2025 Louisville Football Position Breakdown: Offensive Line

Despite losing a few of their top linemen, the Cardinals should still have one of the better offensive lines in the ACC.

Louisville center Pete Nygra | University of Louisville Athletics

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As we inch closer to the start of the 2025 college football season, Louisville Cardinals On SI will break down each individual position on the Cardinals' roster. Next in our positional breakdown series, we take at look at the offensive line.

Position Roster Movement:

• Returning (8): Victor Cutler, Fred Johnson, Ransom McDermott, Rasheed Miller, Pete Nygra, Lance Robinson, Trevonte Sylvester, Jimmy Williams III
• Departing (7): Austin Collins (Transfer - Syracuse), Joe Crocker (Transfer - Baylor), Michael Gonzalez (Graduation), Makhete Gueye (Transfer - Missouri State), Jonathan Mendoza (Graduation), Monroe Mills (Transfer - Virginia), Madden Sanker (Transfer - FAU)
• Incoming (10): Gradey Anthony (HS), Jordan Church (Transfer - FAU), Michael Flores (Transfer - Old Dominion), Tyler Folmar (HS), Cameron Gorin (HS), Carter Guillaume (Transfer - SEMO) Naeer Jackson (Transfer - FIU), Mahamane Moussa (Transfer - Purdue), Makylan Pounders (Transfer - Mississippi State), Sam Secrest (Transfer - Houston)

Projected Depth Chart:

Left Tackle

1. Makylan Pounders (6-5, 310, R-Sr.)
2. Trevonte Sylvester (6-6, 280, R-Sr.)
3. Tyler Folmar (6-6, 330, Fr.)

Left Guard

1. Lance Robinson (6-4, 290, R-Sr.)
2. Carter Guillaume (6-2, 285, So.)
3. Fred Johnson (6-5, 290, R-Fr.)
4. Cameron Gorin (6-5, 260, Fr.)

Center

1. Pete Nygra (6-4, 300, R-Sr.)
2. Victor Cutler (6-3, 300, R-Sr.)
3. Michael Flores (6-3, 310, R-Sr.)

Right Guard

1. Naeer Jackson (6-6, 310, R-Jr.)
2. Jordan Church (6-4, 310, R-So.)
3. Jimmy Williams III (6-4, 300, R-Fr.)
4. Sam Secrest (6-6, 300, R-Jr.)

Right Tackle

1. Rasheed Miller (6-7, 310, R-Sr.)
2. Mahamane Moussa (6-4, 305, R-Sr.)
3. Ransom McDermott (6-8, 305, R-Fr.)
4. Gradey Anthony (6-5, 280, Fr.)

Breakdown:

When most college football fans and analysts think about head coach Jeff Brohm, typically, one of the first things that comes to mind is the play and proficiency of his offensive skill positions. He's one of the best developers of quarterbacks in the sport, and has produced a few All-Americans at wide receiver. Even during his first two years at Louisville, their ground game has been a massive part of their offense.

What hasn't gotten nearly as much attention from both a national and local level is how he and assistant Richard Owens have built up Louisville's offensive line. When Brohm took over the Cardinals, he inherited an O-line that ranked ranking 64th and 74th nationally in terms tackles for loss and sacks per game. About middle of the road, but very underwhelming considering the talent.

In just two years, this position group turned into one of the best in the ACC. During the 2024 season, their 1.15 sacks allowed per game ranked third in the ACC and 17th in the FBS, while their 4.23 tackles for loss allowed per game was second in the league and 18th nationally. The advanced stats weren't as high on this unit, as their Pro Football Focus pass blocking grade of 67.2 was good for 72nd in the FBS while their run blocking grade of 65.1 ranked 57th, but it was still hard to deny that the offensive line had a great 2024 season.

However, this offseason has seen a lot of moving pieces at the top of the depth chart, as three of Louisville's top four offensive lineman have moved on. Michael Gonzalez graduated and later signed a UDFA deal with the Atlanta Falcons, while Monroe Mills transferred to Virginia in the winter transfer portal window, and Austin Collins transferred to Syracuse in the spring window.

Even with that in mind, the offensive line still in pretty good shape heading into the 2025 season. Louisville does have a handful of impact players returning despite the attrition, and also hit the portal to help build some great overall depth.

The starting group of offensive linemen for Louisville, as well as the entire line as a whole, will undoubtedly be led by former NIU transfer center Pete Nygra. Joining the Cardinals last offseason, he wound up being one of their best linemen, giving up just one sack and 16 total pressures in 475 pass block snaps and 848 total offensive snaps. Not only was his 71.1 PFF offensive grade second amongst Louisville's main group of offensive lineman (Mills), it was 10th among power conference centers (min. 800 blocking snaps)

Moving over to the starting guard spots, you have one player who is finally getting the opportunity to play meaningful snaps for the first time in two years, and another who is coming off of a career year at his previous school.

