Louisville football: 3 second-year players who’ll become stars in 2023

Maurice Turner wasn’t exactly the highest-rated recruit in Louisville’s average 2022 class, ranking as the No. 146 receiver in the nation, but he had one of the bigger impacts of any freshman.

And no, it wasn’t at the position everyone was expecting him to play.

As I said, Turner came in as a receiver and the third-best at that position in Louisville’s 2022 class. But he was just 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds which doesn’t exactly scream receiving threat at the FBS level. He just didn’t have the prototypical receiver size and that opened the door for a position change.

Scott Satterfield decided to move Turner to running back to help out a somewhat thin room. He had an immediate impact.

Turner was fourth on the team with 314 yards on 65 carries and he also had 12 catches for 72 yards. Nearly 400 yards of total offense as a freshman? Not too shabby. Plus, he has shown he can make plays in the passing game because he does have those receiver skills ingrained in him.

Tiyon Evans is gone so that opens a door for Turner to be the RB2 to Jawhar Jordan’s RB1 in 2023 and potential have a breakout season.