Rene Konga Taking Advantage of Opportunities in Louisville's Fall Camp

The transfer from Rutgers joined the Cardinals during the spring portal window.

Louisville defensive lineman Rene Konga / University of Louisville Athletics

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When you look at the Louisville football program's roster heading into their upcoming 2024 season, they have some serious depth on the interior of their defensive line. Reliable veterans like Dezmond Tell and Jared Dawson are back for another year, while transfer newcomers like Thor Griffith and Jordan Guerad help give the Cardinals one of the better defensive line interiors in the ACC.

Through the first half of fall camp, another interior lineman has thrown his name into the ring as someone who could have a significant role this upcoming season: Rene Konga.

The 6-foot-4, 290 came over from Rutgers during the spring transfer portal window, and was largely a rotational piece during his four years in Piscataway, and had some injury issues that limited his availability. He collected eight tackles (five solo), two for loss, a sack and a forced fumble in 10 games last season, and compiled 14 tackles (eight solo), three for loss, two sacks, two pass break ups and a forced fumble over his career as a Scarlet Knight.

While these stats might suggest that Konga could have trouble cracking Louisville's defensive line rotation, he has done a great job in fall camp up to this point. He has received a significant portion of the first team reps during 11-on-11 periods, while also making a fair amount of plays. For instance: on the very first day of camp, he caught a one-handed interception on quarterback Tyler Shough while actively getting blocked.

Coming from Rutgers, obviously coach (Greg) Schiano has a defensive mindset and temperament," defensive line coach Mark Hagen said Friday. "They play good defense up there. I think he showed flashes in the past of what he's capable of doing in a lineman's league, right? That's what the Big 10 is.

"He's coming here, he's kind of at 290-295 range playing three technique tackle force. He's very, very explosive. He's got some length. When he's been healthy in the past, he's put really good video out there. To me, I just think it's a matter of taking advantage of his opportunities."

Some of these aforementioned opportunities are injury related, which has handed more reps to Konga. Guerad had been held out of fall camp so far as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery, and Griffifth has seen limited reps as well after getting banged up this summer.

But even if Louisville had a completely healthy defensive line, Konga has still done very well in fall camp when he has seen the field - and his teammates and direct competitors can vouch for it.

"Rene, he's really good," defensive tackle Jared Dawson said. "He's got some good pass rush moves and he's explosive."

Konga is one of four newcomers on the defensive line that joined the program during the spring transfer portal window, along with Myles Jernigan, Richard Kinley II and Tramel Logan. Hagen had been pleased with the competition created from all of these newcomers so far in camp, and not just Konga.

"I see a really good competition right now with Jared and with Renee," Hagen said. "But like a lot of those newcomers, the Logan's the Jernigan's, the Konga, the Kinley's, those guys - so far, so good."

(Photo of Rene Konga via University of Louisville Athletics)

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