Highlights & Evaluation: Louisville OL Commit Jordan Church
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville football program has landed their second offensive line commit in the Class of 2023, as Jordan Church has given his verbal pledge to the Cardinals.
Here is Louisville Report's full evaluation:
Prospect: Jordan Church
Position: Offensive Tackle
Vitals: 6-foot-4, 325 pounds
School: Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy
Top Offers: Pitt, Florida State, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Missouri
247Sports Composite Rating (Nat'l Rank): 0.8485 (1,117th)
Jordan Church's Junior Year Highlights: HERE (Hudl)
Frame: Church has a huge frame for someone who's an incoming senior in high school, and it's a relatively well balanced frame as well. He has a noticeable amount of muscle tone in his arms, while also having a decently-toned lower body. If anything, he might need to trim weight or convert some fat to muscle. But overall, he's ahead of the curve from a physique standpoint.
Athleticism: For someone who is well above 300 pounds, Church moves exceptionally well. He isn't slow coming out of his stance in the slightest, and has a surprisingly fluid open field stride for someone of his stature. Footwork needs a little bit of work to aid in lateral movement and overall agility, but it's not a massive hinderance as of right now.
Instincts: When firing up his film, you notice pretty quickly that Church has a mauler mentality. He has a good first strike in his blocks, thanks to a combination of his overwhelming physical nature and solid hand placement. He's adept in using the momentum from that initial block to drive defenders back the other way, and usually directly into the ground. This is especially useful in run support, particularly on pulling or downfield blocks, as he regularly forces defenders far away from the ballcarrier.
Polish: There are times whenever Church can be a little too reliant on physical mismatches over the opposition vs. actual blocking technique, as his dominant first strike is occasionally just a really aggressive push. Even though Church gave up no sacks last year, his pass blocking will need a little bit of fine tuning, mostly because his average lateral footwork and movement sometimes allowed pass rushers to start turning a corner.
Bottom Line: Overall, this is a very underrated pickup for Louisville. He's got the physical intangibles and mindset that you want out of an offensive lineman, and spending a year at IMG Academy before getting to Louisville will greatly help in his overall development. He might project as a guard at the next level, but Church could become a regular contributor by the time his sophomore year gets here.
(Photo of Jordan Church via Twitter)
You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:
Facebook - @LouisvilleReport
Twitter - @UofLReport
Instagram - @louisville_report
You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter
