Louisville Football: Predicting the 2018-19 Defensive MVP

Louisville football has a lot of new faces on defense this year. No more Jaire Alexander, Stacy Thomas, and so on. The defense struggled last season but some young players showed promise. Today I’ll take my shot at predicting the defensive MVP for 2018-19.

Louisville football only returns 3 full time starters from last seasons defense. a unit that struggled consistently throughout the year. But in 2018-19, under a new defensive coordinator, with a handful of young returnees, several big-time transfers, and some talented freshman the Louisville defense could be much improved.

In 2017-18 Louisville CB Jaire Alexander, who missed a ton of games due to injury, was the defensive MVP in my book. The defense just played better when he was on field with his ability to keep one side locked completely down. We all know he’s not walking through that door (as Rick Pitino would say) so that means this season there will be a new defensive MVP. There will be plenty of players to choose from, as right now no one player sticks out above the rest.

We’ve got some tough choices here. Let’s take a look at the nominees.

The Nominees

Dorian Etheridge- The true freshman linebacker exploded onto the scene last year, somewhat out of nowhere, and led the team in tackles with 83 – 30 more than the next returning player. Even in the loss, he had a career day against Boston College where he recorded 14 tackles. Etheridge has a nose for the football and can drop back in coverage as well. He might not be a captain this season but I expect him to be one of the leaders on this defense.

Jonathan Greenard- Greenard was named a captain for this season, receiving the honor for the first time in his career. A force off the edge, Greenard made a living in the backfield, leading the team in sacks with 7 and 8.5 TFL last season. He is a weapon that offenses have to know where he’s at on the field at all times, due to his ability to live in opposing offenses backfields. I think Louisville will have enough pass help around Greenard for him to dominate. Greenard should still get his share of one-on-one match ups.

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Dee Smith- Smith returns as the lone returning starter in secondary will help hold things together back there. I look for Smith to build off last season where he recorded 53 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 INT. Smiths season last year was rewarded with him being a captain on this years team. With a new defensive scheme in place I look for the INT number to go up. Smith is 6’1 and weighs 202 pounds, which is good size back for safety.

TreSean Smith- Smith showed flashes last season of being a great player. Recorded 34 tackles, 2 INT’s, and 1 sack during his freshman season. Smith played his best game last season against Boston College, where he 6 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 INT. This is just my personally opinion, but I think TreSean Smith become a starter on this team and become a ball hawk has team hasn’t had since Gerod Holliman. Not saying he ties an NCAA record for INT’s or anything but I think he can get about 8 or so.

Boosie Whitlow- Whitlow was a three-star recruit out of Alabama and is at Louisville by way of University of South Carolina. At South Carolina he recorded 14 tackles and 1 sack in his lone season. At 6’3 and weighing 225 he can play standing up or with his hand in the dirt and brings a lot of speed off the edge.

I could go on and on with the nominees with names like Rodjay Burns, Robert Hicks, P.J. Mbanasor, Mike Boykin, Jared Goldwire, or CJ Avery, any of these guys could have MVP like seasons for the Cards in 2018-19. This defense is loaded with talent, a lot of it unproven at this point but should be expected to provide impact game to game.

Your 2018-2019 Defensive MVP Is…

Dorian Etheridge.

One of most talent players on this team. To do what he did as freshman last season was nothing short of amazing.

Etheridge has the potential to become a leader of this defense and for the rest of his time at Louisville. Etheridge has some comments about the old defensive coordinator, summing up that the defense didn’t buy into his system. He would go on to say that players were “on their own agenda.” and they “didn’t agree with calls” and how the Grantham guys adapted to Sirmon by saying that “thought they knew more than he did.” I

It sounds like BVG has these guys working. Etheridge also said “if you see someone on the field, then they earned it.” I like it. I like what he’s saying. Etheridge showed leadership abilities in his media session.

Looking forward to see Etheridge grow as a player next season. With an off season under his belt, I expect a big jump. I look for him to continue Louisville’s solid linebacker that’s been strong the last several years. Following Preston Brown, James Burgess, Keith Kelsey, and Stacy Thomas who he played along side last year to learn from.

Your 2018-19 season defensive MVP, Dorian Etheridge.