2024 Louisville Football Position Breakdown: Quarterback

The Cardinals head into the 2024 season with an experienced QB1, and a few very viable backup options.

Louisville graduate transfer quarterback Tyler Shough makes a pass during practice / Matt Stone/The Courier Journal / USA

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. We kick off our positional breakdown series with the most important spot on the field: quarterback.

Position Roster Movement:

• Returning (2): Brady Allen, Pierce Clarkson
• Departing (3): Evan Conley (Graduation), Brock Domann (Graduation), Jack Plummer (Graduation)
• Incoming (2): Deuce Adams (Fr.), Tyler Shough (Gr., Transfer - Texas Tech)

Projected Depth Chart:

1. Tyler Shough (6-5, 225, Gr.)
2. Pierce Clarkson (6-1, 195, R-Fr.)
3. Harrison Bailey* (6-5, 230, R-Sr.)
4. Brady Allen (6-6, 220, R-So.)
5. Deuce Adams (6-1, 170, Fr.)

*walk-on

Breakdown:

At this point in time, it's well documented and established that the quarterback position for Louisville last season, while it was not an outright weakness, it certainly had moments where it wasn't their strength. Starter Jack Plummer put up good numbers, completing 64.8 percent of his throws for 3,204 yards and 21 touchdowns, earning Third-Team All-ACC honors along the way.

Of course, stats only tell part of the story. On top of what Plummer did well, he was also prone to plays/decisions that you would absolutely not expect from a sixth-year quarterback. By season's, he threw 12 interceptions and lost four fumbles, with his 16 turnovers ranking among the top-10 in the FBS.

Throw in the fact that head coach Jeff Brohm never once entertained the notion of benching Plummer and trying out someone new at starter, it fueled speculation that perhaps Louisville's quarterback room was not as far along as many were led to believe in the preseason. That, or Brohm was just extremely loyal to Plummer given the two's history.

Heading into year two under Brohm's watch, there's reason to believe that quarterback is in a stronger spot than it was this time last season.

For the 2024 season, there's a changing of the guard at the top of the depth chart. Plummer graduated and later signed a UDFA deal with the Carolina Panthers, backup Brock Domann also graduated, and longtime Cardinal Evan Conley - who was used as a wildcat quarterback last season - opted not to use his COVID year and move onto the next phase in his life.

Instead of handing the reigns over to one of the younger quarterbacks on the roster, Brohm decided to dip back into the portal. In what was the Cardinals' first transfer commitment of the offseason, former Texas Tech and Oregon signal caller Tyler Shough (pronounced "shuck") decided that he was going to play his seventh and final season at Louisville.

It's a bit of an inconsistent sample size, but Shough has been a productive playmaker both through the air and on the ground in his career. In 26 combined career games with the Ducks and Red Raiders, he completed 63.2 percent of his throws for 4,625 yards and 36 touchdowns to 17 interceptions, along with 714 yards and 10 scores on the ground.

All throughout spring ball, we saw what made Brohm so excited to add him to the roster. He demonstrated incredible arm strength and deep accuracy both in the open practices with regularity, which is something that Plummer seemed to struggle with at times during the 2023 season. It doesn't appear that Louisville will utilize Shough as a true dual threat option (I'll explain why in a second), but he showed in the spring that he can extend plays thanks to his legs, as well as make relatively accurate throws on the run. When he does take off and runs, he's got good open field speed due to his stride, and is a physical and bruising running who doesn't shy away from taking or creating contact.

Brohm did say at one point during the spring that he wants Shough to scale back his aggression a tad bit, but on the other side of that coin, Shough has also been commended for his fearlessness and willingness to take risk. This, combined with the fact that a vertical passing attack appears it will become a more viable option, will help unlock Louisville's full potential when it comes to the passing game.

Of course, the one massive question regarding Shough is if he can stay healthy. He suffered a broken collarbone in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons while with Texas Tech, and a broken fibula last season. Louisville did some extensive physicals with Shough during his recruiting visit, and essentially determined that his recent injury history was more so due to sheer bad luck than actually being injury prone. However, don't expect Louisville to call up a bunch of read options despite Shough showing his prowess on these plays during his time as Oregon and Texas Tech.

But, even without any threat of major injury to Shough developing a deep quarterback room in case of emergency is always a major point of emphasis. While the starting quarterback is the most important player on the field, the backup quarterback can sometimes be just as important.

For Louisville, they entered spring ball with three players battling it out for the backup spot: Brady Allen, Pierce Clarkson and walk-on Harrison Bailey. In this position battle, the primary competition was Bailey vs. Clarkson. Bailey had a slight leg up on Clarkson early in spring ball, but over the course of the last few open practices and the spring game, Clarkson became the odds-on favorite to be the backup when the first depth chart is finally released.

Clarkson's calling card ever since he was a top-200 prospect has been his accuracy and his decision making, and both were certainly on display over the course of the spring. Very rarely did Clarkson put a ball in a position where it wasn't supposed to be, especially in the intermediate part of the field. While he can't seamlessly sling the ball 50-60 yards downfield like Shough can, Clarkson's arm strength has made strides since fall camp last season.

Additionally, Clarkson is by far and away the fastest, shiftiest, and overall most mobile quarterback on the roster. That mobility is something that the coaching staff wants to utilize, and it wouldn't be shocking to see him receive a decent amount of in-game reps. At minimum, he certainly will see more than one drive of playing time like he did as a true freshman.

With Bailey, the best way to describe him is "Shough-lite," as they both have similar physical builds and play styles. Honestly, if you didn't know any better, you'd think Bailey was the starter based on some of the practices that he has had. It's why for the longest time, I assumed the former five-star prospect would be the backup, simply because he's a slightly less efficient version of the starter but with a year of the system already under his belt.

Then again, while Bailey looked good last fall and early in the spring, there were a couple practices where he struggled some, and had a shaky start to the spring game before settling in. Couple that with the fact that Clarkson really turned things on over the final couple weeks of spring ball, and - barring a flipping of the script in fall camp - things are lining up for Bailey to wind up at No. 3 on the depth chart. Though it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if Bailey did wind up as the No. 2 guy considering how similar he is to the starter.

That then leaves us with Brady Allen. As I noted during fall camp prior to last season, Allen struggled immensely here. He certainly has made strides since then, but he was still very up-and-down during spring ball, particularly with his accuracy. It's a bit surprising considering he has the intangibles and overall talent (top-50 prospect in '22), as well as a year head start in terms of learning the playbook compared to everyone else on the roster after starting his career at Purdue with Brohm. For some reason, there's just been some sort of struggle to seamlessly adapt to the college level. Seeing him take the next step in fall camp will be critical for both him and the position's depth as a whole.

As for Deuce Adams, don't expect him to seem much playing time this season unless there are a catastrophic series of events regarding the four aforementioned quarterbacks. That being said, he has a potentially bright future ahead of him. The three-star prospect put together an incredible senior season at Austin (Tex.) Vandegrift, completing 69.9 percent of his throws for 2,128 yards and 27 touchdowns to just one interception, while also rushing for 221 yards and four scores. It will be intriguing to see how he fares in his first fall camp.

Overall, Louisville has to feel very good about the current state of their quarterback room. While there are some questions, namely the injury potential with Shough and the development of Allen, the room as a whole is set up to help further unlock the potential of a Jeff Brohm-led offense this season and in years to come.

Other Position Breakdowns:

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

(Photo of Tyler Shough: Matt Stone - The Courier Journal / USA)

You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleReport
Twitter - @UofLReport
Instagram - @louisville_report

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter