BREAKINGB NEWS: Good news for louisville cardinals as a young and talanted QB annonced his commitment to the cards

More positive news for Jeff Brohm and the Louisville football team came today with Quicny Riley’s announcement that he will be back for another season with the Cards. With a fully healthy off-season, the 6/185 cover corner might be in line for another season of improvement after showing growth in almost every category during the previous one.

After leaving Middle Tennessee State in 2022, Riley joined Louisville and contributed right away to strengthen the defense. In his debut season at school, he finished among the top 5 in the county in terms of quarterback rating defense as per PFF, and he led the Cards in interceptions. Riley went mostly unnoticed last season, despite being one of the greatest corners in the nation.

Even better was his second season with the Cards, as he assumed a starting position full-time. At the end of the season, he recorded 49 tackles, 3 interceptions, and 12 PBUs. Riley was only selected as an honorable mention and was ignored by the ACC voters. Riley should, nevertheless, receive some national attention during this fall’s preseason. After such a successful season, Riley should logically get some attention, given the depth of this year’s draft class.

Riley will join Ashton Gillotte, who had previously declared his return, as UofL’s two strongest defenders. The secondary will gain from Gillotte’s ability to apply pressure, and quarterbacks will find it more difficult to make snap decisions when Riley takes away half of the field.

The defense was fairly strong for a large portion of the season, while there was definitely room for growth, so the Louisville staff must be ecstatic to hear this news. A few really good transfer acquisitions ought to accompany that progress. Riley might be selected in the first round of the 2025 draft if his pass rush improves. More significantly for the school, though, is that his performance might enable the Cards to return to the ACC Championship and possibly the extended playoffs.