Reggie Bonnafon focused on becoming a force for Louisville football at wide receiver

A little bit lost in the hype surrounding the potential of a breakout sophomore season for Lamar Jackson has been what the future holds for the man who was presumed to be Louisville quarterback of the present and future this time a year ago.

Reggie Bonnafon began the 2015 season as Bobby Petrino's QB1, and then spent the final 12 games of the campaign learning the running back and wide receiver positions on the fly. While still spending some time in the role of reserve quarterback, Bonnafon finished his sophomore season with 175 rushing yards on 45 carries, and caught 10 passes for 105 more yards.

Given the fact that Bonnafon possesses both a 43.5-inch standing vertical leap and one of the fastest 40-yard dash times on the roster, Petrino made it a point immediately following the season to note that he would be spending a chunk of the offseason figuring out the best way to utilize such a special weapon. It appears now that Petrino and his offensive staff have decided that the best role for Bonnafon to fill is at wide receiver.

But now it is time for him to be just one thing. That would be receiver, the position coach Bobby Petrino believes he can be most effective. So during the final two weeks of spring practice, Petrino had Bonnafon working exclusively with the receivers, perhaps the deepest position on the team.

"We've got to get him to one position where he can become an expert at what he does at that position," Petrino said during ACC spring meetings. "We can still always hand him the ball off. We've got to get him touches, because he's a great athlete. He's one of the best athletes on our team."

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"Reggie's one of the greatest kids in the world to coach," Petrino said. "He's just worried about the team and seeing how he can help it. He worked hard every day in practice. For him, it was a matter of -- he didn't have a lot of experience playing the position, so he was working hard to learn everything. This really gives him a chance to use his natural ability."

I still would be more shocked than not if Bonnafon doesn't carry the ball at least 10 times this season, and if he doesn't throw more than one pass.