Offensive Tackle play "coming around well" in Louisville's Fall Camp
The Louisville Cardinals lost a considerable amount of talent & experience at the offensive tackle position following the 2019 season.
Left tackle Mekhi Becton earned First-Team All-ACC honors, only missing the NC State and Music City Bowl vs. Mississippi State; while right tackle Haycraft started all 13 games. Becton would declare for the 2020 NFL Draft and be selected No. 11 overall by the New York Jets, with Haycraft signing a UDFA deal with the New York Giants following graduation.
However the Cardinals are not in a bad spot at tackle like one might think. In fact when asked how the play at the position has panned out over the first two days of fall camp, offensive coordinator Dwayne Ledford said that "it's coming around well."
It's not hard to see why he is so optimistic. Junior Adonis Boone - who had been Louisville's "sixth man" on the O-Line, was elevated to starting left tackle according to the preseason media guide. Redshirt freshman Renato Brown claims the starting right tackle spot, and is someone that the staff has raved about since his arrival on campus.
Then the Cardinals have a pair of noteworthy backups. Right behind Boone is JUCO transfer Trevor Reid, who was ranked as the No. 2 OT and No. 16 overall JUCO prospect in the nation according to 247Sports. Then we have Brown's backup in graduate transfer Cam DeGeorge, who left UConn after starting 34 of the last 36 games for the Huskies.
"Cam's got a lot of starts underneath him. He's a very experienced player," Ledford said in a teleconference with reporters Wednesday following Louisville's second day of fall camp. "That's something that's hard to replicate in practice. Once you've got those snaps underneath your belt, it makes you a better player."
"Renato (Brown) has done a great job of understanding what we're wanting and what need at that position," Ledford continued. "Although he's still young, he's doing a great job. He's has a really good first two practices."
"Trevor (Reid) is uber-athletic," starting offensive guard Robbie Bell added after Ledford. "Even when he's out of position, sometime's he's able to realize it and get himself back into position even if he does mess up."
While the preseason depth chart clearly lists who is starting and who is the second string heading into fall camp, Ledford says that his plan is to rotate guys at numerous positions on the line in order to find the five best guys to put on the field.
"That's something I'm very excited for - to kinda see some of these position battles that we're gonna be having through fall camp.
Louisville will continue fall camp with their third practice on Thursday morning at 9:30am EST.
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