Early Season Positional Grades: Defense & Special Teams
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With the Louisville football program heading into their first bye week of the 2020 season, this week we'll be handing out grades for every position group on the roster. Monday's focus was on the the offensive side of things, and Wednesday we will take a look at the defense & special teams.
Related: Early Season Positional Grades: Offense
The Cardinals sit at 1-2 on the season and winless in conference play after a season-opening victory vs. WKU & losses vs. Miami and at Pitt.
Defensive Line: C-
You don't need advanced statistics to tell you that the defensive line has struggled at times this year, all you need to do is watch the opposing quarterback. They have struggled to apply pressure when rushing four, and it has been even worse when they decide to drop eight in coverage and rush three. It hasn't all been bad though, as the run defense has taken a step forward - averaging 145.0 rushing yards allowed compared to 205.8 last year. Although they did allow Miami RB Cam'Ron Harris to rush for 134 yards on just 9 attempts and 'sneaky athletic' Pitt QB Kenny Pickett to be able to escape the pocket several times.
Linebackers: A-
This is the best position group on the defense and it's not even up for debate. Dorian Etheridge leads the nation in tackles for loss with 8.5 & pass rush specialist Monty Montgomery also has 4.0 to boot (both have 2.0 sacks). Fellow ILB C.J. Avery also has Louisville's only interception on the season. The outside backers have also shown that they possess tremendous abilities to get in the backfield as Rodjay Burns & Yasir Abdullah both have 3.0 TFLs and one sack. This group could arguably be Louisville's best position group on the whole roster, competing with the wide receiver corps.
Defensive Backs: C+
There have been some bright spots in the secondary so far this season. Safety Russ Yeast has not skipped a beat since coming back from surgery, and cornerback Kei'Trel Clark has been one of Louisville's best man-to-man defenders. Unfortunately, other pieces in the secondary have started to lag behind. Chandler Jones eventually would take a hold of the other starting cornerback spot over Anthony Johnson, and safety Isaiah Hayes has had a rough start to say the least.
Special Teams: D+
The ONLY reason special teams is not getting an F- grade is because of placekicker James Turner. In the first three games of the season, he is a perfect 4-4 on field goal attempts and 10-10 on PATs. Other than that, special teams has been a disaster. Louisville has lost the field position battle in every one of their games - two of which were by wide margins, and punter Logan Lupo's struggles have already been well documented.
(Photo of Marlon Character: Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports)
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