The Cardinal Countdown : 13 Days Until Kickoff

#13 Tyler Jensen

Class: Freshman

Ht/Wt: 6-6/225

Position: Quarterback

Hometown: San Diego, CA

Twitter: @TylerJensenQB

Thoughts: The quarterback position for UofL has been pretty stable over the past 10 years, and while a big chunk of that is keeping the starter heathy, it’s also having some solid guys in the number two slot that can take over a series or closeout a game in case of emergency. We’ve seen a few examples of that in the past with Kyle Bolin, Reggie Bonnafon, and Evan Conley. Part of building up that roster is getting guys in early and molding them into true competitors for that spot, and that’s what the staff looks to do with Jensen.

Tyler is the second QB I’ve covered in as many days out of California, but Jensen brings something completely different than what we saw from Krug yesterday. The 6-6 pro-style QB was a Top 100 QB nationally but didn’t get an opportunity to play last year due to the pandemic. After committing to Northern Colorado this time last year Jensen had a lot of time to look over his options and had a handful of PWO offers from other programs, but the family atmosphere and the connection with the coaches made him pick the Cards. A mid-January commitment meant a quick turnaround for Tyler as he was on campus weeks later and prepping for Spring ball. I don’t think Tyler or the staff expected him to be in the running year one, but Satterfield likes the potential and the young man has an arm for sure. His wrist flick reminds me of Teddy a little as he can fling it 30 yards with a quick motion. He’s also got a good base and the 6-6 frame is something we haven’t seen around here at that position in a along time. While 2021 is solid, the QB situation beyond that is questionable, and I’d love to see someone like Tyler develop into a solid backup, pushing for PT in the years to come.

Sweet Tweet:

Oh boy. First Malik, and now Tyler. The club angle, the stance, the club not even in the same zip code as the ball when he starts his swing, the follow through…it’s all rough, Ty. BUT you did utter two of the most poetic words to grace the ears of the weekend warrior. “It’s playable”. Keep on swinging, buddy.

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#13 Kei’Trel Clark

Class: Sophomore

Ht/Wt: 5-10/180

Position: Defensive Back

Hometown: Richmond, VA

Twitter: @_treclark

Thoughts: Kei’Trel is a great example of someone coming in from a smaller program and showing out at a high level. Clark stepped into a big role last year at corner after the transfer from Liberty and lived up to what many thought he was capable of.

Clark was one of the highlights on defense in 2020, making plays at many different levels and identifying himself as a top corner in the ACC. It’s funny when you go back and look at the stats you can see some of his numbers seemed to drop off as the season wore on, but for those of us that watched the games you can clearly see that those numbers are because they were avoiding Clark in the passing game. In his first seven games Clark was getting tested because he was unproven in the conference and he went out and had nine pass breakups. The last three games, he only had one, but still managed to finish Top 12 nationally in the category. The problem for Clark was turning those breakups into turnovers as he had a couple “drops” before finally getting his first interception against Syracuse. His speed helps, but his technique puts him in spots to make big plays. Some of the more notable plays from last season are highlighted in the video below (Music NSFW: you may want to mute video)

In a surprise to no one, including the Jim Thorpe Award Watchlist, Clark will once again be a top corner in the ACC and nationally. While I try to avoid comparisons having Clark out there in 2021 will hopefully be reminiscent of a certain corner a few years ago that really took the “jaire” out of the ball for the opposing offenses. Coach Brown should be excited about what he has in this group today, and the talent stacking up behind them, and the leader in that room both on and off the field is Kei’Trel.

Sweet Tweet:

Let’s hope one of them is “sticky hands” because my man put himself in a spot to have about 8 or 9 picks last year. Glad for the PBUs, but want to see them turn into INTs