Nick Dawson & Keith Brown to Louisville: Instant Impact for Army All-Americans?

With all of the nonsense going on in the Big East lately, the Louisville Cardinals are really putting together a solid recruiting class. Already loaded with quite a few 3-star players, the Cardinals landed have landed two of their top players in one day.

It comes from linebackers Nick Dawson and Keith Brown who made their commitments in the US Army All-American Game.

Dawson is 6'2", 222 pounds and will likely play the inside linebacker position with his athleticism and speed. He has great strength and is able to drop back in coverage well, as well as defend the run. He has great ball skills considering he was an effective running back.

Brown is the tough linebacker at 6'1", 225 pounds who will inflict pain with his tackling ability. But like Dawson, he also has great athleticism and a good combination of strength and power. He also has speed to cover both sides of the field and great ball skills as he's returned an interception or two back for a touchdown. 

The Cardinals are very young at the linebacker position with several sophomores and juniors heading into next season. Although these two players are arguably the most talented of all of them and will have a chance to compete from day one they step on the campus.

What head coach Charlie Strong is doing at Louisville is awesome. He continues to steal top players that have offers from other high-end programs.

Dawson had offers from Auburn, Clemson, Miami and USC, among others. While Brown was pursued by Florida, Florida State, Georgia and Michigan, among others. And they both end up picking Louisville, a  team in the frail Big East.

There's no question which team was a winner today in the recruiting process. And if either one of these linebackers fulfill their potential, Louisville could make some noise real soon. Particularity on the defensive side of the ball. 

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]