Louisville football: 10 predictions for the Cards in 2020
2. Isaac Martin is this year’s version of Marshon Ford
Presley Meyer
The 2019 season was a shocker in a number of ways for fans and those following across the country. What most nationally, however, don’t realize is just how great the Cardinals coaching staff was at squeezing the most talent out of every single player.
Louisville’s most productive offensive players last season were Tutu Atwell, Micale Cunningham, Javian Hawkins, and Marshon Ford.
Atwell was a former high school quarterback who moved to wide receiver upon arriving at Louisville. Cunningham was a QB that was a run-first guy under the previous coaching staff who started off the year on the bench and was best known for his lack of arm strength. Hawkins was the lowest-ranked player in the 2018 recruiting class.
Hawkins and Atwell set school records for rushing and receiving yards in a single season at their positions. Cunningham finds himself on preseason awards watch lists and is currently receiving 30-1 Heisman odds.
However, most fans who follow the program would say that H-Back Marshon Ford was the biggest surprise of the season. After losing almost all tight end production from the 2018 season, Louisville football figured to be extremely short-handed given Scott Satterfield’s propensity to run multiple tight end schemes.
But heading into the 2019 season, Satterfield placed Ford, a walk-on from Louisville Ballard high school with zero scholarship offers, on scholarship. Ford started every game last season, led the ACC in reception touchdowns by a tight end, and was one of the more fun players on the team to watch as a talented blocking specialist.
Read More: Marshon Ford Represents A New Pathway For Players Overlooked Coming Out Of High School
In 2020, the player taking a similar trajectory to Ford is fellow tight end, Isaac Martin.
The Louisville Trinity product was a star linebacker in high school, but after not getting much attention during his recruitment, he chose to walk-on for the Cards.
When the new staff came in, they were upfront with him that he fits better as a tight end and H-back for the Cards.
https://twitter.com/trinitysports/status/1277937027825184771?s=20
Tight end coach Stu Holt talked about Martin’s game prior to last season, saying:
"“A guy like Isaac Martin, when we got here was quite a bit heavier than he is now and day one this is where told him we saw him fitting. We said this is where you have to be weight wise and what we need you to do numbers-wise (in strength testing) and he’s done everything we have asked of him. “Isaac really bought into the weight room and has changed the way he runs. He’s done a really good job for us. As I said, we have some guys that we can really work with because of their skill sets.”"
After a season where he saw the field quite a bit in a backup roll in 2019, Martin was placed on scholarship this offseason.
It’s unclear exactly where he fits at this point, be it behind Ford at the H-back spot, as a tight end who lines up primarily as an edge blocker, or a mixture of both.
What is apparent is that Martin’s contributions should increase in 2020 now that he is a scholarship guy.
Ean Pfeifer, last year’s starter at tight end, is back for one more season, while Dez Melton should see the field as more of a pass-catcher. However, it would not surprise me in the least to see Martin breakthrough as a starter for the next two seasons.
Don’t expect Ford-like production from a stats standpoint, but I expect Ford and Martin to be a dynamic duo who sees a lot of time this season.