Robbie Bell Not Expecting Offensive Line Play to Change in 2020
One of the many talking points surrounding the Louisville Football program heading into year two of the Scott Satterfield era is the play of the offensive line. While the offense only lost three starters from the 2019 team that went 8-5, two of them are on the line.
After earning First-Team All-ACC honors, junior left tackle Mekhi Becton decided to declare for the 2020 NFL Draft, where he was selected at No. 11 overall by the New York Jets. Louisville also lost senior right tackle Tyler Haycraft to graduation, and he later signed a UDFA deal with the New York Giants.
Despite losing the bookends of the offensive line, offensive guard Robbie Bell is not expecting the production to change.
"I don't think the offensive line play is going to differentiate much honestly," Bell said in a teleconference with reporters on Tuesday. "Whether Mekhi was in or whether Mekhi was out, it's not like we ran different plays. We ran the same plays whether he was there, whether he was not, whether I was in or (Adonis) Boone was in."
Bell started all 13 games at right guard in 2019, and is entering is redshirt senior year. He was part of an offensive line that helped redshirt freshman running back Javian Hawkins rush for 1,525 yards last year, a single-season Louisville record for a running back.
With the departure of Becton and Haycraft, junior Adonis Boone and redshirt freshman Renato Brown have now been elevated into the starting left and right tackle spots respectively. In 2019, Boone started three games while appearing in 10, while Brown appeared in four before redshirting.
Louisville might have had an abbreviated spring practice thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but Bell liked what he saw out of the newly-minted starters as well as how his unit performed as a whole.
"The way we were playing and how we were performing in those first seven practices of spring ball makes me really confident," Bell said. "Boone got to step in and solidify that left side of the offensive line at the tackle spot, I think Renato (Brown) did a great job during spring at right tackle."
Because of what is expected out of him and his fellow offensive lineman from offensive coordinator Dwayne Ledford, Bell believes that even with losing two starters, the line will still maintain the same style of play from last season.
Related: Louisville Football's Projected 2020 Starters
He also notes that while losing Mekhi Becton and his massive frame is a blow, the man stepping up in his place is no slouch either.
"We're not going to have Mekhi's 6-foot-8, 370-pounds, but Boone's 6-foot-6 and 315-pounds. It's not like he's a small person," Bell said "We're still gonna have a big, strong, athletic offensive line. I think we're going to be fine."
Starters also returning alongside Bell on the offensive line are redshirt junior left guard Caleb Chandler and senior center Cole Bentley.
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