Louisville Football: Projected 2-deep depth chart for 2017
The 2017 Louisville football season is right around the corner, and here is the Cardinals’ projected two-deep depth chart for the 2017 season.
The Louisville Cardinals saw a bit of success in their fourth season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. They went 7-1 in the ACC, however, they lost their final three games of 2016.
After finishing with a 9-4 record, quarterback Lamar Jackson returns with a lot of expectations. The youngest Heisman Trophy winner will need to find new receiving targets to replace the departures of tight end Cole Hikutini and receivers James Quick and Jamari Staples.
The offensive line will also see some changes up front as they look to protect Jackson a lot better in 2017. The o-line gave up 47.0 sacks in 2016 including 22.0 sacks in their final three losses.
The Louisville defense should also be much improved. Linebacker Stacey Thomas and cornerback Jaire Alexander lead a group of hungry defenders.
Offensive Line
Starting tackles: Geron Christian (LT), Lukayus McNeil (RT)
Backups: Mekhi Becton, Danny Burns
Geron Christian and Lukayus McNeil are arguably the strongest lineman in the ACC. They’ll be prepared to protect the quarterback a lot better with tons of experience under their belt. McNeil flirted with the possibility of playing guard but he will continue at his natural position.
More interesting is the placement of offensive tackle Mekhi Becton on the depth chart. Becton was an early enrollee in the 2017 recruiting class and made a bit of noise during spring practice. Seeing as he’s already on the depth chart over, we could see him some of his development early on.
Starting center: Robbie Bell
Backup: Nate Scheler
The center position is also another position the Louisville Cardinals need to replace. The good news: Robbie Bell is a redshirt freshman who overtook the position from Nate Scheler (true sophomore). It seems Bell won the position battle in the spring, for now anyways.
Starting guards: Cole Bentley (LG), Kenny Thomas (RG)
Backups: Linwood Foy, Ronald Rudd
The Cardinals are replacing both offensive guards Kiola Mahoni and Khalil Hunter from a season ago. Kenny Thomas responded quite well this spring and earned the starting nod after the coaching staff tried McNeil out at guard in spring camp as well.
Linwood Foy and Ronald Rudd are two junior college transfers who could see some time eventually at one of the guard spots. Both players were highly-rated on the junior college circuit before deciding to sign with Louisville, giving them some much-needed depth.