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2025 Louisville Football Position Breakdown: Defensive Line

Originally posted on Louisville Cardinals on SI
By Matthew McGavic | Last updated Jul 4, 2025 6:00 AM ET

As we inch closer to the start of the 2025 college football season, Louisville Cardinals On SI will break down each individual position on the Cardinals' roster. Next in our positional breakdown series, we take at look at the defensive line.

Position Roster Movement:

Selah Brown, Micah Carter, Maurice Davis, Adonijah Green, Jordan Guerad, Rene Konga, Xavier Porter

Returning (7): Selah Brown, Micah Carter, Maurice Davis, Adonijah Green, Jordan Guerad, Rene Konga, Xavier Porter
Departing (11): Saadiq Clements (Transfer - North Texas), Jared Dawson (Transfer - Notre Dame), Ashton Gillotte (NFL Draft), Thor Griffith (Graduation), Myles Jernigan (Graduation), Richard Kinley II (Graduation), Tramel Logan (Graduation), Ramon Puryear (Graduation), Mason Reiger (Transfer - Wisconsin), William Spencer (Transfer - SMU), Dezmond Tell (Graduation)
Incoming (10): Bailey Abercrombie (HS), Wesley Bailey (Transfer - Rutgers), Justin Beadles (Transfer - New Mexico State), Kendrick Gilbert (Transfer - Kentucky), Eric Hazzard (HS), Jerry Lawson (Transfer - Abilene Christian), Denzel Lowry (Transfer - Old Dominion), Clev Lubin (Transfer - Coastal Carolina), C.J. May (HS), Dillon Smith (HS)

Projected Depth Chart:

Defensive End

Wesley Bailey (6-5, 265, R-Sr.)
Justin Beadles (6-5, 270, R-Sr.)
Micah Carter (6-6, 255, R-So.)
Xavier Porter (6-2, 280, R-Fr.)
Eric Hazzard (6-3, 250, Fr.)

Nose Tackle

Rene Konga (6-4, 300, R-Sr.)
Jerry Lawson (6-2, 295, R-Jr.)
Selah Brown (6-2, 290, R-Jr.)
Bailey Abercrombie (6-3, 295, Fr.)

Defensive Tackle

Jordan Guerad (6-2, 300, R-Sr.)
Denzel Lowry (6-1, 290, R-Sr.)
Kendrick Gilbert (6-5, 262, R-So.)
Dillon Smith (6-4, 260, Fr.)

LEO (DE/LB)

Clev Lubin (6-3, 250, R-Jr.)
Adonijah Green (6-6, 250, R-So.)
C.J. May (6-4, 225, Fr.)
Maurice Davis (6-4, 235, R-Fr.)

Breakdown:

As many Louisville fans know, while Jeff Brohm is one of the best offensive minds in college football, year one as the head coach at his alma mater was anchored by a stout defense. This was primarily due to the efforts of the defensive line, who set a physical and aggressive tone at the line of scrimmage for the majority of the season.

Heading into the 2024 season, there was reason to believe that the Cardinals' defensive line was going to take a big step forward. Thanks to the combination of returning veterans and impact additions, it had potential to be one of the most disruptive D-lines in all of college football.

However, for the majority of the year, this unit was not as impactful as it was expected to be. Early on, the defensive line simply struggled to generate push at the line of scrimmage. Additionally, mobile quarterbacks - such as Riley Leonard, Kevin Jennings and Cam Ward - regularly broke contain with relative ease.

In Louisville's first eight games against FBS opponents last year, defensive linemen averaged just 2.8 tackles for loss and 1.3 sacks per game. It wasn't until the final four games of the season that the defensive line was able to realize their full potential, averaging 4.8 tackles for loss and 2.9 sacks per game in this stretch.

Sure, Louisville actually surpassed their team-wide TFL and sack average, going from 6.1 and 2.43 in 2023, respectively, to 6.7 and 2.62 in 2024. But a lot of this was due to the linebackers and secondary, while far from perfect in pass coverage, making more of an impact around the line of scrimmage. Not to mention that the Cardinals' rushing defense went from 99.8 rushing yards allowed per game in 2023 to 132.5 in 2024. Bottom line, it felt like the defensive line could have done a little bit more.

On top of that, there is a ton of changeover on the defensive front. All-American Ashton Gillotte is now with the Kansas City Chiefs, long time veterans Ramon Puryear, Dezmond Tell, Jared Dawson and Mason Reiger all moved on, as did a handful of other players due to either graduation or the transfer portal. Louisville lost their top five defensive linemen in terms of sacks and TFLs, and over half of the scholarship D-linemen on the roster are newcomers.

But even with this in mind, Louisville's defensive line does have a lot of potential heading into the 2025 season.

For starters, the Cardinals have a very good two-deep in the middle of the line, which is anchored by returners Rene Konga and Jordan Guerad. Konga, a transfer from Rutgers last offseason, was hampered by injuries in the back half of the 2024 season, but the nose tackle displayed in fall camp and early in the year that he can be incredibly disruptive at the point of attack. While his 20 tackles, three for loss and 2.5 sacks might not stand out to some, this was more than his four years with the Scarlet Knights combined.

Then right next to Konga is another tackle who was held back by injuries in former FIU transfer Jordan Guerad. He didn't get his first snaps of the year until Louisville was at Notre Dame, and his first start as a Card wasn't until the Boston College game. Still, in that time, he was able to show that he can be someone to generate consistant push and pressure in the backfield, finishing the year with four tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and 22 tackles overall.

