Way-too-early Louisville football depth chart preview: Defensive line
Louisville football: The starters
DE- Tabarius Peterson, RS Sr.
DT- Jared Goldwire, Sr.
DE- Yaya Diaby, Jr.
Here’s what’s interesting about this year’s defensive line- Although there appear to be two players who are locked in for starting spots, this is perhaps the position on the team where we could see the most movement during the summer and fall.
If the season started today, these players are probably the starters, but there may be some guys in the three-deep that very well could push for the starting spot right away.
Let’s dive in:
The Louisville football defensive line loses starter GG Robinson, who was a fixture in the middle during his time as a Cardinal.
However, easing the sting of losing Robinson starts with the next big thing, literally, cemented in as the starter upfront in senior Jared Goldwire. The 6’6,” 305-pound Goldwire steps in with five starts under his belt in the 2018 season and a really promising year last season defensively.
Goldwire is apparently turning heads in the limited practices for the Cards. Here’s what defensive coordinator Bryan Brown had to say during the spring:
"“I say this until I’m blue in the face, Jared Goldwire was a different human being these seven practices this spring. I joked with him after a couple of practices, ‘When is the old Jared going to show up’ because this guy was literally different. He was a different animal.”"
His former teammates are high on his potential as well:
“(Jared) Goldwire is going to have no problem stepping up this year,” GG Robinson told BRL in April. “He flashed last year and made some good plays here and there but this year I expect a lot more of that. He just needs to be consistent and I’m sure that comes with knowing you are the guy now. I expect big times out of him next year.”
Outside of Goldwire, the Cardinals also return starter Tabarius Peterson, a versatile edge rusher. At 6’3,” 260, Peterson is right where the coaching staff wants its ends to be size-wise, and he appears to be a prime candidate to take a step forward this season.
After a 2018 season where Peterson recorded an impressive 49 tackles, he only tallied 24 in 2019 where he started all thirteen games. Part of this is likely due in part to that overall lack of depth, and another part is due to an adjustment period to the scheme change under Brown and Dennison.
The coaching staff loves what Peterson brings, but he will need to be more productive next season if the Cardinals line hopes to continue improvements. Peterson has shown in the past that he has the potential to be Louisville’s deadliest edge rusher and he is a true cog as a run-stopper. In his first year with the same coordinator and position coach in his career, Peterson should be ready to make that leap.
Finally on the defensive line comes probably the biggest leap of faith that we will take in these preview pieces. A highly-coveted JUCO product, Yaya Diaby was the piece that, when added to this recruiting class, a lot of people felt much more comfortable with Louisville’s defensive line depth. The staff wanted him badly because of his ridiculous motor and ability to bowl into the offensive backfield.
There are players in front of Diaby who may get the starting nod based on experience in this system, but it feels like Diaby is far too talented to not ultimately start for the Cardinals in 2020. He comes in with a massive chip on his shoulder, as indicated by the fact that although he has hundreds of snaps of tape from college, Diaby keeps his high school highlights pinned to his profile. This guy wants people to know that he’s been the real deal for a long time, and he will showcase that when he is on campus for the Cards.