Louisville Football Depth Chart Preview: Offensive Line
By Jacob Lane
We continue our weekly breakdown of the Louisville football roster, position by position. This week, we preview the offensive line.
Though the Louisville football team has led nearly every single team offensive statistical category in the ACC over the last three years (thanks Lamar Jackson), Bobby Petrino has yet to put together a top notch offensive line.
For the first three years of Bobby 2.0, Chris Klenakis (one of the best dudes I’ve ever had the privilege to meet) was tasked with putting together an offensive line capable of competing at the highest level of the ACC, a duty that he unfortunately failed miserably at. During the stretch of 2014-2016, UofL was never higher than 113th in the nation in terms of sacks allowed, and never gave up less than 40 sacks. That led to a coaching switch, which in 2018 we are beginning to see some new fruits develop.
In 2017 former Louisville offensive line coach Mike Summer was back for his second stint and put together on of the biggest turnarounds in the country, but still saw struggles from his o line throughout the year. Even with one of the fastest, most elusive players in the country (and maybe of all time) the Cards still allowed 33 sacks in 2017-18, which was 104th in the country. Yikes.
Now in year two, Summers will look to continue the turnaround, even after losing his star left tackle to the NFL. So why should their be optimism you ask? Well the Cards bring back four out of five starters, including budding superstar Mehki Becton, along with solid veterans Lukayus McNeil, and Kenny Thomas, along with developing Cole Bentley, Robbie Bell, and Linwood Foy. Let’s not forget the depth that the Cards have behind their starting five, which for the first time should be up to par for the injuries that come through the grind that is the ACC. Though the struggles have been hard to watch on the offensive line, and have been a huge reason the Cards haven’t been able to get over the hump, the Louisville coaching staff has done a great job of recruiting and developing talent for this very reason.
The offensive line will also have a new challenge in 2018-19, that still brings up questions but really shouldn’t be an issue. Mike Summer’s unit will transition from protecting for Lamar Jackson, a player who could take off and elude pressure like no other, to Puma Pass, a QB who will stand in the pocket until he absolutely has to run to make a play.
Louisville will have their hands full on Sept 1st when they take on Alabama aka Defensive Line U. Can they hold up?
We’re only a few weeks from finding out. Let’s take a look at the depth chart.
Projected Depth Chart
LT – Mekhi Becton, Toryque Bateman
LG – Lukayus McNeil, Caleb Chandler
C – Cole Bentley, Robbie Bell
RG – Kenny Thomas, Ronald Rudd
RT – Linwood Foy, Toryque Bateman or Adonis Boone
Preview
Louisville has two future NFL draft picks on each side of the offensive line at tackle, which is a huge reason that the coaching staff for the Cards is extremely confident in the success that the offense will achieve in 2018-19.. Even after losing former Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson.
If there is one play specifically to watch out for this season it’s the Cardinals new blindside protector, Mekhi Becton. Unless you were living under a rock last season, or turned off your television after the AJ Dillon stiff arm, Becton became an impact player for the Louisville offense and showed the ability to be a future NFL first round pick.
The monster freshman played in 12 games during his first year on campus, starting in 10 of those for Louisville. With former Cardinal Geron Christian deciding to leave early, Becton will now move to the left side of the line, assuming the most important and yet least talked about responsibility for the offensive line, protecting the blindside of Jawon Pass.
Becton, who said he came to Louisville to “play against Alabama,” will get that opportunity and could make himself a household name by winning the battle at the line of scrimmage against one of the best defensive lines in the country.
Another guy to watch this season will be Cole Bentley, a true sophomore who should move into a full time starting role at either center or guard. Bentley spent the entirety of spring practice playing as the anchor of the offensive line, and actually started the spring game as the starter for the white team. While Robbie Bell played well in 2017-18 for Mike Summers, Bentley is a powerful, smart lineman who could excel and help move Louisville forward at that spot.
Veteran Lukyas McNeil will be the resident veteran of the offensive line and can play either guard spot, or even right tackle if necessary. McNeil has played his best at guard (2017-18 for example), so I’d expect him to get the nod at left guard, forming an large and powerful duo with Becton on the left side. McNeil is also expected to be the leader of this unit, and will be relied upon to keep them moving against powerful and talented defensive lines like Clemson and Alabama.
The newcomer to the starting unit is former JUCO transfer Linwood Foy, who came to the Cards via College of the Canyons back in 2016. Many, including myself, don’t know much about the 6’4, 300 pound tackle, but after spring it seems as though he’s emerged as the new potential right tackle.In a blog post during practice, Petrino praised Foy and Kenny Thomas, who is expected to be one of the starting guards, saying:
"“On the offensive side of the ball it is good to see the improvement of Linwood Foy and Kenny Thomas working together.”"
There is still a lot of room for development and of course fall camp could shake up what the starting lineup ultimately ends up looking like on the first offensive drive against Alabama, but this unit shows promise and could be in store for a big year.
Most likely to challenge for a starting role
As I mentioned before, the Cards have seen great success on the recruiting trail over the last few years, specifically on the offensive line. Names like Cole Bentley, Mekhi Becton, Caleb Chandler, Adonis Boone, and Toryque Bateman have all come in with a lot of talent and promise, and have given Louisville a lot of quality depth up front.
Toryque Bateman is the guy who I am keeping an eye on as we head into summer camp as the Cards get ready for the 2018-19 season. Though the offensive line starters are all solid, there’s not doubt that Mike Summers will be looking for fierce competition as the season approaches, and at 6’6, 309 pounds, it’ll be hard for the coaching staff to keep the redshirt freshman off the field. Bateman came into the program with loads of talent, choosing the Cards over Michigan, Mississippi State, Florida, Tennessee, and Miami.He’ll be entering his second year on campus, and after having one season to sit out, lift weights, learn the playbook, and get stronger, Bateman could be a guy who pushes for playing time.
Another redshirt freshman to watch will be Caleb Chandler, who like Bateman, sat last year and should push to receive playing time right away. Chandler was another talented recruit who picked the Cards over prestigious programs like Florida and Florida State.
Even if neither player pushes for a starting spot, they will both provide the depth that will be needed to get through the rugged ACC.
Incoming Freshman
Louisville only had one freshman in the 2018 recruiting class, and that was three star Adonis Boone out of Daytona Beach, Florida. Boone is a big, versatile lineman, standing at 6’5, 285 pounds, who should be able to push for playing time right away as a freshman.
With the new redshirt rule going into effect in 2018-19, that allows players to be eligible for redshirts if they play in less than four games, Boone is likely to be able to get some experience under his belt, while keeping all four years of eligibility.
2018-19 is a season unlike many in years past as the Cards have a lot of questions marks heading into the season opener at Alabama. Though the offensive line has had it’s fair share of struggles over the past four years, I fully expect this season to be a big turnaround year for the unit. Behind a budding star in sophomore Mekhi Becton, veteran guards Kenny Thomas and Lukayus McNeil and of course the tutelage of Mike Summers, the Cards could be one of the top unit’s in the ACC.
Pass protecting for a pocket passer will be a big change, and opening up lanes in the run game will be absolutely crucial, but the confidence is there for that to happen from Head Coach Bobby Petrino. Fans still may be skeptical, and deservedly so. But September 1st in Orlando will give a hungry (literally and figuratively) the chance to show just how far they’ve come since we last saw them.