Linebackers

[GrayEagle]

We'll have good talent and depth here; so much so that it will be a real dogfight to see who starts. It looks as if at least six deserve significant playing time.

Lawrence Brown 6-3 210

Lee Clay 6-3 212

Isaac Colbert 6-1 234

Ryan Davenport 6-2 225

Shawn Early 6-0 215

Phillip Graves 6-2 211

Maurice Holman 6-1 225

Richard Leary 6-2 208

Colt Mahan 6-1 205

Arthur McNac 6-0 260

Derek Mendoza 6-1 248

Brandon Monroe 6-2 220

Tobe Nwigwe 6-2 240

Travis Thompson 6-2 225

Jon Williams 6-0 210

Starters: Monroe, Mendoza, Early

Backups: Graves, Thompson, Holman

Sleeper: Davenport

The Mean Green return the number 2 (Monroe). 3 (Early), and 5 (Mendoza) leading tacklers from last year. Since they are returning starters from last year, they should repeat, at least at the beginning of the year. If Travis Thompson is as advertised, he could very well bump one of the starters as the season wears on. Phillip Graves was 8th on the tackle list last year and had 42 solo tackles, tied for third on the team. Graves is great on special teams, often the first man down on kickoffs and punts. Even when he doesn't get the tackle he usually takes out the lead blocker. Holman had 19 tackles last year and should challenge for more playing time this year. The others, though talented, are unlikely to see much, if any, action at linebacker this year. That's not to say that they won't play. Several could letter on special teams. I think that Clay (who already has lettered on special teams), Mahan, Leary, and Davenport fall into this category. McNac is an enigma and should probably be moved to another position. As Harry mentioned, I believe that he should be tried at fullback. I don't know that he has the raw speed for a linebacker but he does possess som quickness so he might also be tried at defensive end. Because of linebacking depth, I'd guess that Nwigwe would be redshirted and walkon Williams will be hard-pressed to find any playing time. If it's possible to have a sleeper in this class, my pick would be Davenport. I was surprised at the ability that this freshman displayed in the spring.

[mad dog]

Right on, Gray.

I mentioned in a MGR a while back that we are so talented at LB we could go 2 deep at any position. There's that much depth. Mendoza, Monroe, Early, Thompson, Holman, and Graves could all start, but the first three, being incumbents, will be tough to dislodge. Thompson is going to make a lot of people sit up and notice, and, barring injury, I don't see how he can be kept off the field. Holman is a SOLID tackler, and once he latches on, the tackle is usually as good as made. Graves is the most intimidating presence we have at LB, and seems like the kinda guy who'd just as soon pop you in the jaw as look at you. I'd say Mahan and Davenport seem to be physically ready, but could probably use a bit of seasoning.

And, man, I can't wait to see Tobe Nwigwe. If he is proportionally as fast as his brother, this guy will be a monster.

[NCMeanGreen]

I would anticipate Thompson to start...and for Mendoza not to. But, it is so hard to tell in this case. I wish we were this loaded at EVERY position!

[GreenBat]

I would anticipate Thompson to start...and for Mendoza not to.  But, it is so hard to tell in this case.  I wish we were this loaded at EVERY position!

Why do you think Thompson will unseat Mendoza?

Mendoza is the hardest hitter on the team. He is a step slow, but makes up for it with his football savey. I think Thompson will replace Early. Shawn tore his ACL and may not be 100 percent this season. I would redshirt him in 2005 and let him comeback at full speed for 2006.

[NCMeanGreen]

Why do you think Thompson will unseat Mendoza?

Mendoza is the hardest hitter on the team. He is a step slow, but makes up for it with his football savey. I think Thompson will replace Early. Shawn tore his ACL and may not be 100 percent this season. I would redshirt him in 2005 and let him comeback at full speed for 2006.

My bad! I actually meant Early...not Mendoza! Good catch...

[j0nat8an]

all i know about our linebackers is that with 2 new safeties, they better figure out some way to play some type of pass defense over the middle (although i think a lot of the problems last year were because that was the weak spot of our zone (between the lb and safeties)).

[H-towngreen]

Thanks Grayeagle for the reports. Its getting us prepared for the battles that will occur in 2 a days. I was wondering if for the next installments you could also put their class(Rfresh,Soph, SR) Therefore we will be able to see what we are going to lose and whats we will have around for a few years. Thanks

[UNTLifer]

Lawrence Brown  6-3  210

Lee Clay  6-3  212

Isaac Colbert  6-1  234

Ryan Davenport  6-2  225

Shawn Early  6-0  215

Phillip Graves  6-2  211

Maurice Holman  6-1  225

Richard Leary  6-2  208

Colt Mahan  6-1  205

Arthur McNac  6-0  260

Derek Mendoza  6-1  248

Brandon Monroe  6-2  220

Tobe Nwigwe  6-2  240

Travis Thompson  6-2  225

Jon Williams  6-0  210

Brown: Soph

Clay: 5th Year Sr.

Colbert: Soph.

Davenport: Fresh.

Early: Sr.

Graves: Jr.

Holman: Soph.

Leary: Jr.

Mahan: RS Fresh

McNac: Sr.

