This, but part of that might also be due to lack of LB's. Either way we play less and less Pro Style power run teams every year anyway. Leo and Star positions both have some linebacker qualities to them though.
Linebackers
- Thread starter CycloneVet
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This, but part of that might also be due to lack of LB's. Either way we play less and less Pro Style power run teams every year anyway. Leo and Star positions both have some linebacker qualities to them though.
Agreed. BUT-
There will be times when even the spread teams we play are going to want to slow the game down & pound the ball, and we're going to need to be able to stop it. I understand the desire to have hybrid positions, but it'd be nice to see a nucleus of three strong run stoppers we can turn to when a loaded front seven is necessary. Right now I don't see it. Other than Tech, every team we played last year was able to gash us on the ground.
They can gash us because of the style they run. We couldn't stop Baylor on the ground last year because they spread it out with 4 WRs. They make you choose what you are going to stop. The biggest help with this will be the DL. The DTs would get beat badly up front which put our LBs in bad situations. Don't get me wrong the LB play needs improved, but a strong D line will really help the LBs run freely
ISU has played with 2, 3 and 4 LB's at times over the last few years and couldn't stop the run consistently with any amount of them. It doesn't matter how many true LB's you put out there or hybrids or whatever you want to name them, run D is going to fall consistently on the effectiveness of the DL plugging gaps and making plays.
Spears is still young. Probably needs some time to fully grasp defensive scheme. Has potential though. Never gets talked about.
And I hate to knit pick, but Knott was 6'2 245 and Klein was 6'1 245. Vance may get that big but Sutton is like 5'10. He'll never be as big as them.
klien and knott were 220-225 when they played their first games. Sutton will be 235 by the time he plays for the first time. The strength will be similar and he is plenty big. Vance is already that big. They said on the recruiting night that they had him listed as 6'1" 232, but Rasheed said he has gained some weight already. The difference is you are talking about Klein and Knott size when they left not when they started their careers. They are similar size now and have 4-5 years to get even stronger. Size will not be an issue.
Oh, I agree. That's a lot of weight on the shoulders of newcomers Lima & Tongamoa. Hopefully our returning DTs can step up because they'll be in the rotation regardless. The time is now for Vernell Trent.
She's lying.
That is one of the reasons I don't know how to feel about next season. We are going to need a lot from Lima and Tongamoa. They are going to need to get up to speed right away since our 3 most winnable games are the first games of the season.
Thank your lucky stars Lima is here for spring ball. He looks legit in his highlight video; unfortunately he hasn't played since 2015. I believe he took a medical redshirt last season?
Very true. I was hoping we could have got tonamoa here early too. I was wondering if they will move an outside guy inside this season. They talked about the kid from Michigan from last years class being up around 6'6"280. Seems like he would have the size to do it.
I would guess Eyioma at 6'6 280 will be able to move around. Would think that Matt Leo will have the versatility to play inside on 3rd down since he'll be around 6'7 270.
Can you imagine this defensive line on the field on short yardage defense?
Lima 6'3 310
Tongamoa 6'5 320
Leo 6'7 270
Uwazurike 6'6 280
Hopefully the linebacker are going to be improved through development as well and the staff is really proud of Sutton
Angel Dominguez has bulked up quite a bit; think they move him inside?
I think the staff was pretty high on Bobby McMillen before he got injured; was he outside or middle?
Love the potential of that group. Especially when you add J Bailey. Something tells me we're going to have to wait until 2018 before they come into their own. It's rare to see JUCOs and Freshmen make a big impact right away. (although certainly possible: D. Tucker,etc).
I would not leave out Zach Silbermann when talking about linebackers. He had 120 tackles (as a jr.) and was considered one of the top middle linebackers in the State of Ohio, before tearing his ACL on the second play of the second game his senior year. If he sticks it out (has walkon status) he could be a major contributor a year from now.
I'm pretty sure they have already said he was moving inside. I think he could end up being really good but it will likely take longer for him to contribute with him missing all of last year and also needing to bulk up some