2022 Louisville Football Position Breakdown: Tight End

The Cardinals head into the 2022 season with arguably the best tight end in the ACC.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As we inch closer to the start of the 2022 college football season, Louisville Report will break down each individual position on the Cardinals' roster. Next in our positional breakdown series, we take at look at the tight ends.

Position Roster Movement:

Returning (6): Marshon Ford, Duane Martin, Isaac Martin, Dez Melton, Victor Mullen, Christian Pedersen
Departing (0): None
Incoming (1): Nate Kurisky

Projected Depth Chart:

Half Back

1. Marshon Ford (6-2, 240, R-Jr.)
2. Isaac Martin (6-1, 251, R-Sr.)
3. Christian Pedersen (6-3, 230, R-Fr.)
4. Nate Kurisky (6-3, 225, Fr.)

Tight End

1. Dez Melton (6-3, 240, R-So.)
2. Francis Sherman* (6-3, 237, R-So.)
3. Duane Martin (6-2, 255, So.)
4. Victor Mullen (6-7, 240, R-Fr.)

*walk-on

Breakdown:

When looking at Louisville's tight end room, it's hard not to have a discussion that almost exclusively revolves around Marshon Ford.

For the last three seasons, he has established himself as one of the most productive tight ends in the Atlantic Coast Conference. While he only hauled in two receiving touchdowns last year, he made up for it by leading the Cardinals in both receptions and receiving yards when he caught 49 passes for 550 yards.

When everything is said and down, Ford will likely go down as one of the top tight ends in Louisville history, entering the 2022 season with 94 career receptions for 1.151 receiving yards and 15 receiving touchdowns. The former two marks are good for sixth all-time in Louisville history for a tight end, while the latter is tied for third all-time.

Even though Louisville heads into next season with a little more potential at wide receiver than they did last season, expect Ford to still be used in a pseudo-hybrid wide receiver/half back role in 2022. Sure, we'll likely see him mainly coming out of the backfield or on the line of scrimmage in the tight end spot, but he does have the skill set to line up at wide receiver, which we saw occasionally last year.

As far as the rest of the room goes, there wasn't a ton a of production from a receiving standpoint. Four other tight ends (Melton, I. Martin, D. Martin, Josh Lifson) caught a pass last season, but they only combined for six receptions for 120 yards and no touchdowns. As far as the passing game goes, Ford is where that conversation starts and end.

But Louisville could see this change in 2022. New tight ends coach Josh Stepp established a solid track record while at Georgia State, with Roger Carter and Aubry Payne combining for five All-Sun Belt Conference Awards in his five years with GSU. Carter is the Panthers’ career leader in receptions and receiving yards by a tight end, while Payne has the tight end record for touchdown catches.

Isaac Martin is the likely candidate to take a step forward in the passing game, considering he his three receptions for 80 yards last year was second among tight ends. But don't be shocked to see either Christian Pedersen or Nate Kurisky have moments where they make occasional big plays, either, considering their high school tape shows prowess in the passing game.

The actual tight end spot, which serves almost exclusively as a blocking role in Scott Satterfield's scheme, should be just as efficient as it was last year. Louisville returns their top four players at the position, including a quality walk-on at the spot in Francis Sherman. The blocking as a whole was hit-or-miss over the first three games of the 2021 season, but like the offensive line, it rebounded in a big way to finish strong.

Overall, the tight end room is surprisingly deep for being a position where 95 percent of the attention will be going to one player. Ford is heading into the 2022 season as a preseason First-Team All-ACC selection, and there's a good chance he ends there as well. But with the help of a new tight ends coach, there could other players at the position take a meaningful step forward as well. Time will tell.

Other Position Breakdowns:

• Quarterback
• Running Back
• Wide Receiver
• Offensive Line
• Defensive Line
• Outside Linebacker
• Inside Linebacker
• Cornerback
• Safety
• Special Teams

(Photo of Marshon Ford: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleReport
Twitter - @UofLReport
Instagram - @louisville_report

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter