The Cardinal Countdown: 5 Days Until Kickoff

#5 Seth Dawkins

Class: Sophomore

Ht/Wt: 6-3/214

Position: Wide Reciever

Hometown: Columbus, OH

Twitter: @dawkins5_

Thoughts: The next big thing is already here, and I'm not talking about Seth's incredibly large hands. Dawkins came in as a true freshman and earned a spot in the outside rotation last year at wideout, in addition to his contributions on special teams as a return man. While I never got the feeling that Dawkins was getting ready to break one and take it to the house (his speed doesn't translate as over the top impressive), I never felt nervous about him trying to make a crazy play or do something that would put the offense in jeopardy during a return, and that says something in itself. At wideout Dawkins got in the mix early grabbing a TD against Charlotte week one, then mostly filling in the void on an as-needed basis replacing Staples when necessary. He finished 2016 with 11 grabs for 191yards, and just in case you're not a math major, that translates to 17.36yd/rec, good enough for 2nd best on the team (players with over 5 catches), trailing only Jaylen.

In 2017 I fully expect Dawkins to take on the starting role opposite Jaylen Smith. The intriguing part of the wideout unit this year will be who steps up as the mid-range go-to. Obviously we have some great options out of the slot, but the Cards need a big guy to help fill in the Staples and Quick roles from years past. As we already covered with Jaylen, both he and Seth were deep threats more often than not last year, but Lamar will absolutely have to have a dependable option to catch that 10 yard slant or a guy that can make some moves close to the line to get open. It may be Bobby's dream scenario but I doubt he'll have Seth and Jaylen run deep every play. I like the dependability of Jaylen and Seth has shown he has the hands to perform as well. Something as simple as minimizing drops will vastly help Lamar in 2017, and I think that will happen.

I really like Quick and I thought Staples was slightly underutilized last year, but (fingers crossed) I really don't expect a drop off at the position this season, even losing those two guys, and Seth is a big reason for that.

Sweet Tweet:

Not a tweet from Seth, but a great reminder that the Cards football team, and Louisville athletics in general absolutely own the responsibility of community service. 612 student athletes volunteered their time in the 2016-2017 season and helped Louisville finish 5th in the country in hours served (Over 11,000). Also, this photo gives me the opportunity to show off those mitts on Dawkins. Walking around looking like Chubbs Peterson up in here...