The Cardinal Countdown: 78 Days Until Kickoff

Today kicks off our Offensive lineman section of the Countdown, and if you know me, I love me some O-line play. For the next few weeks we will heap praise on the big boys in the trenches, breakdown foot placement, talk about pancake blocks and pray that Momma Ledford reads this and will send me some Chocolate chip cookies….or I guess I’d settle for a BOB t-shirt.

#78 Jackson Gregory

Class: RS Freshman

Ht/Wt: 6-2/290

Position: Offensive Line

Hometown: Cleveland, OH

Twitter: @JacksonGregs55

Thoughts: Gregory joined the program last season out of Cleveland after being a two way starter at Westlake High, mostly playing some center and mixing in a little defensive end. Jackson’s a little slimmer than I would like but has thrown on around 8-10 pounds from what he was listed coming in (amazing what few BOB dinners at the Ledford house can do). Gregory got some reps last year in a few games but was able to maintain his redshirt under the new NCAA four game limit, which could be beneficial in the next couple seasons.

While we didn’t get a great sample size out of Spring it sounds like from what I’m hearing/reading Gregory will be backing up Caleb Chandler at guard (left) and will likely be getting more PT than what he saw in 2019. For those who stay up on recruiting you’ll recall Jackson wasn’t a huge name in the mix and didn’t have a ton of offers out of high school but Louisville, and more specifically Coach Ledford, really wanted the young man and guess what….I trust him. As the next few seasons pan out we’ll get a feel for how recruiting is working for this staff at a higher level of competition but we’ve seen example after example of them pulling in kids who may not be heavily targeted but are a good fit into their system. The zone blocking that Ledford implements can work with a smaller lineman and the ability to block downfield in a rush heavy offense is also very important. I think Gregory can be a nice supporting player this year and turn into a key contributor down the road with a little added size.

Sweet Tweet:

We’ve talked about this before on here but I’m with Jackson. For an hour to an hour and a half each week it’s just me, my mower, and a podcast. Not a care in the world except crabgrass eradication and cleaning up my edges. I have not transitioned to the mid-calf white sock and all white New Balance yet…but well on my way.