Why Louisville football’s defensive line could be in for a big year

The Game Plan

Louisville football is not only likely to improve leaps and bounds in 2019 due to the weapons that they have, but also because of a new and improved game plan.

To talk X’s and O’s, we asked our own Ross Prophater to give his knowledge and insight into what Satterfield and Brown bring to the table based on games and tape that he’s seen.

Bryan Brown, in the past, has run his version of a 3-4 defense, which is why fans have seen and heard about position changes happening almost across the board on defense. However, what a 3-4 defense (three down linemen and four linebackers) looks like varies greatly from coach to coach.

With that said, Prophater believes that we could see some more 4-3 looks based on the personnel that the Cards have. Additionally, Brown could opt for a 4-2-5 scheme based on his philosophy to bring more speed and playmakers into the mix.

“Basically, in that defense, we’d see four players up front and five defensive backs on the field pretty much all the time,” said Prophater.

So what’s the one thing that would pay the most dividends for the Cards in 2019 to help the defense as a whole?

“That would be the Defensive line getting consistent penetration,” Prophater says. “Much of last year, scheme-wise, former defensive coordinator Bryan Van Gorder had (the defensive line) spying at the line of scrimmage. Louisville’s defensive linemen were always sliding down the line of scrimmage the whole play instead of penetrating and disrupting. When you do that, it’s damn near impossible to hold your ground and not give up yards. That’s why you always saw teams getting up field quickly.”

Layman’s terms?

“Basically guys were standing up out of their stance and trying to slide down the line and watch the ball carrier instead of playing based on gap assignments. If the defensive line can consistently get in the backfield this season, it’s going to cause a lot of plays for loss because it will slow the development and timing of the play, making room for more playmaking from linebackers.”

If we had to guess right now, the Cards’s depth chart would look something like this:

Defensive end

Ty Tyler

OR Tabarius Peterson

Boosie Whitlow

Defensive tackle

G.G. Robinson

OR Jared Goldwire

OR Jarrett Jackson

Defensive End

Amonte Caban

Derek Dorsey

OR Ja’Darien Boykin

Regardless of how things play out, the one certainty is that there is plenty of talent on Louisville football’s 2019 defensive line.

If things play out the way they did for Brown at Appalachian State, the Cards could be causing havoc in opposing backfields sooner than most think.