2024 Louisville Football Position Breakdown: Wide Receiver

The Cardinals were a little disappointing at wideout last season, but have the pieces to have one of the best wide receiver rooms in the ACC.

Louisville’s Ja'Corey Brooks (1) runs to catch the ball during Spring Practice on April 4, 2024 / Scott Utterback/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. Next in our positional breakdown series, we take at look at the wide receivers.

Position Roster Movement:

• Returning (5): Chris Bell, Jimmy Calloway, Cataurus Hicks, Jahlil McClain, Jadon Thompson
• Departing (4): Kevin Coleman Jr., William Fowles, Ahmari Huggins-Bruce, Jamari Thrash
• Incoming (5): Shaun Boykins Jr., Ja'Corey Brooks, Caullin Lacy, Antonio Meeks, Joseph "JoJo" Stone Jr.

Projected Depth Chart:

Wide Receiver (X)

1. Ja'Corey Brooks (6-3, 195, R-Sr.)
2. Jadon Thompson (6-2, 190, Sr.)
3. JoJo Stone (5-11, 180, Fr.)

Slot Receiver (Y)

1. Caullin Lacy (5-10, 190, Sr.)
2. Cataurus Hicks (5-10, 180, R-Fr.)
3. Jahlil McClain (5-11, 180, R-Fr.)

Wide Receiver (Z)

1. Chris Bell (6-2, 220, Jr.)
2. Jimmy Calloway (6-0, 190, R-Jr.)
3. Antonio Meeks (6-1, 195, Jr.)
4. Shaun Boykins Jr. (6-1, 190, Fr.)

Breakdown:

For year one of the Jeff Brohm era last season, many expected Louisville to light up the scoreboard via a prolific passing attack. It's been Brohm's M.O. since he first became a head coach at Western Kentucky, and considering his staff's efforts in the transfer portal ahead of the 2023 season, it wasn't a bold assumption to assume this trend would continue.

That's not to say that Louisville's passing attack was *bad* per se, but it was certainly a little underwhelming given what most thought would come to pass (pun intended). The Cardinals finished the season averaging 236.6 passing yards per game and totaled 22 passing touchdowns, which ranked 56th and 62nd, respectively, in the FBS. Additionally, both marks were the lowest over a full season in Brohm's career as a head coach.

Part of this was because of how up-and-down of a season that quarterback Jack Plummer had. Part of this was because Louisville got almost no pass catching production from their tight ends until the final few games of the season. However, part of this was also because the majority of Cardinals' wide receiver room did not live up to expectations.

Last season, the only somewhat reliable option at this position was Georgia State transfer Jamari Thrash, who is now in the NFL after being picked up by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round of this past April's draft. Even after being significantly hampered by a hand/wrist injury, he still finished with 63 catches for 858 yards and six touchdowns.

However, the problem was that no other receiver on the roster could firmly entrench themselves as a consistent WR2, even while Thrash was hurt. No one else at the position logged more than 30 receptions, only one other wideout cracked 400 yards, and just one other had more than two touchdowns responsible for. There was a position-wide struggle to generate separation at times, especially in the back half of the season, and untimely drops became an issue as well.

Because of this, while there wasn't as much movement at wide receiver as there was last offseason, the position still was shaken up a bit. Thrash is now in the NFL, while Kevin Coleman Jr. (Mississippi State) and Ahmari Huggins-Bruce (South Carolina) hit the portal. Three of Louisville's four leading wideouts by receptions, yardages and touchdowns have moved on.

That all being said, there is some reason to believe that Louisville could see the wide receiver position as a whole bounce back, and become one of the best in ACC.

Slot receivers aren't usually the focal point of a passing offense, but that's exactly what Louisville's top pass catcher heading into 2024 is. Coming over to the Cards after spending four years at South Alabama, Caullin Lacy was one of the most prolific and consistent receivers in all of college football last season. He caught 91 passes for 1,316 yards and seven touchdowns in 2023, with the receptions mark good for eighth in the FBS and the yardage mark coming in at seventh.

Louisville's roster lists him at 5-10, but from watching him during the spring, he might be an inch or two shorter than that. But what he lacks in height, he makes up for in every other aspects of his game. He has a phenomenal release off the line of scrimmage, is an incredible route runner and has underrated speed. Getting separation is not an issue at all for Lacy, and based on his efforts in spring ball, his skill set should translate very well to the ACC.

