Louisville football: 3 not-so-crazy defensive predictions in 2020

Louisville football’s defense produces a First-Team All-ACC selection

Talking about the struggles of the Louisville defense over the last four years has become a bit tiring, but heading into the 2020 season it was once again will be a huge part of the discussion on expectations.

With eight starters returning and the same defensive coordinator (and defensive staff overall) for consecutive seasons for the first time in five years, the stage is set for the Cards having a defense that serves a strength rather than the Achilles heel.

Last season the questions about the Louisville defense were well warranted as Bryan Brown and Cort Dennison had their hands full with trying to take a group of under coached players with talent and turn them into a group capable of winning ball games.

With the majority of the defense returning in 2020, headlined by middle linebackers Dorian Etheridge and C.J. Avery, the chances of an individual playing at a high enough level to become an All-ACC selection are very high.

Avery and Etheridge combined for 163 tackles last season and four sacks (Avery led the team) and set the tone for the entire defense with incredibly hard play and big playmaking. They’ll likely lead the way again, both having monster seasons, and putting themselves in a place to be selected to a postseason team.

They’re not it.

Veterans like Rodjay Burns, Russ Yeast, Monty Montgomery, Chandler Jones, Jared Goldwire, Anthony Johnson, Yasir Abdullah, and several others will benefit from another full offseason working with Brown and their respective position coachings with expectations they’ll see big improvement in their games.

Burns, Yeast, and Jones all emerged into foundational pieces of the defense in 2019, combining for 194 tackles, three sacks, and eight forced turnovers. The new staff’s vision must be credited as they moved Yeast from cornerback to safety and Burns from cornerback to outside linebacker (a transition many questioned). and despite the non-traditionalness of it, everything worked out the way you’d hope.

The new pieces on the Louisville defense and the players who played in minimal roles that will step into bigger ones this season should push the existing starters for the Cards and when you combine familiarity with the competition you get a group capable of making noise. Every player mentioned is capable of taking a step from a good starter to great starter, and while the group overall may still struggle in spurts, an individual who gets after offenses and produces turnovers is capable of being a postseason awardee.