After spending the bulk of his first three seasons in college as a tackle, former Middle Tennessee and Houston transfer Lance Robinson spent the majority of spring ball as the first team left guard, taking over Gonzalez's old spot. He originally joined the program when Brohm did, but could only play one game in 2023 due to then-transfer rules, and had to miss all of 2024 due to a leg injury suffered on the first day of fall camp. The staff has been high on Robinson ever since he first stepped on campus, and he looked the part in the spring.

On the other side of Nygra at right guard, Naeer Jackson slides into the spot that was originally going to be Austin Collins' before his transfer. The FIU transfer known as "Big Philly" had a career year as a sophomore last season, allowing only one sack and 13 total pressures in 321 pass block snaps and 298 total offensive snaps. While PFF wasn't a big fan of Jackson last season, giving him a 51.1 offensive grade, he held his own during spring ball. Not to mention he gives Louisville some great size as a guard.

Bouncing outside to the tackles, Louisville isn't as strong as they are on the inside of the offensive line, but they still have two good starters. Taking over at left tackle will be Makylan Pounders, who spent last season at Mississippi State before starting his career at Memphis. He earned a 52.4 PFF offensive grade last season, allowing four sacks and 19 total pressures in 334 pass block snaps and 574 blocking snaps overall. While not super ideal as a blindside blocker, Pounders gives Louisville SEC experience, and did a good job when running with the ones in the spring.

Then at right tackle, Rasheed Miller is in line to take over as the starter. Coming over from Georgia Southern last offseason, Miller played 170 pass blocks snaps and 289 overall at both tackle spots as a reserve, but only played eight games because of injury. While he did give up 12 pressures in this truncated sample size for a 55.1 PFF offensive grade, none of them were sacks. Like with the three previous players, he also looked good in the spring.

When looking at the starting offensive line, from an individual standpoint, with the exception of Nygra, these players put up good but maybe not great numbers during the 2024 season. However, put it all together, and there was a very clear distinction between the first team offensive line and the second team in the spring. This is definitely a situation where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

That's not to discourage some of those players who were amongst the second team. In fact, Louisville has good depth in their two-deep, and a couple of these players who were running with the second team in spring ball have a chance to make a run at the starting spot in fall camp.

The player backup who I think has the greatest chance to crack the starting lineup is Trevonte Sylvester at left tackle. He already has starting experience at the position, taking over there following Mills' midseason injury and move to right tackle. With a PFF offensive grade of 53.5, allowing one sack and 14 pressures in 244 pass block snaps plus 456 snaps overall, he's shown that he can hold his own, not to mention he got plenty of run with the first team in spring. However, considering he's 30 pound lighter than Pounders, the latter gets the starting nod for now.

It also wouldn't be shocking to see both backup guards earn a significant spot in the offensive line rotation - or outright win their respective position battles.

Backup right guard Jordan Church, who spent the last two seasons at FAU, earned All-AAC Third Team last year after giving up three sacks and 15 total pressures in 404 pass block snaps and 739 blocking snaps overall. Backup left guard Carter Guillaume earned FCS Freshman All-American honors as a true frosh at SEMO, giving up zero sacks and just 10 total pressures across a whopping 707 pass block snaps and 1,012 blocking snaps overall. Both players did very well in the spring, and it will be interesting to see what they can do in the fall.

At the center and right tackle spots, Louisville isn't quite as deep as they are at the other three positions, but there are some serviceable backup options here. Purdue transfer Mahamane Moussa will likely be the backup for the latter position, and does have prior experience with Jeff Brohm. While he did give two sacks and 27 total pressures last season in 380 pass block snaps and 655 snaps overall, he's making the position change from left guard, which seemed to bode well for him in the spring.

Then it's a two-horse race between Victor Cutler and Old Dominion transfer Michael Flores for the backup center spot behind Nygra. While Cutler is the incumbent, he only played 61 total snaps last year over the first four games - although he did allow zero pressures. However, Flores, the younger brother of former UofL lineman John Paul Flores, has a lot more recent experience. In 435 pass block snaps and 839 blocking snaps for the Monarchs last season, he gave up only three sacks and 17 total pressures.

Outside of the two-deep, the one player who could have a chance to crack the main offensive line rotation is Sam Secrest. Among the remaining seven scholarship players, he has the most college experience - although it's not much. Between his first stint at Louisville and last year at Houston, he's played just 17 snaps.

As for the other six scholarship lineman on the roster, don't expect them to have a significant role this season. Fred Johnson, Random McDermott and Jimmy Williams III played a combined 15 snaps last season; while Gradey Anthony, Tyler Folmar and Cameron Gorin are all incoming freshmen. This group could all see significant time later on down the line with more development and experience in a collegiate environment, but that likely won't come this season.

Overall, while the offensive line for Louisville might not be what it was last season in terms of proven experience and talent, it's still in an overall good spot and should be around a top-five O-line in the ACC. They sport an elite center who's one of the best in the game, have good pieces around him for a starting five that doesn't have a glaring weak spot, and have a handful of backups who help bolster the depth of the main offensive line rotation - and could push to start.

Other Position Breakdowns:

• Quarterback
• Running Back
• Wide Receiver
• Tight End
• Defensive Line
• Linebacker
• Cornerback
• Safety
• Special Teams (coming soon)

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