Louisville football: 5 seniors who will be crucial to success in 2019-2020

G.G. Robinson – NT/DT

Sensing a theme here? Louisville has quite a bit of returning on the defensive line, with Amonte Caban, Boosie Whitlow, G.G. Robinson, amongst others. However, it’s a group that really hasn’t provided much of anything to Louisville over the last few years.

Is that more of the position group inadequacies or lack of talent? Or is it more of the coaching that they’ve received from L.D. Scott and Peter Sirmon/Brian VanGorder?

It’s probably a bit of both, but under Mark Ivey this season I expect this position group, one that Scott Satterfield said has been a “pleasant surprise,” to be a big factor for the Cards.

At the forefront of that turnaround will be redshirt senior G.G. Robinson. For a former three-star recruit, who was highly touted and decided to come to Louisville rather than follow in his father’s footsteps to play for Auburn, his career hasn’t played out exactly like he would’ve hoped for.

After being buried on the depth chart as a freshman and sophomore, playing in just nine combined games totaling 28 tackles and two tackles for loss, Robinson looked like a guy who could be ready for a big breakout season last year. But with Louisville’s defense led by a guy who doesn’t know much about defense, teaching a system that made no sense, and all sorts of other things going on around the program, Robinson still wasn’t able to capitalize.

While he did play in a career-high 10 games, he only recorded 22 tackles and two sacks. Heading into his final year, you can bet that Robinson understands he’s got one final chance to prove he’s capable of being a leader on a good defense.

Robinson will likely be the starting nose tackle come September 2nd when the Cards run out on the field to face Notre Dame, and if history at Appalachian State tells us anything, you can expect Robinson to produce right away.

Producing may not necessarily mean gathering a whole lot of tackles or sacks, but instead, it’ll be playing his role of filling space and providing room for linebackers and defensive ends to get after the quarterback, while making sure his teammates understand the importance of competing every down and helping to restore the program back to its former glory.