2012 Louisville Positional Preview – Quarterbacks

There’s no denying that Teddy Bridgewater gave U of L fans something to be excited about during his rookie campaign. And when you have an experienced quarterback behind him, like the Cards do in Will Stein, you have to be happy with that security blanket.

Bridgewater flashed signs of brilliance during his first season in a Louisville uniform, but he also made plenty of rookie mistakes. With the experiences from last year and the Belk Bowl, more specifically, you have to believe that he will be a much better player in 2012 and the sky is the absolute limit for this kid.

Teddy Bridgewater impressed as an incoming freshman when he came into the program early and got a head start on learning the offense. Well, that progression continued this offseason as he spent most of it in the film room and the weight room. He has added 27 pounds since December 2011. Coach Watson said he would like for Teddy to manage the game better and make more right decisions. As a freshman Teddy threw for 2,129 yards 14 touchdowns and threw 12 interceptions. Bridgewater stepped in for an injured Will Stein during the uk game and started every game since. He has a 5-5 record as a starter. He passed Chris Redman’s record for passing yards as a freshman and was named Big East Rookie of the Year.

Going into his sophomore year he is up for the O’Brien Award, which is for the best quarterback, and the Maxwell Award, which is the best player in college football. The expectations are high for Teddy and his team this year.

Of all the quarterbacks this season Will Stein is the only senior and he will back up Bridgewater. Stein entered the 2011 season as the starter, but was injured during the UK game and never regained the starting position. Stein is a very intelligent player and in the 2011 season he threw for 620 yards five touchdowns and only one interception. He is a very reliable backup.

Luke Brohm and Jerry Arlinghaus are redshirt freshman. Brohm (the cousin of Jeff, Greg, and Brian) is a walk-on out of St. X High School in Louisville and Arlinghaus finished his 2010 season as one of the most prolific passers in Northern Kentucky. Kyle Todd is a freshman walk-on from E-town. He is the younger brother of Chris Todd, the quarterback of Auburn in 2008. Will Gardner is a freshman from Georgia. He was a three star prospect out of high school and was recruited by Alabama and Mississippi State, but ruptured his ACL during his senior season in high school.

If everyone can stay healthy and continue to get better week by week they can achieve their goal of going to a BCS bowl game. This should be a pretty exciting season for the Louisville cardinals and fans should be very excited about Teddy Five being under center all season long.