2023 Louisville Football Position Breakdown: Quarterback

The Cardinals head into the 2023 season with a brand new primary signal caller and a deep QB room overall.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As we inch closer to the start of the 2023 college football season, Louisville Report will break down each individual position on the Cardinals' roster. We kick off our positional breakdown series with the most important spot on the field: quarterback.

Position Roster Movement*:

Returning (2): Evan Conley, Brock Domann
Departing (2): Malik Cunningham (Graduation), Khalib Johnson (Transfer - Ole Miss)
Incoming (3): Brady Allen (Transfer - Purdue), Pierce Clarkson (HS), Jack Plummer (Transfer - Cal)

Projected Depth Chart*:

1. Jack Plummer (6-5, 215, Sr.)
2. Brock Domann (6-2, 225, Sr.)
3. Brady Allen (6-5, 215, R-Fr.)
4. Pierce Clarkson (6-1, 190, Fr.)
5. Evan Conley (6-2, 210, Sr.)

*scholarship quarterbacks only

Breakdown:

The upcoming 2023 season will mark the start of a new era in more ways than one. Not only is Jeff Brohm taking over as the head coach, it will be the first season since 2018 that Louisville will have a new primary signal caller. Following a six-year career with the Cardinals, one that saw him overtake Lamar Jackson as the program's all-time leader in touchdowns responsible for, Malik Cunningham has moved on to the NFL and is now with the New England Patriots trying to crack their 53-man roster.

Fortunately, Cunningham's departure isn't leaving Brohm high and dry at the position. In fact, Brohm has inherited - as well as crafted - a quarterback room that has a good mixture of talent, production and system familiarity. Heading into his first year at the helm, Louisville's starting quarterback has a perfect mixture of all three aforementioned traits.

Not long after Brohm accepted the job last December, he was reunited with quarterback Jack Plummer, who decided to transfer to Louisville for his final year in college after spending a season out west at Cal. The Golden Bears might have gone 4-8 in 2022, but it wasn't due to Plummer's efforts, as he completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 3,095 yards, 21 touchdown passes and nine interceptions. His yardage mark was good for sixth-most in Cal history for a single season, and ranked No. 22 in FBS through the end of the regular season.

Along with the production Plummer had at Cal, he is also very familiar with Brohm's offensive system. As many know by now, he spent the first four years of his collegiate career at Purdue, making 13 starts with 17 appearances as a Boilermaker.

Due to the experience and talent that he brings, Plummer wasted little time taking a stranglehold on QB1 reps during spring practice. He displayed a snappy and smooth release with a tight spiral, regularly delivered the ball into small windows, maintained solid accuracy on deep throws and did a great job of navigating the pocket with pressure coming at him. This all culminated in the spring game, where he went 10-for-13 for 140 yards and two touchdowns in roughly a half of work.

Plummer's film at Cal suggested that he was the epitome of a field general type of signal caller: one that won't lose you games but might not necessarily win you them either. However, his performance during Louisville's spring ball indicates that he can be more than just a one-year stop gap while the younger quarterbacks on the roster develop, and will likely play a decent role in how competitive Louisville will be in year one of the Jeff Brohm era. Especially since his current offensive line is a vast improvement to the one he had at Cal, which allowed 31 sacks last season.

Plummer has the starting quarterback spot on lockdown, but that's not to say that Louisville doesn't have capable backups. In fact, there's a very real chance that three other quarterbacks could see snaps this upcoming season.

The most likely backup is going to be Domann, as he has the most D1 experience and production out of all the remaining scholarship quarterbacks. As a result of various injuries to Cunningham, Domann had to make four starts last season, guiding UofL to a 3-1 record in those games. Making ten appearances overall, he completed 54.9 percent of his passes for 998 yards and four touchdowns to six interceptions last season.

This experience seems to have seamlessly carried over with the coaching change. Domann went 9-for-14 for 71 yards in the spring game, looking incredibly comfortable navigating the pocket while making good decisions with the football. Considering he is a described be his teammates as a “gunslinger” and is so far displaying a competent grasp for the new system, Domann should be able to keep the offense going even when Plummer is not under center.

Plummer and Domann will likely serve as QB1 and QB2 for most, if not all, of the 2023 season, but the two signal callers behind them have a good chance at seeing playing time at some point this season. With both graduating after this year, the battle for QB1 in 2024 will likely come down to Allen vs. Clarkson. Clarkson is a top-200 prospect and one of Louisville's highest-ranked commits in the Class of 2023, while Allen was a former top-150 prospect in the Class of 2022 who spent his first season at Purdue with Brohm and redshirted. 

While Allen and Clarkson are two completely different types of quarterback, with the latter being a dual threat weapon an the former being your prototypical pocket passer, each one displayed phenomenal traits coming out of high school that can benefit Louisville. A key facet in the development of both prospects - whomever Brohm decides to start in 2024 - will be to receive in-game reps at some point during this upcoming season.

As for Evan Conley, barring a catastrophic string of injuries or underperformance, I would be surprised to see him take the field in 2023. He hasn't seen significant playing time since 2019, played just one offensive snap last season, and threw two picks in the spring game.

A wild card to see snaps this season is Harrison Bailey, a transfer from UNLV who is walking on and has two seasons left. The former five-star prospect in the Class of 2020 made six appearances for the Rebels last season, going 30-for-58 for 318 yards and two touchdowns to one interception. He started his career at Tennessee, where he spent two seasons.

Overall, Louisville has to feel extremely good about the current state of their quarterback room. Not only will it help set them up for success in their upcoming season with the starter-backup tandem of Plummer and Domann, but it has them lined up for potential future success with Allen and Clarkson waiting in the wings.

Other Position Breakdowns:

• Running Back
• Wide Receiver
• Tight End
• Offensive Line
• Defensive Line (coming soon)
• Linebacker (coming soon)
• Cornerback (coming soon)
• Safety (coming soon)
• Special Teams (coming soon)

(Photo of Jack Plummer via University of Louisville Athletics)

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