Louisville Football: 5 Players Primed for Breakout Seasons
By Jacob Lane
P.J. Blue – LB
RS Sophomore
Projected Stats: 45 tackles, 3 sacks, 7.5 TFL, 1 INT
There isn’t a guy on the 2018-19 roster that I am more excited to see take the field than linebacker P.J. Blue.
It’s likely that you’ve forgotten about the 6’4, 215 pound outside linebacker from Montgomery, AL, who chose the Cards over Oklahoma, Clemson, Alabama, and plenty of other big time programs. Blue joined the Cards back in 2016, as a speedy hybrid linebacker/safety, that was expected to develop into a Josh Harvey-Clemons type of player.
After redshirting his first year, Blue looked to get onto the field last season, but saw his redshirt freshman season come to an end before it even got started due to a knee injury. This season Blue is back, and is expected to play linebacker after being switched over from safety this spring. When talking about the teams defense, specifically the linebacking core, Petrino mentioned Blue (along with CJ Avery, who we’ll talk about here shortly), saying “P.J. Blue and C.J. Avery have both shown the ability to run and tackle and understand the concepts of the defense. . . . But we’re still going to need some people to come in and play right away for us, too.”
🗣️PJ BLUE IS GOING TO BE THE DEFENSIVE BREAKOUT STAR IN 2018-19! https://t.co/riXtFh4KBR
— Big Red Louie (@TheBigRedLouie) June 23, 2018
BVG is known for running a very complex scheme with a lot of heavy blitzing, which should fit right in with the strengths of PJ Blue. Though he still needs to add on some more size to get to be the traditional size of a college linebacker, Blue brings a lot of speed to the Cardinal defense. The redshirt sophomore is a freak athlete who has shown the ability to make plays all over the field, which will be a huge asset to BVG, and should help him see the field quite often.
Watch for Blue to be used in multiple spots on the field (again as a hybrid LB/DB) to either attack downfield in an effort to get after the QB, or blow up a run play, or to be a spy on running QB’s like a Jalen Hurts, Eric Dungey, or Kelly Bryant.
He may not start right away with guys like Dorian Etheridge, Quen Head, and Robert Hicks ahead of him, but expect for Blue to be an impact player for the red and black.