Dwayne Ledford Looking For Next Key O-Line Contributor
In year one of the Scott Satterfield era, the depth on the offensive line for the Louisville Cardinals was not particularly strong. While they had a solid starting unit, the program felt that they only had six guys in which they were comfortable with seeing meaningful game reps.
This consisted of starting tackles Mekhi Becton & Tyler Haycraft, starting guards Caleb Chandler & Robbie Bell, starting center Cole Bentley, with Adonis Boone serving as the "sixth man" splitting reps between guard and tackle.
While the Cardinals did lose both Becton & Haycraft this past offseason, the offensive line is actually just as deep if not deeper now than it was this time last year.
Louisville retains all three interior linemen, with Boone and Renato Brown being elevated into the starting left and right tackle spots respectively. Not only is the program comfortable getting them meaningful game reps, but also to JUCO transfer Trevor Reid & graduate transfer Cam DeGeorge, bringing that total up to seven.
However, offensive coordinator Dwayne Ledford isn't done quite yet. During the duration of fall camp - which Louisville started this past Tuesday - he is hoping to have eight guys in which he feels comfortable with game in and game out.
"I think it's not too far off (from finding the eighth guy)," Ledford said in a teleconference with reporters Wednesday following practice. "The more we opportunities we get to put these guys in game-like situations where the speed is a little bit faster than practices, I think that tells us a lot."
Ledford believes that when the program start conducting scrimmages in practice, that's when guys will really start to separate themselves. He has been loading up his install packages more from the beginning as opposed to last camp in an effort to see how they execute. So far, he has been pleased with everyone's efforts in camp.
The most obvious candidates for the eighth spot would be the next three most tenured scholarship linemen in redshirt freshmen Josh Black, Jackson Gregory & Zach Williamson. They have spent a lot of time working with strength coach Mike Sirignano, and Ledford notes that the redshirt year all three took has allowed them to mature both mentally and physically.
"In these first two practices, those guys are being put in some roles in which we're seeing right away ... if they're going to be ready to compete for that seventh/eighth spot, and just kind of see how that plays out," he said.
During this time, Ledford is also hoping to be able to find a true backup center. While he notes that starting right guard Robbie Bell's experience with snapping the football gives them some flexibility, he wants to leave fall camp knowing he has the backup center nailed down.
"You can't have enough guys that can snap a football and get the play started for you," Ledford said. "But at the same time we've got to develop, we've got to find that backup center. That's one thing about camp - that we definitely have to come out of camp knowing who that backup center will be this year."
Louisville will continue fall camp with their third practice on Thursday morning at 9:30am EST.
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