Jeff Brohm Wanting More Playmakers to Emerge in Louisville's Fall Camp Scrimmages

The Cardinals held their first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday.

Nov 25, 2023; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Jeff Brohm watches warmups before the first half against the Kentucky Wildcats at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. / Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When you look at the Louisville football program's roster heading into the 2024 season, on paper, they appear to have a very deep team across the board. The Cardinals have very few, if any, glaring weaknesses on either side of the ball, and looked primed to try and repeat their success from the 2023 season.

Of course, games aren't played on paper. In preparation for year two under head coach Jeff Brohm, Louisville has reached roughly the halfway point of their preseason fall camp, and conducted their first full scrimmage period on Saturday.

During this scrimmage, many of Louisville's top players made their presence felt during the closed scrimmage. But while he did call it a "good first scrimmage," Brohm seemed disappointed that more players didn't take a step forward during the scrimmage. In fact, when asked if anyone beyond the Cardinals' usual suspects - like NFL Draft locks Ashton Gillotte or Quincy Riley - had caught his eye during the scrimmage, Brohm bluntly replied with, "No, really not."

"It was good to see playmakers that had emerged at this point emerge again, and that was good," Brohm said. "Based on what I saw, you better do it every game if you want to win. Put pressure on yourself, continue to get better, and you got to make plays every week.

"With that said, some new guys need to emerge, and I didn't see that as much. New guys need to step up, stand out. It's good to be consistent and steady, but you got to stand out and make plays whatever side of the ball you're on. I know it's a little hard on the O-line and D-line is to show that, but with skill positions, you got to show it. You've got to be play makers. In that, I didn't see as much as I would like, just based on being on the sideline. But that what we have to work on, and hopefully we will."

During the open practices leading up to fall camp, Louisville's defense seemed to be slightly ahead of their offense, and this proved to be the case in the Cardinals' first scrimmage of camp. But even that side of the ball was prone to a few coverage busts that allowed big played from the offense, according to Brohm.

"I think overall, the defense did a good job, but we gave up some big plays," he said. "A couple of really big runs, big passes, and that can't happen. If we eliminate that, we had a really good day. Probably a few busts, won't know exactly until I look at the video. But we can't allow huge plays to happen while we're being aggressive. Just got to make sure we get that fixed up."

In terms of who specifically he needs to step up in terms of their playmaking consistency, Brohm actually noted that the bulk of Louisville's transfer newcomers were not the ones he was alluding to. In fact, these comments were more so directed at some of the younger returning players on their roster.

"Even new guys to the team, they've emerged in fall camp, and they did it today. So that was good," he said. "Guys who maybe needed a chance in a scrimmage setting to step out and newly emerge did not happen. So that is what we've got to work through. The guys that are new here, they're pretty much all up to speed for the most part. Might be a couple mental busts that we got to make sure we don't have happen again, but the ones that have stood out in the fall camp stood out today. I just think we need more guys (to step up), and not enough are right now."

That's not to say Louisville had no new playmakers step up in this first scrimmage. Brohm singled out by name that safety D'Angelo Hutchinson is starting to come around. Tyler Shough continued to show off his NFL caliber talent, although Brohm says he did have a costly interception in the scrimmage. He believes that the running back position had been "pretty steady" between Maurice Turner, Donald Chaney Jr. and Isaac Brown. He used the same verbiage when describing the offensive and defensive lines. Even with the coverage busts, Brohm thinks the secondary is starting to get better at defending the deep ball.

When he says that he's looking for more playmakers to emerge, Brohm means that he's looking for more reps where they either do something "noticeable," or get to the point where they are consistent in their specific roles on the team. The tried and true proven players on the team did that job, while not enough younger or inexperienced guys took advantage of the opportunity on Saturday.

With eight of Louisville's 15 fall camp practices in the books, and two more scrimmages coming up prior to officially kicking off the 2024 seasons, Brohm wants to see those in the "younger or inexperienced" category make the jump they are capable of taking before real games are played.

"We're looking for guys to make plays, and to do their job, and see something that's noticeable," he said. "Sometimes with lineman, if the O-line is not noticeable, that's a good thing. It means they've done a pretty good job. I think we have made some improvements there. We got to continue to build a depth on the D-line. I think we got a ton of depth, we just got to get some production, and hit the backfield, and get some sacks. We have some depth in the secondary, so that was good. We gave up some big plays today at times, which wasn't good. But overall, we still had quite a few stops as well. I just think being consistent, and while you're consistent, not turning it over and getting turnovers is going to be critical."

The Cardinals will kick off their 2024 season against Austin Peay on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 12:00 p.m. EST from L&N Stadium.

(Photo of Jeff Brohm: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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