Competition Heating Up Among Louisville's Second String Offensive Linemen

Louisville has some solid returning experience among their starting offensive linemen, but the Cardinals have also been seeing the guys just beyond the starters hold their weight in practice.

Heading into year two of the Scott Satterfield era, Louisville Football's starting group of offensive linemen seem to be trending in the right direction during camp.

The Cardinals return Robbie Bell & Caleb Chandler - who each started all 13 games at right and left guard - as well as Cole Bentley started at center in the final six games last year. Adonis Boone & Renato Brown replaced the departing Mekhi Becton & Tyler Haycraft respectively at left & right tackle, but the play at each position has been "coming along well".

With the starters pretty much hammered out, offensive coordinator Dwayne Ledford has spent much of the preseason looking for his next key contributor up front. During Louisville's first three weeks of practice, the second year coordinator has been impressed by the competition among the second string linemen.

Someone in this group who has stood out the most over the course of the preseason has been Cam DeGeorge. A graduate transfer from UConn, DeGeorge has worked himself into the "sixth man" on the line - a role that Boone held a year ago.

"He's been the guy that I would say is definitely been the guy that I've been rotating in with the ones," Ledford said in a teleconference following practice on Monday. "He's taking reps at both guard positions and also both tackle positions."

He's far from the only one impressing Ledford. Offensive tackle Trevor Reid, who came over from Georgia Military College as a JUCO transfer, has been slowly getting acclimated to the system and getting in the mix with the starters.

"The more that he understands what it is that we're asking him with what we're doing from a schematics (standpoint), the faster he's gonna be able to play and understand on the field," Ledford said. "He's got all the physical tools, so the more he becomes comfortable, the better off he's going to be."

Another goal of Ledford's is to have the backup center position nailed down. While he's not there yet, he's getting closer. Redshirt freshmen Joshua Black & Jackson Gregory have both been splitting reps at backup center, with Ledford noting that it's "something they're still competing at".

Lastly, while not listed on Louisville's preseason depth chart, Ledford has also been impressed by Clayton Six. The junior has been competing with the guards and has "done a really good job" when inserted.

"He's a guy that we continue to watch film and you see him step up and then continue to make plays," Ledford said.

Louisville will return to the practice fields on Tuesday at 4:00pm EST, and are set to kickoff the season against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Saturday, Sept. 12 at Cardinal Stadium.

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