It’s game week in Louisville, and the Cardinals are headed into Sunday’s opener against Ole Miss in Nashville with plenty of new faces and a few familiar names who deserve a little more attention.
With the season about to start, CardinalAuthority is rolling out preseason predictions, and the first topic is simple: who are Louisville football’s most underrated players? Jacob Polacheck and Michael McCammon each put together their own list, and the names tell you a lot about where this team may find production outside the obvious headliners.
AJ Green is one of the safest bets on the defensive side. He’s already been around, appearing in 30 games over his first three seasons, but his role feels ready to grow.
Last season, Green posted 31 tackles, four tackles for a loss, and four sacks in 13 games, and he now checks in at 6-foot-6, 250 pounds. Clev Lubin is getting most of the attention in that group, but Green is the one Polacheck is watching closely.
In the secondary, Brycen Scott fits the same mold. The junior cornerback arrived from Elon and may be getting buried a bit by the higher-profile Power Four additions in Louisville’s rebuilt defensive backfield. Still, his numbers last season - 35 tackles and seven pass breakups - show a player who knows how to hold up in coverage.
Blake Ruffin is another defensive back worth tracking. The Louisville native missed 2024 with injury, then played in all 13 games last season and became a key special teams piece while adding eight tackles and a fumble recovery. Polacheck sees him as someone who can keep growing into a bigger defensive role in 2026, with the versatility to help in the secondary and the pedigree of an FCS All-American from his time at Eastern Illinois.
The offense has its own set of under-the-radar options, starting with TreyShun Hurry. In a receiver room that has been rebuilt around portal names like Tre Richardson and Lawayne McCoy, Hurry stands out as the veteran who already knows the system. McCammon pointed to his contested-catch ability and his experience in the offense as reasons he could raise his production in year two as a Cardinal.
Brody Foley is another name Polacheck isn’t shy about backing. He’s already gone on record with a hot take that Foley will lead Louisville in touchdowns in 2026, and he’s been buying stock in the tight end all offseason.
Foley’s path hasn’t been perfectly smooth - a shoulder injury in the spring and a concussion in fall camp slowed things down - but he’s back now. After scoring seven touchdowns at Tulsa last year, Polacheck is still sold.
Justyn Reid gives Louisville another tight end with a chance to matter in multiple ways. The senior transfer from Tulane is expected to work both at tight end and in an H-back role. He comes with playoff experience, having helped the Green Wave reach the College Football Playoff and catching a touchdown pass in the CFP loss to Ole Miss.
At running back, Keyjuan Brown is easy to overlook only because Isaac Brown draws so much of the spotlight. That’s not exactly fair to Keyjuan, who ran for more than 700 yards and six touchdowns last season and averaged 7.3 yards per carry on just 96 attempts. With Isaac limited in fall camp and Louisville wanting to keep him fresh, Keyjuan could see more work and build on a strong 2025 season.
Marquise Davis is in a similar spot lower on the depth chart. The Missouri transfer was a former top-200 recruit and flashed as a true freshman last year, averaging 5.88 yards per carry. With Isaac Brown and Keyjuan Brown leading the room, Davis is easy to miss - but he’s on the list for a reason.
Up front, Evan Wibberley is another player who may be more important than his profile suggests. The Kentucky transfer is projected to start at center for an offensive line with plenty of new pieces.
He only played in four games last season, but that shouldn’t erase what he did at Western Kentucky in 2024, when he started all 14 games and earned honorable mention All-Conference USA honors. Georgia Southern transfer Wibberley brings even more experience to the rebuilt front after earning All-Sun Belt honors and starting 13 games last season.
In Other News...
Louisville Gets Its First Real Test In The Heavyweight Conversation
The conversation around Louisvilles place in the national picture picked up before the season even gets properly rolling, with Ole Miss coach Pete Golding going out of his way to praise the Cardinals as the kind of team that belongs in the same breath as the SEC heavyweights. For Jeff Brohm, that kind of respect is nice, but it also sharpens the stakes. Louisville doesnt need flattering words in August, it needs proof, and Brohm has been clear that this matchup is about showing the Cardinals can stand up to a major challenge.
That makes the opener against Ole Miss more than just a measuring-stick game for a revamped Louisville group. New defensive play caller Mark Ivey has already pointed to the value of a strong showing in building belief inside the building, especially with a test this demanding on the other side. The Cardinals will get a first chance to see whether their offseason confidence holds when the speed and physicality ramp up, and if they come out of it looking the part, the rest of the country will have to take the conversation a lot more seriously. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Faces A Huge Early Test As New Targets Take Center Stage
Louisvilles first real measuring stick arrives fast, with the Cardinals set to open against No. 10 Ole Miss on Sept. 6 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. It is a matchup that already carries a little extra weight because the teams are not the same ones that met in 2021, and neither sideline is being run by the same coach. Jeff Brohm is heading into his fourth season at Louisville, while Pete Golding is taking over Ole Miss in his first year.
The Cardinals also have plenty to sort through on offense after losing much of their receiving production to the NFL draft and the transfer portal. Louisville brought in new pieces to fill those gaps, and the opener should offer an early look at how quickly the passing game can come together against a ranked opponent. Ole Miss has gone through similar turnover in its own receiver room, so the opening night meeting feels less like a rematch than a reset, with both programs trying to answer big questions right away. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Has A Chance To Make A Massive Week 1 Statement
Louisville opens the season with a chance to make a real early impression when it meets Ole Miss at a neutral site in Nashville. The setting alone gives the game a big-stage feel, and the matchup looks like one of those Week 1 tests that can shape how people talk about both programs for the next few weeks.
Ole Miss arrives trying to back up its top-10 billing, while Louisville has a clean shot at landing the kind of win that changes the tone around a season before September really gets going. With both teams expected to push the pace and the game projected to stay competitive, this has the makings of the sort of opener that can swing momentum fast for whoever handles the moment better. [Read more 🡒]