Notes and Observations from Louisville's Fourth Open Fall Camp Practice

Fall camp for the Louisville football program is operating at a fast and furious pace. While the Cardinals are still under a week into their preseason, four practice sessions are already in the books.

Their fourth practice, which took place on Monday, was once again open to both the fans and media. Like we were for the first three practices, Louisville Cardinals On SI was there for it all to watch the fourth open practice of fall ball.

Previous Open Practice Notebooks: Practice One, Practice Two, Practice Three

Below is our notebook of the more notable happenings that transpired during the morning:

• Quick injury note: Victor Cutler didn't appear to be in a non-contact jersey today after being in one yesterday, and was back with the first team offensive line in walkthroughs
• Considering I've taken an extended look at the running backs, wide receivers and offensive line during positional drills in the prior three open practices, for this one, I wanted to follow around the quarterbacks. During the ladder footwork drills and bootleg throws on air, Miller Moss of course looked the best, although Deuce Adams was right behind him in both drills. Considering these two are the most mobile (one way more than the other), this didn't come as a complete surprise. Although when it came to the drills practicing three- and five-step drop backs, Brady Allen seemed the most fluid here. There was also a brief drill where they were doing quarterback draw reps.
• The quarterbacks then did a brief segment getting backfield work with the running backs, and no surprise here in the depth chart. It was Isaac Brown, Duke Watson, Keyjuan Brown and then Shaun Boykins Jr. - who is cross-training from his high school position of wide receiver.
• During a routes on air segment, two things stood out to me: Moss delivered some of the best deep balls I've seen him throw since he got on campus, plus led his receivers very well during the entire segment, and Caullin Lacy continues to look incredibly fluid. On a rep that was basically a stutter & go that transitioned into a comeback route, Chris Bell, Dacari Collins and Antonio Meeks made some of the sharper cuts amongst the receiver room.
• This transitioned into a 7-on-7 segment where both the offensive and defensive players got some good work in. Bell and TreyShun Hurry had some great shallow comeback routes, with the former also demonstrating great body control throughout the period, Jacob Stewart was able to find a wide open hole in zone coverage, while Jaleel Skinner held on to a tough catch in double coverage and Deuce Adams delivered an accurate strike to Jaedon King. Then on the other side of the line of scrimmage, Rae'mon Mosby has an interception and pass breakup, Tayon Holloway had a breakup as well, and Rodney Johnson Jr. dropped what should have been a pick.
• Following that 7-on-7 was a 1-on-1 segment. While this is usually a drill that heavily favors the pass catchers, in this particular period, the defensive backs and linebackers actually did a very good job of staying at the hip of the player they were covering - save for one reps where Bobby Golden absolutely torched someone. In fact, the player who actually stood out the most here was Stanquan Clark. He continues to progress when it comes to his efforts in pass coverage.
• After that was the first 11-on-11 team period of the day, although it was a brief one. Of note, why the bulk of the first team came in after a couple reps, Nigel Williams at STAR, Rae'mon Mosby at CB and Trent Carter at LB were among those who played the very first rep. The most noteworthy plays here were a would-be sack from Xavier Porter, a strip sack from A.J. Green, and a nice comeback route from Kris Hughes.
• The 11-on-11 period then moved closer to the goal line to get some reps in the red zone. Of note, this was the first time that someone other then Miller Moss got first team reps all fall - and it was Deuce Adams, albeit not for the entire period. During this time, Isaac Brown continued to display some incredibly insane burst, Boykins and Keyjuan Brown displayed some solid vision to find the hole, and Cameron White had a tackle for loss after shooting the gap. There was also a fumbled exchange on the snap, but couldn't tell who was in at center. Following the live period, the offense stayed on this end of the field for a red zone walkthrough segment.
• There was then a somewhat brief positional period, and during this, the quarterbacks, tight ends and wide receivers joined the running backs to run the gauntlet drill - although the quarterbacks did just one or two go-throughs before moving on. As expected since they are among the bigger players at their position, Bell and Collins got through the machine the fastest, although King and Antonio Meeks did so as well.
• Before the water break, Louisville got in one final 7-on-7. It didn't take long for Jeff Brohm to start yelling at a wide receiver (I think King) for being out of position. In fact, a handful of coaches seemed to be pretty animated throughout the day, for better or for worse. There were a handful of noteworthy plays here, but something I began to pick up on was that Skinner had made a ton more plays in fall camp up to this point than Nate Kurisky - who is the incumbent starting tight end. If this continues, I wouldn't be shocked if Skinner gets the opening day start.
• During the water break, the punters got some work in. Carter Schwartz booted a couple long balls, but he did have a couple shanks. Walk-on Zac Chapeau had a couple nice kicks, but being a freshman, he definitely had a couple off kicks.
• On the other side of the break, Louisville ran some extended special teams work. Like the first few practices, Caullin Lacy, Brock Coffman, Bobby Golden, Antonio Harris and Dacari Collins were fielding the punts. However, there were a couple muffs here, and after one from Harris, Chris Barclay laid into him.
• Prior to the final team period was one last 7-on-7 segment. Early here, there were several mistakes that drew the ire of both coaches and players. Nigel Williams grabbed a bunch of jersey that would have warranted a DPI flag, Meeks had a drop, Justin Agu had a hook and hold on Meeks that the latter was particularly vocal about, and Adams had an overthrow on a fairly shallow route. But eventually, everyone settled in. Allen had a great wheel route to Boykins, as did Mason Mims to Isaac Brown. Caullin Lacy also had great diving catch, Holloway had a difficult PBU on Hughes, and Rodney Johnson delivered a massive hit on Duke Watson on a swing pass.
• For the final team period, Rene Konga and Clev Lubin were able to crack the first team unit on the defensive line, while Jabari Mack continued to hold down a spot opposite of Johnson as a starting corner. In fact, the defense stepped up big time here, as the offensive highlight in this segment was a great block from Collins on a screen that allowed Brown some massive space up the sideline. Antonio Watts had a pick on the first rep off of Miller Moss, who didn't have a super great day overall. T.J. Capers drew some "oohs" on a blitz for a TFL in the backfield, Daeh McCullough had a tip drill pick off of Moss, Nigel Williams atoned for his DPI with a PBU, while Blake Ruffin forced a fumble from Boykins. There was even a fight at one point.
• For the final few minutes, the team ran an 11-on-11 hurry-up walkthrough. This seemed to be a segment where they were getting in additional work with the in-helmet communications, so that it's not a massive problem to start the season like it was last year.