Louisville Football: 5 Position Battles to Watch

The University of Louisville football team will open fall camp on Tuesday. The Cardinals have their annual media day on Tuesday morning and then will have the first fall practice later in the afternoon. The practice is one of eight open to the public.

The Cardinals have turned over the roster since Brohm was hired on Dec. 8 to replace Scott Satterfield. U of L has 24 scholarship transfer players on the roster, along with 16 incoming freshmen for a total of 40 newcomers on the roster.

Brohm said last week all the newcomers added to the mix have helped with the competition at each spot.

"A lot of these transfers nowadays, they have experience," Brohm said. "They've played football, which means as much as anything. They're able to adapt to some possible new terminology for a lot of the same plays they ran before. . . . It helps with the competition for sure."

As the Cardinals prepare for fall camp, there are plenty of position battles we are excited to see.

But here are the top five, according to Cardinal Authority:

**5. Special teams - I'd say specifically, the punter position is the one I want to see how it pans out. Brady Hodges has been around for two seasons and was the holder on field goals and extra points last season, so he's been under fire in a game situation. True freshman walk-on Carter Schwartz was an All-State kicker at Trinity High School. I'd say Brock Travelstead wins the placekicking duties, but Hodges or Schwartz for the punter job? I'd say heading into camp it's too close to call.

**4. Defensive line - Maybe not just the competition on the defensive front is intriguing but all of the numbers. Yes, there are 20 scholarship defensive linemen on the roster heading into fall camp and many of them have some experience. I'd say Ashton Gillotte and Dez Tell have the inside track on starting, while transfer Stephen Herron and Ramon Puryear are other guys that could also be in the starting lineup. But how do they rotate guys? And will there be any surprises? I would say Popeye Williams and true freshman Adonijah Green are in line to see a lot of snaps with a good fall camp and what about guys like Tawfiq Thomas, Jared Dawson, and Victoine Brown? There are plenty of options.

**3. Linebacker - I'm not sure there would have been much competition at the linebacker spot until Monty Montgomery left the program. Now, there's not a ton of experience, and some newcomers that are expected to play a key role. The main newcomer is Oregon transfer Keith Brown, who could fill the Montgomery role. But who else gets snaps? Freshman Stanquan Clark drew rave reviews during spring ball, Miami transfer Gilbert Frierson was here during spring and guys like Antonio Watts, TJ Quinn, Jaylen Alderman, and Jackson Hamilton will all have a shot to play. It's also intriguing to see how TJ Capers adjusts and how much he can do early in camp.

**2. Tight end - There are not too many bodies to work with and there's not a lot of experience. But all is not lost with the tight end position because of the two newcomers. Former QB Joey Gatewood and four-star freshman Jamari Johnson are both potential stars. The most experienced tight end and at this point, the likely starter is walk-on Josh Lifson. He had two touchdowns in the spring game. But Gatewood was an addition this summer who has never played the position and Johnson improved a lot during spring ball. Nate Kurisky is a redshirt freshman who has also shown some promise. It's an important position in the Brohm offense and there's a lot to play out until the opener.

**1. Offensive line - Sure, the offensive line has three starters back. But the staff has totally rebuilt the line with nine newcomers. Six of the nine are transfers and five of the six transfers have joined the roster since the end of spring ball. Brohm made it noted several times that he wasn't happy with the line play during spring camp. But he said at ACC Media Day that Bryan Hudson, Michael Gonzalez, and Renato Brown were all three guys back that did improve during the spring. Add all of the newcomers and the competition for snaps on the front of the offense is going to be fierce. Eric Miller played for Brohm at Purdue, Willie Tyler is a talented veteran, while Lance Robinson and Trevonte Sylvester were late additions that should be able to compete for starting positions. This is a battle that will be fascinating to watch play out.