Louisville WR Ja'Corey Brooks Goes Undrafted, Remains Unsigned

For a handful of former members of the Louisville football program, the next step of their career has officially begun.

The 2025 NFL Draft wrapped up this past weekend, and three Cardinals heard their name called. Both quarterback Tyler Shough and cornerback Quincy Riley are heading to the New Orleans Saints, while defensive end Ashton Gillotte got picked by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Even after the draft ended, a few others received the opportunity to compete for a roster spot. Cornerback Corey Thornton signed an undrafted free agent deal with the Carolina Panthers, as did tight end Mark Redman with the Los Angeles Rams. Defensive tackle Thor Griffith and fullback Duane Martin also received rookie minicamp invitations with the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, respectively.

Curiously though, even though NFL organizations have had over 250 draft picks and a couple days to ink UDFA's, one former Cardinal that remains without a home is wide receiver Ja'Corey Brooks.

Given what he was able to accomplish in his lone season as a Card after transferring in from Alabama, this comes as a little bit of a surprise. His 1,013 receiving yards and nine touchdown receptions were both third in the conference, while his 61 receptions were 10th, earning First-Team All-ACC honors in the process.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound receiver is just the 11th Louisville player to log a 1,000-yard receiving yard season. He's also just the fourth Louisville player to have a 1,000-yard and nine-touchdown receiving season, joining Tutu Atwell, Deion Branch and Arnold Jackson - the latter of which did it twice.

That being said, the reason that he went undrafted and remains unsigned is likely due to his measurables and testing numbers.

At Louisville's Pro Day, Brooks rans a 4.65 40-Yard Dash, along with 1.56 and 2.47 10- and 20-Yard splits. He also logged a vertical jump on 30", a broad jump of 9'8", a 4.35 short shuttle, 7.18 three-cone, and bench pressed 225 pound 12 times.

Add in his measured 6'2" height and 184-pound weight at the NFL Combine, and Brooks produced a Relative Athletic Score of just 4.15 out of 10. That places him at just 215th out of all the wide receivers in this year's draft pool, and 1,3206th out of every prospect in the draft.

His positional size and athletic intangibles are why Brooks' draft stock plummeted despite putting up a monster senior year. In fact, The Athletic's Dane Brugler, in a relatively weak draft class for wide receivers, ranked Brooks at just the No. 36 prospect at the position in his NFL Draft guide.

"Brooks' lack of short-area agility and pacing allows man coverage to stay attached to him on short and intermediate routes, but his play strength, tracking skills and catch radius could make him a potential WR4/5," Brugler wrote.

Even still, Brugler tabbed Brooks as a priority free agent. While it is certainly shocking to see the wideout still unsigned, and that clubs won't even sign him to a UDFA deal, it doesn't come across as surprising to see him still on the market. In an era of football defined by speed and athleticism, Brooks, quite simply, comes up short here by NFL standards.

The Bradenton, Fla. native was limited to just three catches for 30 yards in nine games with the Crimson Tide during the 2023 season due to a shoulder injury, but had proven himself in the past to be a valuable asset. In 2022, he hauled in 39 receptions for 674 yards and team-best eight touchdowns for the Tide.

As a true freshman in 2021, Brooks caught 15 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns. This included a game-tying 28-yard touchdown catch in the final minute of the Iron Bowl to help keep Alabama's College Football Playoff hopes alive, and a 44-yard score in the CFP Semifinal vs. Cincinnati. 

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