Brewer Excited for 2020 Wide Receiver Unit

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - University of Louisville wide receivers coach Gunter Brewer has to take the good with the bad this year.

First, the good news. Tutu Atwell, Dez Fitzpatrick, and Justin Marshall gives the Cardinals a solid trio to build their offense around. Atwell, a first team All-American, set a school record with 1,276 yards and tied a school mark with 12 touchdowns, while Fitzpatrick enters his fifth year with 106 receptions for 1,756 yards and 18 touchdowns.

However, the Cardinals will experience some growing pains with the signing of four wide receivers in the 2020 recruiting class. Newcomers Christian Fitzpatrick and Braden Smith enrolled in January to get a leg up on additional signees Jordan Watkins and Nickolas Malito.

"I think from top to bottom we have some talent," Brewer said. "We've got some unproven talent, the young guys coming in. But we lost a lot of people out of the room that's had a bunch of experience playing a bunch of games and are extremely talented individuals, so that part of it we're going to miss. But I think the youth and the amount of athleticism we have will give us a chance to be successful, and we've got two guys obviously in Dez and Tutu who have played a lot of ball and made a lot of plays."

Atwell, a 5-foot-9 speedster is the star of the group. He burst on the scene last year by becoming one of the most explosive wide outs in the nation, recording four plays of over 70 yards, which led the nation. He 18.2 yards a reception, which led the nation for receivers who caught 70 or more passes. The native of Miami, Fla., caught a 90-yard touchdown pass in a win over Syracuse.

The junior's breakout season will cause teams to put more attention on the ACC's leading receiver last season.

"I would think he will garnish more attention," Brewer said. "But as long as we can keep running the ball and putting stress on the defense, we'll be able to keep them honest and let Tutu get behind the second level. But if that means we have to rush the ball for 200-300 yards sometimes then that's perfectly fine with me."

Fitzpatrick has been the steadiest player out of the group, catching over 30 passes in each of his three seasons, including a career best 45 receptions for 699 yards and nine touchdowns as a freshman in 2017, which was a rookie record at UofL.

"So we'll lean on them early, but we've got some other guys, Justin Marshall, and a lot of guys behind him who are making a push -- Braden Smith came in, a junior college kid, who was at Mississippi State, then JUCO and came here. He had a really good spring and he gave us confidence we can count on him to play a couple positions, and a lot of others are coming in and are going to be able to play for us."

Smith turned heads in the spring. An All-Conference performer at Mississippi Community College, Smith totaled 92 receptions for 1,261 yards and 18 touchdowns.

"He can be a guy that has some position flexibility and what I mean by that is, he's played inside and outside so when we go for a wide he gives us the ability to have another slot receiver that is extremely sudden quick." Brewer said. "He's built a lot different than Tutu, where he was a quarterback in high school also but he's very well put together and he's been in SEC battles, been in junior college and played a bunch of snaps so he gives us some experience there too."

Smith gives UofL some position flexibility because he can play both inside and outside, and also gives the Cards an explosive returner on special teams.

"He's also played outside and been a returner," Brewer said. "So not only does it give us a lot of depth and experience, he gives us a talent level that it takes in this league to play. So we're extremely excited for the first practices that we had him. We wish would have had a bunch more because mentally he was just really starting to click and feel good about it, and getting some continuity with quarterbacks, as you all mentioned earlier how important that is.

"And he's a great student with a solid family. Just the type of person that coach Satterfield and his staff and the university loved being around because he's got good qualities to him outside of the game of football and a good student, good person, good player, so it's a great combination for us to be successful."

Christian Fitzpatrick, the younger brother of Dez Fitzpatrick, is a big target, who benefitted from the seven spring practices, meetings, and learning from his older brother.

"We were definitely lucky to get seven practices in, as many of my friends and colleagues in the industry weren't as lucky. The biggest thing about Christian is how big he is. He's Dez's little brother, but he's definitely not little."

Watkins and Malito are scheduled to join the Cardinals this summer whenever the players are allowed to resume workouts on campus. Those two rookies will also get their opportunity to earn repetitions this fall.

"The both can help us," Brewer said. "They are extremely talented and helps us with our depth this fall. I'm looking forward to getting them here and watching their development."

University of Louisville Athletics

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Christian Fitzpatrick

Dez Fitzpatrick

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