We are quickly approaching the 2022 football season. We continue to get fans set for the season by breaking down the roster one position at a time. In today's preview, we take a look at the defensive line.
If you missed any of our previous position previews, click the links below:
We also released the latest edition of insider notes this week, which you can read by clicking here.
Reasons to be Optimistic
The main gripe from fans regarding Louisville's defensive line throughout Scott Satterfield's first three years has been the lack of size up front. With Ben Sowders joining the program prior to off-season workouts beginning, Louisville has gotten significantly bigger across the defensive line.
At nose tackle, Dez Tell is now close to 300 pounds, and defensive line coach Mark Ivey has been adamant that Tell has added good weight and hasn't lost any of his twitch.
The starting nose tackle could change week to week as transfer Jermayne Lole and Dez Tell have been competing throughout fall camp, and sources tell CardinalSports.com that the starter hasn't been decided yet.
Lole brings even more size than Tell, and at 6-foot-3, 325 pounds, Lole brings a different dynamic to Louisville's 3-4 base defense.
At the end spots, YaYa Diaby and Ashton Gillotte have both bulked up, and are both close to 280 pounds.
Louisville's defensive line should be much improved, and Ivey really likes what he has in the middle.
Diaby has to be much more productive than he was a year ago, as he only totaled 1.5 sacks.
Reasons to be Pessimistic
Louisville needs to continue to build depth behind the established starters. For Louisville to have the depth they would like, guys like Ramon Puryear Mason Reiger, Victoine Brown, Zach Edwards, Ryheem Craig need to continue to develop and take strides.
With that being said, I do think Louisville has solid depth in the middle. Behind Tell and Lole, Tawfiq Thomas, Caleb Banks, and Jared Dawson have all been players who have been talked about behind the scenes.
If Louisville can bring along two or three defensive ends to spell Diaby and Gillotte, the defensive line could really improve from what they were a year ago.
The fact that Dez Tell has pushed Lole for the starting nose tackle position bodes well for Louisville heading into the season. I don't think that's a knock on Lole either, I just think Tell has been very good throughout fall camp.
The bottom line for me with this group is that Louisville has to get more from Diaby. He has all of the tools to be an extremely disruptive defensive end. If he can put it all together, this group could be very good.
