The Cardinal Countdown: 7 Days Until Kickoff

#7 Monty Montgomery

Class: RS Junior

Ht/Wt: 5-11/225

Position: Linebacker

Hometown: Norcross, GA

Twitter: @MontyTBE1

Thoughts: When Monty came into the program out of JUCO there was one big expectation of him….mess stuff up. Use that speed and 225 to run around like a crazed person and create chaos on defense. He delivered. Monty led the team in sacks (5) and was also tied for a team leading three forced fumbles even though he played significantly fewer snaps than most. Monty is going at 100mph all the time and for all the benefits of that….it can also have a downside.

While you want to keep Monty under control you don’t want to put a leash on an energetic dog and then wonder why he doesn’t run as much. I believe it was Dorian this summer who spoke about how impressive it is to watch Monty play but that he was working with him to encourage a more consistent level of production. The sacks are nice, the forced fumbles are nice, the QB hurries are nice, but not at the expense of giving up big plays consistently.

Monty will get more reps this year even though the Cards return both inside backers because they need some depth and prep for 2021. Monty 100% has the ability to be a starter next year but he does need to work on learning the defense and being a leader. I want to continue to see the aggression from Monty, but a bit more controlled and calculated.

Sweet Tweet:

One would assume he’s referring to the Bronko Nagurski trophy, given to the best defensive player each year in college football….BUT it’s always risky to assume things. My first instinct of course was to think of the great Ron Nagurski the hockey player who played wing for the Waterloo Black Hawks back in the mid-70s. Stick work was impeccable.

***

#7 Dez Fitzpatrick

Class: RS Senior

Ht/Wt: 6-2/210

Position: Wide Receiver

Hometown: Farmington Hills, MI

Twitter: @dezfitz8

Thoughts: Dez is kind of like Rodjay or Avery in the fact that there is nothing I could really put here that would surprise you or nothing I could say that probably hasn’t already been said. Dez came in, took a redshirt behind Quick, Staples, Jaylen, and Samuel and then slid in his first season and was second on the team in receptions behind Jaylen with nine touchdowns. In 2018 the story was the same, second on team in grabs with 3 TDs. In 2019, wait for it….second on the team in catches (Tutu) but now 6 TDs. Mr. Consistent has delivered his entire career at UofL and I expect the same in 2020.

The cool thing about this season for Dez is something I mentioned earlier in the countdown, and that is getting to play organized football for the first time in his life on the same team as his brother, Christian. That connection will be pretty cool to watch and I’m glad COVID hasn’t taken that away (fingers crossed). While Dez caught his fair share of balls last year I actually think the offense lends more towards the passing game this year simply because the run/pass split in 2019 was extremely lopsided. Satt wont go full spread or anything but I think he sees that Cunningham can make the throws and the offense becoming less “vanilla” will include some new wrinkles in the passing game, which Dez will benefit from.

Sweet Tweet:

Day in the life…