Louisville Football: ESPN Predicts If The 2017 Cards Are Contenders

We take a look at what ESPN had to say about the 2017 Louisville football team and their playoff chances for next college football season.

I don’t think I have to remind anyone that the 2016 Louisville football season ended with a thud. The Cardinals’ offensive line and turnover issues ultimately took them out of the college football playoff picture and sent them on a three-game losing streak to end the season.

With that being said, they have hired a new offensive line coach and they also have a full offseason to fix some of their discipline problems on the field. That includes everything from fumbling the football to penalties.

Therefore, can the 2017 Louisville Cardinals rise to a new level and make the big dance next season? Take a look at what ESPN had to say about the Cards and whether they are “contenders” or “pretenders”.

Here is the verdict from Jared Shanker in his article on ESPN:

“Pretender. The window likely closed at the end of last season. Bobby Petrino is a good enough coach that it’ll be open again, but just not in 2017. There isn’t enough reason to believe yet that Jackson will be hit less, and there are a lot of changes on defense. If Jackson remains for his senior season, this could be a playoff team in 2018. Sell the Cardinals this season, though.”

I may be a complete homer in my opinion of what Jared Shanker wrote, but to say that the 2017 Cardinals football team is a pretender, is just a tad bit premature.

When you have the reigning Heisman Trophy winner on your football team, the sky is the limit. I do understand that Lamar Jackson cannot do it all by himself, but this 2017 team has much more than just Jackson.