2024 Louisville Football Position Breakdown: Cornerback

The Cardinals sport one of the best corners in the FBS, and have a great collection of overall talent behind him.

Oct 14, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Louisville Cardinals defensive back Quincy Riley (3) breaks up a pass intended for Pittsburgh Panthers wide receiver Kenny Johnson (2) during the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Pittsburgh won 38-21. / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As we inch closer to the start of the 2024 college football season, Louisville Report will break down each individual position on the Cardinals' roster. Next in our positional breakdown series, we take at look at the cornerbacks.

Position Roster Movement:

• Returning (2): Quincy Riley, Aaron Williams
• Departing (6): Jarvis Brownlee Jr., Storm Duck, Derrick Edwards III, Trey Franklin, Marquis Groves-Killebrew, Marcus Washington Jr.
• Incoming (4): Tayon Holloway, Rae'mon Mosby, Tahveon Nicholson, Corey Thornton

Projected Depth Chart:

Cornerback

1. Quincy Riley (6-0, 195, R-Sr.)
2. Tahveon Nicholson (5-11, 185, R-Sr.)
3. Aaron Williams (6-2, 185, R-Fr.)

Cornerback

1. Corey Thornton (6-1, 195, Sr.)
2. Tayon Holloway (6-1, 190, R-So.)
3. Rae'mon Mosby (6-0, 175, Fr.)

Breakdown:

Over the last couple seasons, whether it was the last year under head coach Scott Satterfield or the first year of the Jeff Brohm, Louisville has been a team that has been powered primarily by their defense. While the front seven gets a bulk of that credit, the Cardinals' secondary has also played a key role in their dominance on that side of the line of scrimmage.

During the first two months of the 2023 season, Louisville had one of the best secondaries in all of college football, with their 196.4 passing yards per game over the first nine games ranking 26th nationally. Of course, just like how the front seven wasn't nearly as dominant at the line of scrimmage over the final month, the pass coverage also slipped some. This resulted in the Cardinals finishing with the No. 57 passing defense at 217.3 yards allowed per game.

But even with that rough final month, Louisville's secondary was still effective purely from a playmaking standpoint. Their 13 interceptions finished 25th in the FBS, while their 49 pass breakups tied for 38th. The latter stat was primarily due to efficiency of the Cardinals' cornerback room.

Heading into the 2024 season, while Louisville lost several players at the position due to both the NFL Draft and the transfer portal, the Cardinals still boast one of the better cornerback rooms in the ACC.

While getting All-American defensive end Ashton Gillotte to come back for his senior season was undoubtedly the biggest recruiting win for Louisville this offseason, getting corner Quincy Riley to do the same was just as big of a deal. Last season, he established himself as one of the best cornerbacks in the ACC.

Riley finished the 2023 season with a team-best 12 pass breakups, was second on the Cardinals in interceptions with three, and led the ACC in pass defenses with 15. He also collected 49 tackles and 1.5 for loss in the process.

Not only do the advanced stats support the notion that he is one of the best corners in the ACC, they suggest that he is one of the best in the nation. Of the 85 corners in the FBS that took at least 400 pass coverage snaps, Riley's reception percentage of 36.5 percent (23 allowed receptions on 63 targets) was No. 1. Bump it down to 300 pass coverage snaps, and he ranks No. 3 out of 226.

Riley is an incredibly intelligent and athletic player, has some of the best ball skills in the conference, and does a phenomenal job in both man and zone coverage. If there's any weakness in his game, it's that he hasn't been known for his physicality. That being said, he made a cognizant effort to improve this in spring ball, and seemed to make some serious progress here.

Following a pair of NFL Draft declarations from Jarvis Brownlee and Storm Duck, as well as some defections to the portal, Louisville re-stocked the cornerback position via the portal. In the end, they landed three D1 transfers, and it's a group that the coaching staff - especially co-DC Ron English - is extremely high on.

The starter at corner alongside Riley is likely going to be UCF transfer Corey Thornton. In what was the Knights' first year in the Big 12 last season, Thornton posted his best coverage season at the college level. He hauled in three interceptions and logged nine pass breakups, while also finishing with 27 total tackles. 

At 6-1/195, Thornton brings an upper tier blend of size and coverage skills. He shows great physicality at the line of scrimmage, and also possess good speed and mirror technique that allows him to excel in man coverage. With an excellent NFL Passer Rating Against of 60.4 per PFF, he placed fifth in the Big 12 and 27th in the Power Five among corners with at least 200 coverage snaps.

When Louisville utilizes a three-corner look, or opts to go with a nickel corner on a play, look for them to use Illinois transfer Tahveon Nicholson in these scenarios. He's coming off of his most productive year in college, logging 36 tackles, two for loss, six pass breakups, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

For someone who likely will play a nickelback role for Louisville this upcoming season, Nicholson plays bigger and more physical than your standard nickel. He's a great asset against the run (81.5 run defense grade on PFF), does well in off-man coverage, and looked very good in both aspects during the spring for Louisville. That being said, something that he will absolutely have to cut down on are his penalties. He led all of the FBS among defensive players in the category with 11.

Tayon Holloway, a transfer from UNC, should round out the two-deep a corner for Louisville. In his first on-field season last year, he put together a solid campaign for the Tar Heels, finishing with 19 total tackles, 1.5 for loss and one pass breakup.

While he doesn't have the production and experience that the aforementioned three corners do, the coaching staff is still very high on him, and he did look much better in the spring than expected. As a former top-200 prospect, he's also got a very high ceiling to go along with his lengthy frame, and has a lot of potential in zone coverage.

Someone else to keep tabs on is Aaron Williams, who is one of just two returners at corner for Louisville. The former top-200 prospect had to sit out his entire freshman season to rehab a torn ACL he suffered in high school, and during his first healthy spring ball earlier this year, there were times where he looked like he was the best defensive back on the practice field. It would not be surprising in the slightest to see him take on a big role this upcoming season.

That leaves Rae'mon Mosby as a candidate to take a redshirt this upcoming season. While the true freshman ranks outside the top-1,000 nationally, he does have some potential due to his physical intangibles and work in off-man coverage. He just has to bulk up some and continue fine-tuning some of his fundamentals.

With there being just six scholarship cornerbacks heading into the 2024 season, it would not be shocking to see Louisville cross train a couple safeties at cornerback during fall camp. Oklahoma transfer Daeh McCullough and true freshman Jathan Hatch are two safeties who could wind up making the switch to corner, considering each player played both positions in high school.

While the cornerback room for Louisville is little lean on overall numbers (at least right now), the position is teeming with impact playmakers. They boast one of the best corners in the FBS in Riley, and have a great collection of players right behind him. The secondary as a whole will have to continue making strides to prevent a second half slide like last season, but the Cardinals have an elite collection of talent at corner.

Other Position Breakdowns:

• Quarterback
• Running Back
• Wide Receiver
• Tight End
• Offensive Line
• Defensive Line
• Linebacker
• Safety
• Special Teams

(Photo of Quincy Riley: Charles LeClaire - USA TODAY Sports)

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