Mendoza: Soph

Monroe: Soph

Nwigwe: Fresh

Thompson: Sr. w/ one more year of eligibility per the website.

Williams: Fresh

I would expect that Nwigwe and Williams will redshirt.

[Cerebus]

Thompson: Sr. w/ one more year of eligibility per the website.

Thompson redshirted his first year at JUCO, play his rs fresh year there, came here an lost his RS soph year to injury, and still should have his RS junior and season years.

[H-towngreen]

We are going to be set here for the years to come as 9 of the 15 are either freshman or sophmores. We are set for years to come at this postion. Then even years down the road when these guys graduate we should have jrs. and srs. ready to take over.

[untbowler]

I wonder if the NCAA would give Thompson the Jason White Extension since he missed a full-season due to injury.

Probably not since we are not a Big Money making machine school

[GreenBat]

Hell, we can't even get Zach Muzzy a redshirt!!!

[Greeneagle87]

Nwigwe is going to be a bonified star, doesn't he run a 4.5?

[adman]

I'll wager Mahan will get a lot of reps sooner rather than later. And you can't beat Graves intensity. I'm none to sure how safe any of the starters jobs are.

[GrayEagle]

Nwigwe is going to be a bonified star, doesn't he run a 4.5?

Wrong Nwigwe. Tobe Nwigwe, the linebacker, runs more like a 4.7. Joel, the wide receiver, runs a 4.5.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Wrong Nwigwe. Tobe Nwigwe, the linebacker, runs more like a 4.7. Joel, the wide receiver, runs a 4.5.

Jack, who is the fastest LB we have now?

[centex eagle]

hope the year of experience , added depth and competition will make this a much better area of defense this year. The Baylor game and their short passing game showed it would be a tough year for these very young linebackers.

[GrayEagle]

Jack, who is the fastest LB we have now?

Shawn Early was before the ACL problem. Don't know if he lost anything or not yet; in fact, I doubt that he's been timed. If the operation has slowed Early then my money would be on Graves.

[Harry]

The linebacker corp should be pretty deep this year. The incoming starters appear to be SLB - Monroe, MLB - Mendoza, WLB - Early. Monroe will get a heavy battle from Maurice Holman who came on very strong at the tail end of last year and actually led the team in tackles (10) against USM in the Bowl Game as a redshirt freshman. The problem in my mind is that Monroe could be the most athletically gifted player on the entire defense. Monroe was a TRUE freshman last year and let me tell you, Spencer/Hurd/Kassell and Casey did not play like that as true freshman. Mendoza's nemesis is Travis Thompson and you can bet that the Mustang, OK native will not give the job to Mendoza easily. Thompson is a headhunter, he is very quick and has excellent technique. He is not a speed demon so I doubt you will see him on the outside. At the WLB, we all thought that Early may have a long recovery from his knee injury but the reports I get are that he has recovered well and should be 100% by August 9th. Early's biggest competition will be Phillip Graves. Graves is an amazing athlete and the light really seemed to go off last season. These are the top 6. I think that if Early falters you could see Colt Mahan get some playing time as he has been busting up the weight room something fierce. Nwigwe should be able to redshirt. Davenport could factor in depthwise and as a RS freshman he has a really bright future in this program.

The linebackers should be the strength of this defense for 2-3 years. We really need them to step up early as out front four has some major question marks to answer. I sometimes refer to DT Michael Pruitt as the invisible man because no one noticed him last season and his heroic efforts plugging up the middle. He has graduated now and we desparately need someone to fill his shoes.

[GrayEagle]

I agree on all that you said and I know of Thompson's reputation. He'll play plenty I'm sure but a returning starter can be hard to dethrone. I heard Coach Dickey say to the effect that there may be some faster linebackers but none will be more prepared. Mendoza watches more film than any other player. He makes few mistakes since he's so well prepared.

As to Graves, he is so valuable on the kickoff and punt teams, I'm not sure that we'd want to give him the number of plays that a starter gets, lest he lose his effectiveness on being the first man downfield. He plays like a crazed kamakazi.

[Greeneagle87]

nm-wrong topic.

Edited July 21, 2005 by Greeneagle87

[Harry]

I think what I like so much about Mendoza is the physical aspect of his game. The guy is big (248?) strong and will punish you every single time. Plus as a former walk-on he's hungry! With the depth at all three positions it will push all of them to become better players.

[good_ken]

With an inexperienced front 4; and so many linebackers..has DD mentioned playing more 3-4 to take advantage of an obvious strength?

[Harry]

Ken had that been the case they would have probably instituted it in the Spring. Two weeks just isn't enough time to change your base defense.

Now that being said they have played 3-4 in the past. They call it their Okie sets and the key to being able to do that effectively is to have a big time nosetackle (like BK) and two defensive ends that have size to stop the run and can rush the passer. Not sure we have that yet this year - hopefully Ike Thomas will emerge and Willie Ransom is the real deal.

Another aspect of running the 4-3 is having true cover corners. If TJ and Jamel are all what we hope them to be we will have a lot more options in terms of defensive sets and blitz packages. In years past we had to limit the blitzing because we didn't want to leave our corners on an island.

[Greeneagle87]

With all this depth at LB,let's switch to the 1-9-1

Edited July 21, 2005 by Greeneagle87