The Cardinal Countdown: 83 Days Until Kickoff

#83 Marshon Ford

Class: Sophomore

Ht/Wt: 6-2/226

Position: Tight End

Hometown: Louisville, KY (Product of Ballard High School)

Twitter: @ford_marshon

Thoughts: If I sat down Coach Satterfield and asked him to hand out some Spring Football Awards there is no doubt in my mind that Marshon Ford is on the short list, if not at the very top, in the ‘Most Surprising Player’ category.

Marshon walked-on last year for the Cards and was a sufficient practice player who got a few reps against Syracuse late in the season. As with any coaching change the new man in charge can watch film, do some personnel analysis, etc but the playing time is earned on the field, executing the plays, learning the new offense, and coming to practice every day ready to make an impact. By all accounts Marshon excelled at all three. So much so that Satterfield told him back in April that he had earned something special…

The tight end position was one of concern when Satterfield arrived as Micky Crum was departing and Kemari Averett was already gone, leaving a single scholarship player at the position who only caught two passes last year (Davis). The staff grabbed a transfer from Vandy but the emergence of Ford has been a pleasant surprise for the staff. In the Spring Showcase back in…..what was it, January….or whenever they did that polar plunge football, Ford got a lot of reps as the #1 or #2 guy at that spot. While playing both sides of the ball in high school Ford certainly does not shy away from contact and has no problem making the downfield block or sealing the edge to spring someone else free to score. I know the coaches want Ford to add some size but that’s easily attainable. The skills are there, the work ethic is there, and the coaches got exactly what they were looking for at this position, a player to step up and fill a need. Check out some high school film on Ford. The block at 2:29 makes me smile.

Sweet Tweet:

Just in case you’re confused, the young man also played basketball while in High School and loves both college and pro ball quite a bit according to his twitter timeline.

Confirmed: He’s from Louisville.