Louisville football: Five true freshmen that could step into starting roles

Louisville football has a few freshmen who could earn starting roles.

In Head Coach Scott Satterfield’s first full recruiting class, Louisville football was able to land a handful of standouts from all over the eastern half of the country. Especially on the defensive side of the ball, depth was proven to be the primary weakness down the stretch last season for the Cardinals.

The top objective for the 2020 class was to add quality depth in the places where the previous staff had overlooked, none more important than the defense and on the offensive line. Last season we saw struggles in both of those areas, while also seeing how important depth could be at positions like quarterback and running back. On the defensive side of the ball, defensive coordinator Bryan Brown was unable to rotate the number of players he normally would in all three levels, and often times it led to Louisville giving up big plays.

This season there will be still be struggles in those areas that are cultivating depth, hopefully in smaller doses, but adding 24 freshmen (the majority of which should see the field) should inject new life into a defense that is on the rise.

With the pandemic, the offseason was a bit unusual and it may impact just how ready the freshmen are right away, but many of them will be in positions to compete for starting roles. One thing that the coaching excels at is identifying under-the-radar recruits, and this group is full of them.

Let’s take a look at five candidates that could leave their mark sooner rather than later.