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2025 Louisville Football Position Breakdown: Cornerback

Originally posted on Louisville Cardinals on SI
By Matthew McGavic | Last updated Jul 8, 2025 6:00 AM ET

As we inch closer to the start of the 2025 college football season, Louisville Cardinals On SI will break down each individual position on the Cardinals' roster. Next in our positional breakdown series, we take at look at the cornerbacks.

Position Roster Movement:

Returning (1): Rae'mon Mosby
Departing (6): Jathan Hatch (Left Team), Tayon Holloway (No Longer on Team), Tahveon Nicholson (Graduation), Quincy Riley (NFL Draft), Corey Thornton (Graduation), Aaron Williams (Transfer - UCLA)
Incoming (5): Justin Agu (Transfer - Louisiana), Antonio Harris (HS), Rodney Johnson Jr. (Transfer - Southern), Jabari Mack (Transfer - Jax State), Nigel Williams (Transfer - New Mexico)

Projected Depth Chart:

Cornerback

Rodney Johnson Jr. (6-2, 200, R-Sr.)
Rae'mon Mosby (6-0, 190, R-Fr.)
Antonio Harris (6-0, 180, Fr.)
*Eli Limouris (5-10, 185, R-Fr.)

Cornerback

Jabari Mack (6-1, 185, R-Sr.)
Justin Agu (6-2, 185, R-Jr.)
*Jaden Minkins (5-10, 180, R-So.)
Nigel Williams (5-11, 194, R-Sr.)

*walk-on

Breakdown:

Coming off of a 2023 season where their cornerback room was one of the best in the ACC, on paper, Louisville's cornerback room had a very real chance to be one of the best in all of college football.

Quincy Riley was coming off of a career year as one of the best defensive backs in the conference, and decided to come back for one more season. The Cardinals added three quality power conference transfers in Corey Thornton, Tahveon Nicholson and Tayon Holloway; while also bringing back former four-star prospect Aaron Williams.

However, not only did the cornerback spot not live up to expectations, it might have been the worst position group on UofL's entire roster last season.

In part because of injuries that he was battling through, Riley took a big step back in his efficiency and was routinely picked on early in the season - although he did finish very strong. While Thornton held his own as starter opposite of Riley, Nicholson was just okay as a nickel for the most part, and Holloway was very streaky - not to mention that he had a hand in the bad loss at Stanford, and was arrested just one day later. Additionally, a nagging shoulder injury limited Williams to just one defensive snap.

Sure Louisville's defensive line was very slow to get going, the linebackers struggled in pass coverage and their group of safeties weren't perfect, either. But the corners were the biggest reason why the Cards posted the 100th-ranked passing defense (236.2 passing yards allowed per game), the 64th-ranked total defense (368.7 yards allowed per game) and 56th-ranked scoring defense (24.1 points allowed per game).

This offseason, the cornerback position experienced a ton of changeover. Riley is now in New Orleans with Tyler Shough after being drafted by the Saints in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Nicholson and Thornton both graduated, while Williams and Jathan Hatch both transferred. Holloway had his charges dropped, but never had his indefinite suspension lifted.

Heading into the 2025 season, Louisville's cornerback room is almost exclusively a mix of players who are either transfer newcomers to the program, or younger players who are looking to take a step forward in terms of their role on the team.

While losing a veteran presence like Riley certainly hurts, Louisville does still sport an unquestioned CB1 type of player in Rodney Johnson Jr. He spent the last three years at Southern after playing his true freshman campaign at Stephen F. Austin, and is coming off of his best season in college. He logged 43 tackles (23 solo), 6.0 for loss, five pass breakups, an interception and a forced fumble, earning a Second-Team All-SWAC nod from Phil Steele.

Normally when a player makes the jump from the FCS to the FBS level, there is some concern about how they will handle the uptick in competition. That being said, Johnson seemed to thrive with the increased competition in Louisville's spring ball. He regularly ran with the ones, and often used his size/length and underrated athleticism to his advantage. He was an aggressive pest all spring long in the same way that Jarvis Brownlee Jr. was at Louisville. We'll have to see how he plays out on game day, but he appears to be well equipped for it.

As far as who will be the likely starter opposite of Johnson, my pick here is Jacksonville State transfer Jabari Mack. Out of everyone else in the room, he's by far the most productive and proven corner on the roster, as he was one of the better cornerbacks in all of Conference-USA. He tallied a conference-best 11 pass break ups, caught two interceptions (including one for a touchdown), and collected 32 tackles (20 solo, two for loss).

Mack didn't earn nearly as much time with the ones as Johnson did (mainly due to the staff mixing and matching different lineups), but he was the corner that looked the most impressive behind him. He made a handful of good plays in coverage, including in the spring game. Like Johnson, Mack seems to have made a seamless transition to the ACC.

But herein lies the main issue with Louisville's cornerback room as currently constructed: behind Johnson and Mack, the collective experience and production takes a serious down turn.

A transfer who's likely to come off of the bench is Justin Agu. Coming over from Louisiana, he collected 36 total tackles (30 solo), two for loss, four pass breakups and a fumble recovery. That being said, he didn't see any action during his first two years with the Ragin' Cajuns, and while he didn't seem like a liability in UofL's spring ball, he didn't make a ton of plays in the open practices.

Then there's two corners in Rae'mon Mosby and Antonio Harris who aren't exactly long in the tooth, but have a chance to earn big time roles this upcoming season - especially at nickelback.

Mosby played just five games last season as a true freshman and recorded only six tackles - but five of them came in the Sun Bowl. He parlayed that end-of-season experience with a spring where he actually was the first team corner alongside Johnson. I still believe Mack eventually gets the starting nod, but with a strong showing in fall camp, he could make a charge at being the game one starter.

Then with Harris, a local product who was a standout two-way player at Louisville Male, he's a true freshman - but he did enroll early to participate in spring ball. Did he have freshman moments? Sure. But he saw regular run with the ones and twos, and impressed me at times with ability to play tight coverage and make plays on the ball. He'll have to showcase the ability to do this fall camp and in-game, but at this rate, he could earn some decent playing time as a true freshman.

Due to the relative depth concerns at the position, Louisville also made one more roster move just last week, adding former New Mexico cornerback Nigel Williams. He's coming off of a career year with the Lobos, finishing with 58 total tackles (36 solo), two pass breakups and a forced fumble. While he performed well against the run last year and is a solid tackler, his abilities in coverage were very hit-or-miss. Time will tell how he fairs in fall camp and what his exact role will be.

Because of those aforementioned depth concerns, it wouldn't be surprising to see walk-ons Eli Limouris and Jaden Minkins get run at some point. The latter, who is the younger brother of former Cardinal safety Josh Minkins, actually got a decent amount of reps in spring ball and made a few nice plays. While I don't foresee him having a significant role in 2025, I can't completely rule it out either.

Overall, while there is some potential at cornerback for Louisville this upcoming season, there are a lot of questions that still need to be answered. How will the transfer newcomers handle the transition to the ACC? Can the younger players take a much needed step forward? I think Johnson could be one of the more underrated players on the defense this year and that Mack can compliment him well, but the supporting cast around them have a lot to prove.