Position Group Rankings Part 5 - Linebackers

[BillySee58]

Losses: MLB Anthony Wallace, MLB Blake Bean, OLB AJ Smith, OLB Sed Ellis, LB Darrien McNair 

Top Returners: OLB Fred Scott, MLB Cortney Finney

Additions: JUCO ILB William Johnson, JUCO OLB/Rover Eji Ejiya, HS ILB La'Darius Hamilton

Other returning scholarship players: OLB Calvin Minor, OLB/Rover Brandon Garner, OLB Jalen Montgomery

A common theme among doing these position ratings is not just seeing who had the best stats, but evaluating who actually played well, who let a lot of the big plays happen, and who did the least bad on a 1-11 team. The linebackers were exploited last year, both in the passing game and the running game. As many have pointed out in here, there's a reason our safeties both had over 100 tackles.

The belief seems to be that we will run a 4-2-5, with word during Eji Ejiya's recruitment that he was recruited to play that 5th DB/LB hybrid. I'm counting that position with LBs for now.

I think we see a lot of competition, with Fred Scott being our most established player, but not a player who would be penciled in by the new staff. With just 5 scholarship LBs we're going to be stretched thin for spring. We'll probably see a lot of Scott and Finney at the two in-box LB spots during spring, with Garner (who I'm a big fan of) likely at the rover spot and Minor potentially there as well. We're also really counting on Johnson to come in the fall and push Scott and Finney and for Ejiya to push whoever we have at the rover spot.

I'm very intrigued by La'Darius Hamilton. He is a raw prospect from a small school who could probably use a redshirt year, but he absolutely has the size to play right away. I thought Jordan Murray was bound for a redshirt last year but he had the size and was able to play early.

Altogether, this is a unit that needs as big an improvement as any. We also don't return much production, they're going to have to learn a new scheme, and we may have to rely on JUCOs who won't be here in the spring. I don't expect this to be a strength, but the key will be improvement from last year and making sure teams rush for a lot less than what they did last year. Hopefully the scheme helps in not allowing as much in the air by the LBs. 

Position Group Rank: 6th

Edited March 4, 2016 by BillySee58

[MeanGreenTexan]

Agree with you on Garner.  I hope he continues to improve, because there were some glimpses of him being a great player last year, especially in coverage.

[BillySee58]

18 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Agree with you on Garner.  I hope he continues to improve, because there were some glimpses of him being a great player last year, especially in coverage.

That's why I think he could really fit well in that rover spot.

[GMG24]

We are going to be odd front and doing alot of moving around, eventually getting into a 4 man front.  That is from the horses mouth. 

[GOMG2013]

Finney made some big plays in the UTEP game.  Forced a fumble early, and recovered one and ran it in.  Also recovered a fumble vs iowa...almost had a pick 6 against Tennessee...he showed some flashes.  I didn't realize he played enough to get 42 tackles.  Hopefully he shows up in better shape for his senior year.  He can probably gain a step if he gets rid of that gut.

If Fred Scott can just concentrate on stopping the run, he could finish with a nice senior season.  He is strong, but just don't put him in coverage or in too much space.

The JUCO LB William johnson was mentioned in Athlons JUCO player to watch.  Not to 25, but listed in others to watch...but he won't be here in the Spring...

[GrandGreen]

The biggest problem on defense last year was the linebacker position.  It was a bad unit in terms of stopping the run and being quick enough to cover receivers or protecting the outside.  The biggest positive is that it can't get a lot worse.  I think the rover position will be interesting with a number of defensive backs that might end up at that position.  Ether returning safeties McClain and Gray could move to this position as well as Fernandez and others.  Finney and Scott are most likely to start out at the pure linebacker positions and should have the ability as seniors to be at least adequate.   

If juco Johnson is the real deal, this definitely can be an improved unit.  The new defensive scheme makes it difficult to project but again I don't see how linebackers could fail to be improved over last year.