Louisville Football just received one of its biggest commitments, both figuratively and literally, for the 2022 class. Arizona State transfer DL Jermayne Lole announced his commitment to the Cards yesterday. The staff has been looking to beef up the defensive line and Lole will do just that.
🔴 West The Deal Louisville! ⚫️#ForeverMiah 🤍🕊#L🍍L E 🤍🕊 pic.twitter.com/12rvB6JiLJ
— Jermayne Tauinaola Lole🇦🇸 (@JermayneLole) May 20, 2022
Lole was a consensus 3 Star prospect as a recruit in the Class of 2018. 247sports ranked him as a 4 Star prospect. He chose Arizona State over offers from Arizona, Tennessee, San Diego State, Colorado State, and Washington State, among others. He’s originally from Long Beach, CA. According to the latest 247sports portal rankings, he is currently ranked as the 36th-best overall prospect and the 4th-best at his position.
The 6’2 302 lbs DL ended up becoming a great player at Arizona State. In 3 seasons for the Sun Devils, Lole had 123 total tackles, 20 tackles for loss, and 11 sacks. He also had 8 passes defensed, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 fumble recoveries. In other words, he was a highly productive player. He did not play in 2021 and is a redshirt senior. He will be eligible immediately eligible for UofL and has 2 years remaining though it’s a possibility he only plays one and goes into the NFL Draft.
When Lole decided to transfer from Arizona State, there were no shortage of suitors. Florida, Texas Tech, and Oregon were some of the schools recruiting Lole before he made his decision to join the Cards. USC had also shown some interest.
So, what does Jermayne Lole bring to UofL? Let’s break down his game.
I made promises I gotta keep… 🙏🏽
— Jermayne Tauinaola Lole🇦🇸 (@JermayneLole) July 29, 2019
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Papa | Grandma | Big Aunty, this one is for y’all ❤️ pic.twitter.com/XEgE9aUEPr
What a play by @JermayneLole. Shoves the guard away while being double teamed and stuffs the run pic.twitter.com/2YwJf1BjBv
— Joe Broback (@joebroback) November 7, 2020
Jermayne Lole is a truly disruptive defensive lineman. At Arizona State, he lined up at end and tackle. He was highly effective playing both, but expect him to play nose tackle in the 3 down lineman scheme UofL runs. Lole will be asked to use his unique combination of strength, agility, and speed to help bolster UofL’s interior defensive front.
What stands out most about Lole is his speed and agility. At 6’2 305, you think of a player using brute strength, but Lole is different. His ability to be an able interior pass rusher and a guy that stop the interior run, he uses an excellent burst at the snap. He launches out of his stance and often catches guards and centers off balance. He then uses his speed to shoot gaps and disrupt plays in the backfield. When interior lineman are able to match his burst, Lole uses his excellent agility. He’s able to use moves like a fake inside and then quickly go outside or vice versa to shed the offensive lineman’s initial block attempt and get to the QB or RB. He also has a very nice swim move that many interior offensive linemen likely rarely face and a chop club move he used when lined up at end to get by OTs. I believe he developed these quick change of direction moves to shed blocks because he was originally an edge rusher and relied on it. Arizona State loved to stunt with him a lot and UofL loves to run stunts up front. Having a DL with Lole’s agility will be wonderful for Coach Bryan Brown to utilize in his scheme.
Now that Lole is an interior lineman, he’s put on good weight and strength. It allows him to take on double teams and win at the point of attack. The second highlight above demonstrates this to perfection. He just throws a guard to the ground and beats the attempted chip block of the other blocker and stops a between-the-tackles run play cold. Oftentimes, when blocked one-on-one, he just shucks a blocker to the side or to the ground to get into the backfield and disrupt plays.
What Louisville got in Jermayne Lole is a starting NT that will be a high level playmaker on the interior line. It’s likely he will step right into the starting roll and immediately help Louisville develop an interior pass rush. He will likely be able to take on blockers as well and allow Monty Montgomery to shoot gaps for tackles for loss and sacks. It immediately improves depth because you now have Dez Tell as his likely immediate backup. I expect a big jump in production from him this year and it would provide a really nice 1-2 punch at nose tackle. Then it will allow Caleb Banks to be a bit of a rover on the line, lining up at end and tackle. It will also allow Banks to grow more into the role of NT as he was originally a DE. Jermayne Lole could be a true difference-maker. If he plays like everyone expects, Louisville’s defense will be the reason we win some of the close games this season that we lost last season. 8 wins would not be out of the question if Lole impacts the defense like many expect.
