Louisville Football: 3 reasons the Cardinals will struggle in 2020

1. Mekhi Becton is gone and offensive line is shaky

Despite producing a first-round NFL draft pick in Mekhi Becton, Louisville’s offensive line was among the worst in the country last season

No offensive line the nation allowed more tackles for loss than the Cardinals while they also finished in the bottom 10 in the nation in sacks allowed per game as they gave up an average of 3.3, finishing 122nd in the nation.

In 2020, the team will be without its starting left tackle in Becton and right tackle in Tyler Haycraft. That means an already mediocre offensive line will need to replace each exterior lineman with inexperienced reserves.

On the bright side, the Cardinals do return all three of their interior offensive lineman in Caleb Chandler, Cole Bentley and Robbie Bell and despite the line’s struggles, Louisville still finished 27th in the nation as they averaged 204.8 yards per game on the ground.

If the Cards’ offensive line can simply hold its own and has two offensive tackles emerge as reliable starters, they have a chance for significant improvement. However, if they allow the same amount of tackles for loss and for Micale Cunningham to get hit and sacked as much as he did a year ago, winning eight games again will not be easy.