Louisville football: Cards don’t take long to identify new offensive tackle

Louisville football lost their top OT in 2021, but they’ve quickly identified a new target.

Decommitments are, unfortunately, nothing new to fans in Louisville, especially when it comes to players who have seen their recruitments take off at a blue blood level. Despite it happening once or twice before, it still was a massive blow when Louisville football lost their top offensive tackle in the class of 2021.

There are a lot of different reasons why the decommitment of OT Zen Michalski hurts and will hurt for some time, including his recent rise to four-star status and ability to play right away. In lieu of that, the Louisville football staff didn’t take long to identify new target who can step in and provide a similar impact right away and long-term.

As I wrote earlier this week, Louisville does still hold two very important commitments in the class of 2021 from offensive linemen, Aaron Gunn and Michael Gonzalez. Both are three-star prospects who chose the Cards over multiple other prominent suitors that could fill holes in multiple spots along the offensive line.

Still, Scott Satterfield and Dwayne Ledford didn’t take long to extend a new scholarship offer; this one to unranked, junior college prospect Brandon Baldwin out of Independence, Kansas. Due to the JUCO season being postponed until the spring, Baldwin is one of thousands of prospects whose recruitments have been impacted by the pandemic this season.

Independence’s season has yet to kick off, meaning no one has gotten the potential to watch Baldwin play just yet. Still, at 6’7, 305-pounds the freshman offensive lineman comes with a ton of intrigue due to his size, athleticism, and what Allen Trieu called a “basketball background.”

247 Sports has yet to assign a ranking to Baldwin, yet over the last month he has hauled in three power five offers from Michigan State and Maryland, while holding multiple other offers from the likes of Liberty, Eastern Michigan, and Missouri State (Hi, Bob).

The dude moves like a ballet yet can throw a refrigerator by himself (not really, at least that I know of) and it’s those skills, amongst others, that have to have Ledford salivating over the potential of coaching Baldwin. While still somewhat raw, Baldwin has the intangibles that Ledford looks for in his scheme thanks to his solid footwork and athleticism. The JUCO tackle is capable of moving and blocking at multiple levels – which we’ve seen is crucial in the zone running scheme they deploy.

I’m not an offensive line guru and to be honest with you, I couldn’t tell you much more than what I’ve described. But what I do know is the raw athleticism and potential of Baldwin is visible right away even to football noobs like me and with a coach like Ledford around, the potential to develop another superstar tackle is there.

As we’ve seen over the first three weeks, there’s still a lot of room for growth amongst the offensive line and adding a player with the potential and athleticism of Baldwin would be a huge step in the right direction.