Louisville football: Cards go out west to land TE Christian Pedersen

Scott Satterfield and the Louisville football program get their 21st commitment.

One could make the argument that the tight end position is one of the most underrated positions and their performance is critical to the success of the Louisville football offense with new head coach Scott Satterfield’s heavy-run scheme. Keeping that position stocked with talent has been a priority for the staff as they’ve hit the recruiting trail, and after landing Vic Mullen earlier this spring, they followed it up with another big win in the class of 2021.

In 2019 with Marshon Ford leading the way, along with help from Jordan Davis, Ean Pfeifer, and Isaac Martin, the group coached up by Stu Holt excelled and showed just a glimpse of how things could look in the Louisville offense for years to come. While Ford received much of the notoriety due to leading the ACC in touchdowns by tight end, the other guys mentioned above, along with several others, did the little things that allowed the offense to excel.

We knew the coaching staff would prioritize the position once again in 2021 after landing Duane Martin and Desmond Daniels in last year’s class and Dez Melton back in 2019, and that’s exactly what they have done with the commitment of Christian Pedersen.

The three-star tight end announced his commitment via Twitter on Sunday, after naming Louisville as one of his three finalists along with Virginia and San Diego State. Pedersen currently is unranked player according to 247 Sports but was given three stars from Rivals without being ranked nationally.

You can catch Christian Pedersen’s full highlights here.

He’s a big guy, who has a lot of room to add to his frame, is fairly athletic and can move really well. At 6’5, 230-pounds as a high school senior to be, there’s still so much room for him to grow and it’s what makes his commitment so exciting.

You can’t talk about recruiting with Satterfield and company without mentioning the word “fit” and once again they’ve found exactly what they want at a specific position.

The offense that Pederson plays in at Junipero Serra is very similar to Louisville, at least in how they use their tight end. A lot of time you’ll see Pedersen lined up off the line of scrimmage where he’s able to be used in a variety of ways, whether in the blocking or passing game. Pedersen also saw that in his recruitment, saying:

"“I like how they have a prolific offense and how Coach (Scott) Satterfield is so creative and innovative in his offense. It reminds me a lot of our offense at Serra.”"

When Pedersen does go in motion you see a player who is fast enough to get past linebackers and make plays in the open field. He’s got strong hands and is a very powerful runner when he gets out in space and while he doesn’t score a ton of touchdowns, he has the ability to be a difference maker in the passing game.

In the run game he’s a very welcoming blocker. In fact when you watch his tape you see a player who plays with the desire to hit people and overpower his competition. Time and time again he does that and he does so in an offense where he’s blocking in very similar ways to what he’ll have to do at Louisville.

Louisville is now up to 21 total commitments, leaving four spots remaining in the class. It’s wild to think, but the staff has thrived during the pandemic even in an extended dead period and now they sit in a spot where they are nearly done recruiting.

Pedersen’s commitment all but wraps up any recruiting at the position for this year (and likely even into next year) as the Cards have several players at both the tight end and h-back positions.

Thanks to his size and ability to make plays in space, Pedersen could have a very legitimate chance at winning the h-back position right away once he steps onto the field and that’s with him just beginning to scratch the surface of his potential.