutively. With the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff, another 10-win campaign could be enough to land the Cardinals on the periphery of the CFP conversation, but Brohm will have to do it with another new starting quarterback.
Brohm has yet to have a two-year starter at Louisville, instead opting for transfer portal solutions in each of his three offseasons, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t built a sustainable talent pipeline. The Cardinals have plenty of talent returning from the 2024 team for the 2025 season, and heading into the summer, these five look like the best of that group.
Louisville doesn’t have the luxury of a returning quarterback in 2025, but Brohm was able to retain his team’s leader on the other side of the ball. For the second straight season in 2024, TJ Quinn led the Cardinals in tackles, and now he’s back for his redshirt senior season. Quinn is a reliable run-stuffer, the only member of the Louisville defense to play over 700 snaps, and has posted back-to-back years with over 80 tackles.
Jeff Brohn is an elite passing game coordinator and makes life so easy for his quarterbacks, but in 2025, Louisville will have the luxury of an elite backfield with both of last season’s leading rushers back in the fold. Watson was the No. 2 to Isaac Brown, and while both have incredible breakaway speed, the sophomore was freed up to swing for the fences even more than Brown.
Watson gained 63.3 percent of his total rushing yardage on just 10 runs of 15 or more yards last season. His success rate of 45 percent would have ranked 86th in the country had he qualified (according to gameonpaper.com), while his EPA/rush of 0.36 would have tied for 10th with Marshall’s AJ Turner.
Brohm’s offense typically finds a way to silo targets to one elite wide receiver. Last season, that player was Ja’Corey Brooks, and the year before, it was Jamari Thrash. Both times, Chris Bell was the trustworthy No. 2 option. Now, it’s Bell’s turn to see the lion’s share of the passing game from transfer quarterback Miller Moss.
Bell caught 43 passes for 737 yards and four touchdowns last season. He’s been such a perfect No. 2 to both Thrash and Brooks because he’s stout enough at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds to be an underneath security blanket and chain mover for his quarterback, but also dynamic enough with the ball in his hands to average 8.9 yards after the catch on his 31 receptions between 0 and nine yards downfield. Now, can he stretch the field as a true No. 1? Well, we’ll see, but with Moss thriving as a quick-game thrower, and Caullin Lacy back and presumably healthy, he may not need to be.
Quinn may have led the defense in tackles last season, but Stanquan Clark wasn’t far behind, and the latter was a far more disruptive force. Clark racked up 76 tackles, just six shy of Quinn, while adding two interceptions, two forced fumbles, two pass breakups, and 10 quarterback pressures.
With Quinn and Clark, Louisville has an elite linebacking duo, and Ron English and Mark Hagen’s defense can trust the spine of their defense to be reliable against the run and disruptive against the pass.
Isaac Brown burst onto the scene as an absolute star in his freshman season and will be the centerpiece of the Louisville offense in 2025. Despite getting just 16 carries across Louisville’s first three games, Brown still managed to break Lamar Jackson’s freshman rushing record and become the first freshman in program history to crack 1,000 yards on the ground with 1,173 yards on 165 carries (7.1 ypa).
A constant explosive play threat, Brown forced 37 missed tackles and produced 25 runs of 15 or more yards, like Watson, generating over 60 percent of his yardage for the season on those “breakaway runs.” At 5-foot-9, 190 pounds, Brown needs to improve in pass protection to develop into a full three-down back, but even with Watson back, it’ll be so tough for Brohm to keep his star sophomore off the field.