2024 Louisville Football Position Breakdown: Safety

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As we inch closer to the start of the 2024 college football season, Louisville Report will break down each individual position on the Cardinals' roster. Next in our positional breakdown series, we take at look at the safeties.

Position Roster Movement:

• Returning (3): M.J. Griffin, Devin Neal, D'Angelo Hutchinson
• Departing (2): Cam'Ron Kelly, Josh Minkins Jr.
• Incoming (4): Jathan Hatch, Daeh McCullough, Tamarion McDonald, Blake Ruffin

Projected Depth Chart:

Free Safety

1. M.J. Griffin (6-1, 200, R-Sr.)
2. Tamarion McDonald (6-2, 195, Sr.)
3. Blake Ruffin (6-3, 210, R-Jr.)
4. Jathan Hatch (6-2, 190, Fr.)

Strong Safety

1. Devin Neal (6-0, 210, Sr.)
2. D'Angelo Hutchinson (6-3, 195, Jr.)
3. Daeh McCullough (6-2, 190, R-Fr.)

Breakdown:

Like we mentioned in the cornerback breakdown, while Louisville's front seven was the primary reason for their success on defense in year one under Jeff Brohm, their secondary played a bigger role than the get credit for. The defensive line is what set the tone up front, and during the first two months of the season, Louisville got great complimentary football from the back end.

Over the first nine games of the year, Louisville allowed just 196.4 passing yards per game, which was good 26th in the country. The secondary then took a big step back, allowing 300+ passing yards in three of their final five games. This meant the Cardinals, who were trending to have a top-25 passing defensive, finish at 578th overall with 217.3 passing yards per game allowed.

While Louisville certainly got some inconsistent play out of their cornerback spot during this time, the main reason for the secondary's slide was due to the play of the safety room. Collectively during the final five games, the position wasn't nearly as effective at limiting opposing offenses from taking the top off of the secondary, whether that be in pass coverage or against the run. This was on full display against USC in the Holiday Bowl, when the Cardinals gave up 372 yards and six touchdowns through the air.

Even with the inconsistent play to end the 2023 season, Louisville still heads into the 2024 season with a strong safety room. In fact, between who they were able to bring back and who they were able to bring in via the transfer portal, the Cardinals have a great balance of production and potential at safety.

The biggest storyline at the position revolves around M.J. Griffin. The Temple transfer played a massive role in Louisville's defensive turnaround during the 2022 season, helping the Cardinals significantly cut down on the amount of big plays they were giving up. Despite seeing meaningful defensive playing time in only eight games, Griffin still finished seventh on the team in tackles with 45, while also logging a pair of interceptions and a forced fumble in the process.

However, during fall camp ahead of the 2023 season, Griffin suffered a lower leg injury and was forced to miss the entire year. Fortunately, Griffin doesn't seem to have run into any hiccups during his rehab, and should be a full-go when this season's fall camp rolls around.

When fully healthy, Griffin is a valuable asset to Louisville's defense. He has a high football IQ, is more athletic than fans realize, and has a penchant for playmaking either in the box or deep in coverage. So long as there are no injury snags, he should be the anchor on the back end for Louisville.

A sliver lining with Griffin's injury was that it forced others in the room to have to step up their game and take on a bigger role. Along with Cam'Ron Kelly, whose collegiate eligibility is now exhausted, Devin Neal answered the call. He wound up leading the team in interceptions with four, was second in tackles with 74, and also finished with 3.0 tackles for loss, six pass breakups and a fumble recovery.

While Neal's efforts in pass coverage did waver a bit in the final month of the season, he still does very well in this regard. He's got great anticipatory skills before the ball is in the air, and makes great plays on the ball when it approaches its target. If Neal can be more consistent in 2024 than he was last season, he and Griffin should be one of the best safety duos in the ACC - if not the best.

But not only is Louisville strong in their starting spots at safety, they have great depth behind them.

Tamarion McDonald might not be the starter at either spot, but make no mistake, he will see plenty of reps this season and should be a difference maker. He joined Louisville after being a multi-year starter at Tennessee, and is coming off of his best season in college. He finished last season with 40 tackles, 3.5 for loss, a sack, an interception and four pass breakups.

For starters, McDonald is one of the most versatile defenders on the roster, as he can play strong safety, slot corner and linebacker. On top of that, his athleticism and nose for the football stood out like a sore thumb during this past spring ball for Louisville. Whether it's a true safety or at STAR in co-DC Ron English's system, he'll get plenty of run in some capacity.

While Griffin, Neal and McDonald will the primary players relied upon at safety for Louisville, there are two additional players who should be in the main rotation on the back end - D'Angelo Hutchinson and Blake Ruffin.

Hutchinson is one of just three returners at the position, but hasn't seen a lot of playing time up to this points. While he has collected just 11 tackles in his first two college seasons, Hutchinson is someone who could be primed to take a step forward based on his performance in the spring. He was regularly in the mix with the ones and twos, made plays on a somewhat consistent basis.

Ruffin has a little more experience, just not at the FBS level. That being said, he was one of the best defensive backs in the FCS last season. He collected four interceptions, 63 tackles, 4.0 for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and four pass breakups en route to Second-Team AP FCS All-American. He didn't participate in spring ball due to an injury, so fall camp will play a big factor in how well he can make the transition to the ACC.

That leaves Louisville with two final scholarship safeties in Oklahoma transfer Daeh McCullough and true freshman Jathan Hatch. McCullough probably will see the field sooner than Hatch will, considering he has a redshirt year of experience and is a former top-500 prospect, while Hatch isn't nearly as highly regarded of a prospect.

As mentioned in the cornerback breakdown, it would not be shocking to see either McCullough or Hatch make the switch to corner. Both players were fairly interchangeable at the high school level, and Louisville's depth at corner is just a little behind what it is at safety.

While the safety spot does have some questions, mainly Griffin's health status and the position's overall consistency in pass coverage, it's hard to deny that it will help Louisville's secondary as a whole be an upper tier unit this upcoming season. The Cardinals have a great set of starters, and should be able to freely rotate player on the back end without seeing a massive fall off in talent and/or potential.

Put it all together, and Louisville has the ingredients at both cornerback and safety to have a secondary that could finish the season as one of the best in the ACC.

Other Position Breakdowns:

• Quarterback
• Running Back
• Wide Receiver
• Tight End
• Offensive Line
• Defensive Line
• Linebacker
• Cornerback
• Special Teams

(Photo of M.J. Griffin: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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