Louisville football is setting the 2023 recruiting trail on fire. After picking up a commitment from the nation’s number 1 RB in the 2023 class in Rueben Owens, they now went down to GA looking for a recruit to steal and got themselves one of the premiere offensive linemen in the 2023 class, Madden Sanker. Sanker is in the top 5 nationally at his position.
🚨BREAKING🚨 4-star IOL Madden Sanker has committed to Louisville.
— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) July 11, 2022
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Sanker is a 6’4 305 lbs interior lineman from Douglasville, GA. Quite a few elite programs tried to secure Sanker’s commitment before UofL landed it. Among the school’s were Georgia, Auburn, Miami, Tennessee, Oregon, and Arkansas. In the end, the pull of joining the flock proved to great for the other programs to overcome. Per 247sports, Sanker is ranked the as the 105th-best overall player nationally and 4th-best at his position. New offensive line coach Nick Cardwell led UofL’s recruiting efforts.
Sanker plays for South Paulding High School. Per MaxPreps, in just 11 games last season, Sanker had 50 pancake blocks. In other words, he was just sending guys flying on their backs with regularity, exhibiting strength and power.
Madden Sanker Highlights
What does Sanker bring to UofL? Nastiness in the trenches. You can talk about technique and hand placement, but in the end, what any football coach and fan wants in a guy fighting it out in the trenches is nastiness. It’s obvious watching his highlights Sanker doesn’t just want to block a guy because it’s his job. He blocks with gusto and a desire to humiliate his opponent each down. Every snap he comes out of his stance with a mission to maul and like a giant bear he finds his target and eliminates them from the play. He doesn’t do so surreptitiously, he does so audaciously. He lines up at guard and tackle for his high school team, but his size and his blocking style are conducive to playing the guard position in college.
Sanker plays offensive line likes he’s a contestant in Mortal Kombat because all the guy does is finish defensive linemen. I’ve never seen this many pancake blocks. He has such raw strength that he can look like he barely pushes a defender when blocking and they go flying in the air and end up flat on their back like they got hit by a truck. Like I said, technique and such, I can’t comment on, but the attitude and the way he goes about blocking are elite.
When RBs like Evans, Mitchell, Cooley, and Owens line up in the backfield, I think they will be looking to run to whatever side Sanker is lined up on because more likely than not a hole the size of the Grand Canyon will be waiting for them. With Madden Sanker anchoring the interior line, short yardage situations should end more favorably for UofL than they have these past few years.
Madden Sanker has a lot of Eric Wood as far as size and style of play. Could that mean he may get a shot at center? Possibly, but I still think guard is where he will be best utilized. One thing is for certain…despite the changes in the offensive line coaching position the last couple years, the program desires a certain type of dude in the trench. They want a player with a nastiness and edge to him, a player that wants to lay the smack down as The Rock would say. Madden Sanker is a guy that fits that mold perfectly. With his talent, he may break it.
With Madden Sanker’s commitment, UofL’s class is now ranked 14th nationally by 247sports.
