Louisville football position preview: Tight end
Previous position previews: quarterback, running back, wide receiver
From a statistical perspective, Louisville’s tight end room underperformed last season. But, stats don’t always tell the full story.
Head coach Jeff Brohm and tight ends coach Ryan Wallace have a long-standing personal relationship dating back to Purdue, where they coached together. The two have produced several NFL-caliber pass catchers at the position in their time. Including Brycen Hopkins, Payne Durham, and at Western Kentucky, Tyler Higbee. But, in the two years they have been in The Ville, the room hasn’t produced much.
Last season, Louisville’s tight ends caught just 55 passes, seven of them being touchdowns. It was a year where the Cards finished both in the top 15 in total offense and top 30 in passing nationally. However, tight ends didn’t play a large role in that passing production. Wide receivers Chris Bell and Ja’Corey Brooks combined for over 1,700 of Shough’s 3,195 yards through the air. It just wasn’t best practices for Louisville’s tight ends to have that kind of role in last year’s offense. Still, Louisville lost two of its best at the position this past winter.
The loss of 6-foot-5 freshman Jamari Johnson was a shocking one. He only caught passes in five games last season, including the game-winning touchdown on the road at Virginia. But, just a week later, Johnson’s season ended against Miami (FL) after suffering an ankle injury. It’s not an overstatement to say he’ll be missed in the black and red this upcoming talent. He’s a huge target on the outside who moves well in space and is comfortable close to the line. In his freshman season, he totaled 13 receptions, 158 yards, and a touchdown. The West Coast native committed to Oregon out of the transfer portal this past winter.
While Johnson exits, so does San Diego State transfer Mark Redman, who led all Cardinals tight ends in yards and receptions last fall. He finished third on the team in receiving yards (256) and fourth in receptions (24), while also hauling in three touchdowns. Redman was a nice red zone target with size for Shough, who seemed to connect with him well early on in the season. After running out of eligibility, Redman signed on with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent in April.
This upcoming fall, the Cards do have some returning players who are familiar with the program, and both of their top returners at the tight end spot are projected to fight for a starting position on the depth chart — those being redshirt-junior Nate Kurisky and junior Jaleel Skinner.
Kurisky is the ultimate “I want to play with him” guy. He’s great in the locker room, does the simple things that many take for granted at tight end, like blocking and starting in motion. He’s also effective at setting picks within the five-yard limit, and on top of that, he caught 12 passes for 112 yards and three scores. The Gonzaga prep product (Washington, DC) played five of the remaining six games after Johnson’s injury and posted similar numbers in his freshman 2023 campaign.
It feels odd saying this, but pass catching might be the most underrated aspect of Kurisky’s skill set.
Skinner, the lean 6-foot-5 IMG product, is a bit of an anomaly at this point in the offseason. After transferring from Miami, he played in all 12 games last season, but only caught one pass for four yards against Austin Peay in the season opener. Although coming out of high school, the Greer, South Carolina, native was a highly-rated four-star recruit. Rivals’ industry ranking had him as the No. 106 prospect in the 2022 class and No. 4 tight end in the country. He brings a rare kind of athleticism to the position, and now and again, he’ll put your jaw closer to the floor. But with Skinner, there’s less simplicity. He’s not as polished as Kurisky is as a blocker, and while he can be an offensive weapon, it’s hard to put someone on the field who can’t provide the little things as opposed to someone who can.
Again, reliability matters at tight end.
Coming in through the transfer portal are San Jose State’s Jacob Stewart and Oklahoma’s Davon Mitchell, who committed this spring.
Stewart, like Redman, comes from the Mountain West with one season of eligibility remaining. And he split time at tight end this past season and accumulated some nice numbers: 34 receptions, 287 yards, and three touchdowns. Still, Redman was a better all-around tight end coming in than the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Stewart. But, depth as it is at any position is critical in power-conference college football.
In terms of Mitchell, there’s tremendous upside and intangibles. Mitchell spent his freshman season at OU but enrolled early. He was originally supposed to be in the 2025 class as a five-star talent, but reclassified to 2024 as the No. 11 tight end in the nation. He’s an absolute tank listed at 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, but didn’t see any playing time in his lone year with the Sooners. He entered the transfer portal after limited reps this spring. If Mitchell can put it all together and acclimate himself to a new environment like Louisville, he’s primed for an elite college career, despite being more of a project.
The bottom line:
Louisville has options at tight end, but unfortunately for the Cards, it’s a room that’s one of the weaker links on the roster. There’s a lot of progress that needs to be made with guys like Mitchell and Skinner before they hit the field, but right now it seems like it’s Nate Kurisky’s starting role to lose. Expecting massive receiving production from Louisville’s tight ends in 2025 feels like a stretch.
Expected depth chart:
- Nate Kurisky — 6-foot-3, 240 lbs, R-Jr.
- Jaleel Skinner — 6-foot-5, 230 lbs, Jr.
- Davon Mitchell — 6-foot-3, 250 lbs, Soph.
- Jacob Stewart — 6-foot-5, 230 lbs, Sr.
