Gopher Football
Kyle McKenzie
Kyle McKenzie returns for his third year as a starter for the Gopher defense this fall. Seeing that he is the only senior linebacker on the team, the biggest job for Kyle this fall might that of a leadership role. There is a good chance that besides McKenzie, the next four linebackers on the team will be either freshmen or sophomores, so it will be imperative that Kyle establish himself as a guy the others can look up to during the tough Big Ten schedule.
As far as what he brings to the field, Kyle definitely has some nice tools to work with. He has good speed for a 235 pound guy and has plenty of experience to go with it. When he is “on”, he’s proven that he can be a good linebacker. Against Illinois last year Kyle was a beast, recording 12 tackles and 2.5 sacks against a good offensive Illinois team. When he’s not “on” though is where we saw the problems. The week before the great Illinois performance versus Michigan State, Kyle recorded just 3 tackles. When one game he looked determined, other games he would look lost. It is that kind of up and own motion that has defined his career so far, and an area where Gopher fans are hoping new defensive coaches will help. If Kyle can figure it out and play up to his potential each week, that will be the foundation for a very good group of Minnesota linebackers in 2005.
John Shevlin
Other than McKenzie, the only other Gopher linebacker that appears to be a lock as a starter is sophomore John Shevlin. The 6’1″ 220 pound Apple Valley native hopes to pick up in 2005 where he left off in 2004. John was a key special teams player for Minnesota last year as a freshman and showed some signs of what may come the following season. But the start to the following season came early in the form of the Music City Bowl. After the regular season finale against Iowa, the defensive coaching staff and the defensive depth charts underwent a major shakeup. After the dust settled, Shevlin found himself atop one of the starting linebacker spots. Against Alabama, he lead Minnesota in tackles with 7, and showed glimpses that he could be a breakout player this year. Despite being a little on the small side, Shevlin has already proven to be an effective player. He has very good linebacker speed, he’s tough, and he plays bigger than his size. It will be a battle in the fall for Shevlin to hang onto his starting spot though, as there will be several other young linebackers with sights set on his job.
Depth
Talking about the depth at linebacker for Minnesota could be worth of its own separate preview. No fewer than 16 players will start fall practice as a Gopher linebacker. The ones I will NOT talk about are: Thomas Hennessee, Nate Triplett, Johnny Sampy, Steve Moore, Tommy Leavitt, Deon Hightower, Anthony Cullent, Patrick Cheney, Mark Mullaney and Josh Wiltsie. Which of course, leave the players that we expect to see the field this fall. In no particular order they are: Alex Daniels, Leland Jones, Mike Sherels and Mario Reese. All four of them could end up on the first team, and the three that don’t will likely fill out the two-deep.
MARIO REESE: So far in his career Reese has been a guy whose athletic abilities have been praised, but he’s been unable to find the right position to play. It was hoped his athletic ability would give the Gopher pass rush a shot in the arm last season at defensive end, but since that experiment didn’t work out Reese has been moved back to his original position at linebacker. Athletically there are no concerns about Reese. He’s a solid 6’3″ 230 pounds, with a huge vertical jump and a good speed. The big question remains, is he really a linebacker at heart? We’ll find out this year. Reese will likely start the season as a second stringer, but if he can learn the position he is a guy who could be hard to keep off the field.
MIKE SHERELS: The surprise of the starting Gopher linebacker race is sophomore Mike Sherels. The former walkon from Rochester has risen quickly up the depth charts for the Gophers since arriving on campus. The coaches love his intensity and ability to make the big hit. He is a bit raw though, and is still learning proper technique. Sherels is only going to improve as he continues to learn the position, so expect him to make at least some kind of an impact this year.
LELAND JONES: Leland was one of the stars of the Gophers 2004 recruiting class, and was someone who many thought might see the field last year as a true freshman. That ended up not happening though, which means that Jones starts this year as a redshirt freshman. Jones brings with him about as impressive of credentials as a defensive Gopher player has. He was a highly recruited kid out of Atlanta who went to the same high school as Terrance Campbell. He was the best young defensive prospect the Gophers had, until the next guy came along.
