Big Red Louie
Fansided

Way too early Louisville football depth chart preview: Offensive line

By Presley Meyer

CHAPEL HILL, NC - SEPTEMBER 09: The Louisville Cardinals offensive line during the game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Kenan Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Louisville won 47-35. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NC - SEPTEMBER 09: The Louisville Cardinals offensive line during the game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Kenan Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Louisville won 47-35. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
TALLAHASSEE, FL – OCTOBER 21: Runningback Reggie Bonnafon #7 and Center Robbie Bell #75 of the Louisville Cardinals celebrates after a touchdown during the game against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium on Bobby Bowden Field on October 21, 2017 in Tallahassee, Florida. Louisville defeated Florida State 31 to 28. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE, FL – OCTOBER 21: Runningback Reggie Bonnafon #7 and Center Robbie Bell #75 of the Louisville Cardinals celebrates after a touchdown during the game against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium on Bobby Bowden Field on October 21, 2017 in Tallahassee, Florida. Louisville defeated Florida State 31 to 28. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /

Louisville football: Starters

LT- Adonis Boone (Jr.)

LG- Caleb Chandler (R-Jr.)

C- Cole Bentley (Sr.)

RG- Robbie Bell (R-Sr.)

RT- Renato Brown (R-Fr.)

If the season started today, Louisville football seems most apt to go with its returning starters up front from 2019 and add depth based on playing time from last year.

Louisville is extremely experienced in the middle of the line with three players that have started going back to the Petrino era.

At center, Cole Bentley has been a mainstay on the offensive line for three years. After getting his feet wet during his freshman year in 2017, Bentley started every game in 2018. When fellow lineman Robbie Bell was injured, he moved over from guard to center and started the final seven games for the Cards. Bentley began the 2019 behind seasoned Florida graduate transfer TJ McCoy, but ultimately ended up getting the starting nod for the second half of the season and graded out as one of the best offensive linemen on the roster. Look for Bentley to have the center position locked down to start 2020.

Left guard Caleb Chandler more than held his own in 2019 next to All-American and first round draft pick Mekhi Becton. Chandler started every game in 2019, fortifying the left side for offensive coordinator Dwayne Ledford. The “offensive line whisperer” as everyone (me) calls him, Ledford has had linemen drafted in the first round in back-to-back seasons. If the Cardinals are going to make it three years in a row, Chandler is the most likely to make that happen. At 6’4,” 310-pounds, Louisville will continue to lean on Chandler as a staple on offense.

At right guard, Robbie Bell is perhaps the most recognizable face returning to the offensive line. It feels like Bell has been around forever because he started for the Cards from his first game as a true freshman in 2017 against Purdue. In 2018, Bell had a massive setback with an injury that put him behind Bentley on the depth chart. When the new coaching staff came in, they thought Bentley and Bell were playing too well to keep one off the field. Bell slid over to right guard, where he started all 13 games in 2019.

The tackle spots seem to be the most up for grabs for the Cardinals. Though there is depth left behind after the departure of Becton and Haycraft, it is mostly unproven. Every starting spot battle is going to be fun to pay attention to when the pads go on in fall camp, but Cards fans are going to want to look specifically at the tackles.

At left tackle, replacing one of the program’s best offensive linemen in the last two decades is no easy task, but last year Adonis Boone was up for the challenge. Becton missed the NC State game late in the season due to an injury and then sat out Louisville football’s bowl game while preparing for the NFL draft. Boone stepped in and the Cardinals offense appeared to almost seamlessly adjust to the absence of its All-American.

At right tackle, the player that seems most likely to win a starting spot is redshirt freshman Renato Brown. One of the first players to really take advantage of the new redshirt rule that allows players to participate in up to four games and still take a redshirt season, Brown got a chance to see some snaps in the early going as a true freshman. Now up to 6’4,” 330 pounds after coming in at 6’3,” 310, Brown has beefed up enough to be Louisville’s next mountainous tackle.

Home/Louisville Football