Louisville football position preview: Wide receiver
Previous position previews: quarterback, running back
Due to Tyler Shough’s emergence as one of the best NFL-ready quarterbacks in college football, Louisville’s passing attack was one of the best in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
However, the No. 40 overall draft pick had one of the best safety blankets in the conference in standout wide receiver Ja’Corey Brooks. The wide receiver room was one of the key factors in Louisville’s offensive success a season ago.
The All-ACC first teamer was one of the best pass catchers in the league. He finished the season as the third player in the conference to eclipse the 1,000-yard receiving mark and had the third-most touchdowns, nine. Brooks had five games with 100 or more yards. The Alabama transfer was electric in his only season at Louisville, hauling in 61 balls and making spectacular plays left and right. As Brook, who signed with the Washington Commanders as an undrafted free agent, runs out of eligibility, his production on the outside will be hard to replace. But the Cardinals are in a solid position to do so.
On paper, Louisville may not have the same talent in the room as it did last year, so the playbook may be expectedly less aggressive. Still, with one of the best running back rooms in the country, the Cardinals’ receivers don’t have to be perfect.
Without question, Shough’s deep ball was part of Louisville’s offense last season. The Cardinals thrived downfield, with Brooks and fellow wideout Chris Bell, who returns for his senior season this fall. Both were in the top-4 in the ACC in average yards per catch. This kind of emphasis on moving the ball downfield may not be in transfer quarterback Miller Moss’ cards this season, but regardless, the Cards will have a receiver in Bell who is more than capable.
Bell, a big and strong receiver who’s listed at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, has improved each season in the red and black. Last season, he was second on the team, catching 43 balls for 737 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games. The Yazoo City, Mississippi, native has a nice mix of speed and power that is a luxury to have out wide. He has to be the Cards’ big play threat this fall. He finished the season incredibly strong, leading the Cardinals in receiving yards for the final four games, and has a chance to put up massive numbers in his senior year as he adds more explosiveness and polished route running.
The headlines surrounded South Alabama slot receiver Caullin Lacy in 2024. He broke his collarbone early in the fall camp, which kept him out until Louisville’s loss at Notre Dame. However, at the season’s midway point, Lacy decided it would be best for him to redshirt this season to maintain another season of eligibility. It’s a move that was surprising and kept fans on edge to see if he would return next year or enter the transfer portal. But when the 5-foot-10, 190-pounder out of Mobile (Ala.) suited up for the Cardinals Sun Bowl against Washington, we knew where his intentions lay. He rushed in and received a touchdown in Louisville’s 35-34 win.
With one season left in his college career, Lacy is due for a big one. In just five games, he finished with 18 catches, 196 yards, and a touchdown. He also had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Miami (FL), the game before he decided to sit the rest of the season.
As a pass catcher, Lacy can be a gadget piece for head coach Jeff Brohm and his offense. Honestly, he may be underrated due to not playing and also not being able to practice early last season due to his injury. He put up outstanding numbers in his four years at South Alabama. The season before he came to The Ville, Lacy caught an absurd 91 (!!) passes for 1,316 yards and seven touchdowns. The sixth-year college student will be crucial to Louisville’s passing attack in the short to intermediate range — Moss’s calling card, who seemed to connect well with Lacy in spring practice.
Along with Brooks departing in the offseason, the Cards also lost Catarus Hicks, Jimmy Calloway, and Jadon Thompson to other schools in the transfer portal. Both Thompson and Hicks, better known as “Blue”, had some good moments throughout last season, but were never capable of large roles. The two combined for 18 catches for 237 yards and a pair of scores. Calloway did not play last season.
A late addition to the roster who many aren’t talking about is NC State transfer Dacari Collins, who committed to the Cards in April. The 6-foot-4 wideout spent his first two seasons at Clemson before transferring to play for the Wolfpack, and on an ugly NCSU offense this past season, he had a career-best 314 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s Collins was a high-profile recruit coming out of Westlake High School and excels in the red zone, where he can use his size and contested catch ability. Collins will play for the Cardinals this fall and will have to be productive.
Also transferring in are Akron’s Bobby Golden and Minnesota’s Terrence McWilliams. Golden is just 5-foot-9 and, like Lacy, can be a unique player to have on the perimeter and in motion. The redshirt sophomore totaled 31 receptions for 446 yards and a touchdown last year.
McWilliams and Brohm are well-connected. The Indianapolis product originally committed to Purdue when Brohm was the head coach, but in his two years at Minnesota, the 6-foot, 190-pound receiver had yet to catch a pass. He’ll have some work to do in practice before he sees major minutes this fall.
TreyShun Hurry, a 6-foot-2, 194-pound pass catcher from San Jose State, also came in this spring. He’ll be in the rotation on the outside and is a big play threat. He averaged 17.2 yards a reception in his sophomore season for 482 yards and two touchdowns.
Kentucky’s No. 7-ranked prospect of 2024, Shaun Boykins, is also expected to be a factor at the position this season. He redshirted his freshman season, but at 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds, Boykins has the intangibles to become an excellent receiver at the college level — we just haven’t seen him play.
The bottom line: Louisville’s wide receiver room may not have the star power it had last season this upcoming fall. However, the Cardinals acquired much-needed depth in the transfer portal and returned two of their best pass catchers on the roster: Chris Bell and Caullin Lacy, who both have a chance to have All-ACC seasons. There should not be much of a drop in production from the receiver position.
Expected depth chart:
- Chris Bell — Caulin Lacy — Dacari Collins
- TreyShun Hurry — Bobby Golden — Terrence McWilliams
- Antonio Meeks — Kris Hughes — Shaun Boykins