ALEX DANIELS: Alex Daniels comes to Minnesota as the most highly out of state recruit since Laurence Maroney (and perhaps even earlier). It’s not every day that Minnesota beats out Ohio State for a player that the Buckeyes can nab from their backyard, so its for that reason there is a lot of anticipation surrounding Mr. Daniels. Though the Gophers have more depth at linebacker than at any other defensive position, it’s believed by many that Alex will be too good of a player not to play right away. Daniels has linebacker size (6’2″ 225 lbs), safety speed (4.55 forty yard dash) and a 38 inch vertical leap. Unless he is slow in learning the position this fall, expect Daniels to be a contributor this year.
Last Year . . .
The Gopher linebackers had a steady, yet unspectacular year. The three starters of Kyle McKenzie, Terrance Campbell and Dominique Sims were 1-2-3 in the team in tackles; all finishing in the 70’s. The disappointing thing is that none of them ever stepped up and became that one stud that you can build your defense around. All three had some deficiencies as well”¦ For Sims it was his speed, for Campbell is was his size, and for McKenzie it was his inconsistency. Last season ended up with linebacker coach and defensive coordinator Greg Hudson leaving and accepting a similar position at East Carolina.
Around the Big Ten . . .
For the second year in a row, the Big Ten is absolutely stacked at linebacker. It all starts at Ohio State, where the Buckeyes have four or five guys who could be stars if they only had a chance. A.J. Hawk is the best of the Buckeye group; he returned for his senior season after recording 141 tackles as a junior, and for the third straight year will be among the elite linebackers in the nation. (For those of you caught up on recruiting rankings, Hawk was a “3 star” prospect, ranked #31 at his position coming out of high school!) Oh yeah, the Buckeyes also have seniors Anthony Schlegel, Bobby Carpenter and Mike D’Andrea, giving them 4 great options to choose from, any of whom would start for any team in the conference.
Iowa has the second best group of linebackers in the Big Ten, led by two more great seniors, Abdul Hodge and Chad Greenway. Each of those players had over 110 tackles last year, and they aren’t getting any worse. The only concern about Greenway and Hodge is that the Hawkeyes have to replace their entire defensive line. Though unlikely, this could cut into the linebackers production slightly. In any other year, Michigan’s LaMarr Woodley which be getting hyped as a first team All-Big Ten type of player, but that probably will not happen this season. The 6’2″ 268 pounder is the rush-end type of LB in Michigan’s 3-4 defensive alignments who has the type of talent you’d expect from a Michigan star. After all this, I still haven’t gotten to the leading returning tackler in the conference. That honor belongs to Northwestern’s Tim McGarigle. As a junior last year, McGarigle recorded 151 tackles and was a first team Media All-Big Ten selection. Finally, the last really good linebacker in the conference is Penn State junior Paul Posluszny. With 104 tackles, Posluszny was the leader of the top defense in the conference at Penn State last season.
Bottom Line . . .
With several new players, a new season and a new coaching staff, I must say that I’m feeling more optimism about the group of Gopher linebackers than I have in several years. Back in 2001 when the Gophers were near the bottom of the conference, a recruiting prospect was emerging that grasped the Gopher fans excitement. That guy was John Shevlin, and he signed with the Gophers in 2002. Shevlin represented hope for the future of the Gopher linebackers, something that was desperately needed at the time. Then in 2003, the Gophers signed Leland Jones. An even better prospect than Shevlin, Jones really started to get Gopher fans excited. Then last winter, the Gopher signed Alex Daniels, a player that Ohio State made a huge push to get. Again, the Gophers had outdone their previous years recruiting at linebacker. See where I’m going here? Slowly but surely the Gophers have been upgrading their talent at linebacker. Throw into that mix a fast rising walkon in Mike Sherels, and there is a lot to get excited about at this position over the coming years. Whether or not the young talent can help produce improvement this year is still in the air, but that after all is why they play the games.
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