Sure, injuries are commonplace in football, and every team deals with them at some point. But if Louisville can get Konga and Guerad to stay healthy all season long, that will be a great first step in terms of getting the defensive line back to a spot where they're reliable on a game-in and game-out basis. Both players have the capabilities to eat up blocks for others to make plays, and penetrate the line to make plays themselves.

That being said, the Cardinals do have some quality backup options at nose and defensive tackle in Jerry Lawson and Denzel Lowry. The former was one of the best tackles at the FCS level, putting up with 65 tackles, 14.0 for loss and 5.5 sacks last season at Abilene Christian. The latter is a two-time All-Sun Belt honorable mention from his time at Old Dominion, finishing the 2024 season with 51 tackles, three for loss, and 1.5 sacks

With players making the jump from the Group of Five to the power conference level, or even the FCS-to-FBS jump, there's always the question on if they can handle the uptick in competition. While we have yet to see either Lawson or Lowry in a game, there's reason to believe they will handle to adjustment just fine. Both participated in spring ball, and not only did they hold their own against Louisville's offensive line (which could be a top-five O-line in the ACC), they regularly cycled in with the first team unit.

Louisville's strength on the defensive line next season might be in the middle, but that's not to say that their play on the edges will be down. In fact, the Cardinals have three high-end options here.

At the true defensive end spot, stepping in for Gillotte will be Rutgers transfer Wesley Bailey. While an early season injury and late-season opt-out limited him to just eight tackles in 2024, he was a productive lineman during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. In that two-year span, he totaled 57 tackles, 13 for loss, 7.5 sacks and five pass breakups. He might not be what Gillotte was for Louisville, but he routinely displayed his 2022-23 form during spring ball for the Cards, where he was twitchy and showcased a good set of pass rush moves.

On the other side of the line at LEO, which is a defensive end/linebacker hybrid position where the player is a standing pass rusher, the odds-on favorite to earn the starting spot is Coastal Carolina transfer Clev Lubin. He was Louisville's top defensive transfer portal addition this offseason, and for good reason. Lubin earned First-Team All-Sun Belt honors following a 2024 season in which tallied 44 tackles, 12.0 for loss, 9.5 sacks, three pass breakups and three forced fumbles.

Not only is Lubin is incredibly fast off the line of scrimmage, he couples that with a super high motor and great striking power in his hands. If I were to pick Louisville's sack leader for the 2025 season, it would probably be Lubin, considering he has a skill set that can easily make the transition to the ACC.

But here is something to consider: while Lubin did get his fair amount of run with the first team in spring ball, he was not the regular starter at LEO in the open practices and did not start here in the spring game. This, in fact, went to Adonijah Green instead.

While Green is coming off of a season where his production isn't nearly what Lubin's was, finishing with 12 tackles, three for loss and a sack, Louisville's staff has been incredibly high on him ever since he stepped on campus. The player known as "sticks" is teeming with intangibles (height, length, explosiveness, bend, etc.) that would bode well at the NFL level, so much so that he was even named a sleeper for the 2026 NFL Draft. It's just a matter of putting it all together on a consistent basis and having it translate on the field. Going by his performance in spring ball, Green could finally be in line for a breakout 2025 season.

While Bailey, Green and Lubin will be the main group of edge rushers, back over at true defensive end, the most likely candidate to back up Bailey is Justin Beadles. The New Mexico State transfer is coming off of a respectable 2024 campaign, collecting 20 tackles, four for loss and half a sack. He joined during the spring window, so time will tell how he handles the jump to the ACC.

Beyond the two-deep on the defensive line, there are a few more players who have a chance to earn a role in the main rotation. In the middle of the line, we have a pair of former blue chip prospects in Selah Brown and Kendrick Gilbert. Injuries sidelined Brown for the 2024 season, and while he has just two career tackles over the 2022-23 seasons, he's always had the potential to be a game changer. The same can be said for Gilbert, who logged six tackles in his two seasons at Kentucky. Could this be the season either (or both) player lives up to their billing coming out of high school? Time will tell.

Then on the edges, Maurice Davis (one tackle for loss in 2024) and Xavier Porter (no action in 2024) are two players who are both coming off of their redshirt freshman campaigns. While Louisville does like to rotate bodies on the defensive line, these two likely won't be tasked to do a whole lot, barring injuries in front of them. That being said, both looked solid in the spring, especially Davis.

Louisville also is bringing in four true freshman linemen in Bailey Abercrombie, Eric Hazzard, C.J. May and Dillon Smith. Most of these guys are a year or two away from being regular contributors, but that being said, don't be surprised if May finds a way to carve out a role. A top-500 prospect, he was Louisville's highest-ranked signee in the Class of 2025, and flashed his high-end ability in pockets during spring ball as an early enrollee.

Overall, while Louisville did lose a lot of talent and production on the defensive line this offseason, they still have the ingredients to have a disruptive front. The middle of the line has a great rotation and can help both make and set up plays, while the edges features a mix of good production and potential. Considering defensive coordinator Ron English's 4-2-5 scheme relies a lot on the down linemen winning their one-on-one battles to make plays, it will be crucial for this position group to have a bounce back season and not start slow.