Lining up on the outside, Alabama transfer Ja'Corey Brooks should make a deadly one-two receiver punch with Lacy. He was limited to just three catches for 30 yards last season due to a shoulder injury, but he has proven himself in the past to be a valuable asset. In 2022, Brooks hauled in 39 receptions for 674 yards and team-best eight touchdowns for the Crimson Tide.

Watching Brooks in the spring, you could instantly tell that he was a former five-star prospect. He's one of the most physically gifted receivers on the roster, and is both the tallest and longest on the roster. Combine that with good overall fundamentals (spending the first three years of your career under Nick Saban will do that), and he has the potential to thrive in the ACC.

Lacy and Brooks will obviously be the two main weapons at this position, but the primary candidate to get that third starting wideout spot is Chris Bell. He took a big step forward last season, with his 29 catches and 407 yards both placing second on the team behind Thrash.

Watching him in the spring, it's clear that he is continuing to get better. He was arguably the most physical receiver in the spring and did very well when it came to making catches through contact, plus his route running and overall explosiveness has gotten tremendously better. It'll be hard to command targets away from Lacy and Brooks, but Bell could be in line for a breakout caliber season.

Behind the starters at the position, Louisville has a solid core of wide receivers coming off the bench.

Jadon Thompson could be the go-to reserve this upcoming season. The transfer from Cincinnati showed promise in his final season with the Bearcats in 2022, but because of an offseason full of injuries, he could never truly get going in 2023. He finished with only 12 catches for 135 yards and one score.

But this past spring was his first offseason with Louisville in which he was fully healthy, and he took advantage. He was one of the more consistent receivers in spring ball, and made a few notable plays during every open practice. Look for his role to take a step forward.

Someone who could be in for a true breakout season is Cataurus "Blue" Hicks. He redshirted his true freshman campaign last season, and during this past spring, he put on display his explosiveness and overall athleticism fairly regularly. In fact, he had the best play in spring ball when he Mossed a defensive back for a long touchdown.

Antonio Meeks will be someone to continue to monitor. In just eight games, he had 43 receptions for 745 yards and five touchdowns, but it came at the Division II level with Tuskegee. He looked solid in the spring, but time will tell if he can truly make the jump to the ACC.

Jimmy Calloway is coming off of his best season in college, logging 20 receptions for 242 yards - which was more than his three prior seasons at Tennessee combined. That being said, he caught just 55.9 percent of his 34 targets, which was the lowest in the team, and also had three drops. He seemed to look much more poised in the spring than he did during the 2023 season, but he will have to continue to build on that if he will have a meaningful role in 2024.

Behind Louisville's starters and their main group of reserves are three receivers on the younger side.

Jahlil McClain didn't see any in-game action last season, but there were some moments in the spring where Louisville utilized his open field speed to make a play. It's unknown what kind of role he'll have this season, and fall camp could play a large role in determining that and his future.

Joseph "JoJo" Stone Jr. is one of Louisville's two true freshman wideouts, and made his way to campus in the spring as an early enrollee. He'll still have to continue to develop as a downfield threat and route runner, but the four-star prospect is electric with the ball in his hands, and was used in a variety of ways this spring.

Shaun Boykins Jr. is the other true freshman signee at wide receiver for Louisville, but was not an early enrollee. The local three-star prospect has a good mix of intangibles from both and outside and inside receiver, but like with Stone, he'll need to develop more as a downfield threat. He's a prime redshirt candidate.

A wild card at this position could be walk-on Jaedon King. He made several plays over the course of spring ball, and even scored a 62-yard touchdown in the spring game. He could be someone that gets put on scholarship come fall.

Overall, on paper, the wide receiver room for Louisville appears to be in a much better state than it was this time last season and during the 2023 season. There are more established options at the very top of the depth chart, and the position as a whole is a little deeper overall. It also helps that quarterback Tyler Shough has a more established and successful track record throwing the football than Jack Plummer did when he joined Louisville, and looked phenomenal in the spring.

It all has to come together, but Louisville's wide receiver room has the potential to be one of the best in the ACC.

Other Position Breakdowns:

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

(Photo of Ja'Corey Brooks: Scott Utterback - Courier Journal / USA)

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