1. Malik Cunningham

2. Evan Conley or Brock Domann or Khalib Johnson

3. Nathan McElroy

The main reason to be optimistic about Louisville's quarterbacks is that Malik Cunningham, a proven signal caller with a wealth of experience, is back for one final year.

Cunningham's stats are impressive from a variety of different angles.

Cunningham led the lead the ACC in rushing touchdowns with 20 and became only the second quarterback in Louisville football history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season.

Cunningham started all 13 games for the Cardinals a year ago, totaling 39 touchdowns, and was one passing touchdown away from accomplishing the 20-20 feat.

Cunningham cut down his turnovers during the 2021 season, going from 12 interceptions over 11 games in 2020 to six interceptions over 13 games in 2021.

Pro Football Focus ranks Cunningham as the 14th best quarterback in all of the FBS entering the season.

Since 2019, Malik Cunningham leads all ACC Quarterbacks with the highest passer rating when kept clean at 120.2.

Cunningham will be in his sixth year at Louisville, and if he can stay healthy, the dual-threat quarterback could cement his legacy as one of the best to ever play the position.

The situation behind Cunningham is murky at best. Out of the three players in contention to backup Cunningham, Evan Conley has the most game experience, but couldn't answer the call when needed last year.

Louisville brought in Brock Domann from the JUCO ranks ahead of fall camp a year ago, and sources close to the program have told CardinalSports.com that Domann had a great spring, and has the inside track to win the backup quarterback job.

The third player who is in the mix with Conley and Domann is true freshman Khalib Johnson. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Alabama native enrolled early, but battled an injury during spring practices that limited his development.

As mentioned above, Brock Domann is starting to get more comfortable in the offense, and all indications are that he could emerge as the No.2 option at quarterback.

Anyway you slice it, the quarterback room has question marks when you look past Cunningham, and could bite Louisville, as it did last year, if Cunningham misses time.