Gopher Football
Starters
Returning as a starter at linebacker for Minnesota is junior John Shevlin. Despite battling some nagging injuries last season Shevlin led all Gopher linebackers in tackles at 74. At 6’1″ 225 pounds John is a little undersized for the position by Big Ten standards, but he makes up for it with good quickness, solid tackling ability and a nose for the ball. In other words, he has most of the tools required to be a great linebacker, just without the size. I don’t know if it’s realistic that Shevlin will be an All Big Ten type of player this year, but with three years in the program under his belt I think he’ll turn out to be more than adequate. Ideally (if he stays healthy) he can bump his tackles total up to around 90.
Another returning starter, albeit part time, is senior Mario Reese. After spending the 2004 season at defensive end, Reese was moved back to linebacker last season, and after starting the season on the bench he ended up starting 5 of the last 7 games and improving as the year went on. Mario showed his play making abilities by making 48 tackles in the 5 starts, as well as 3.5 tackles for loss (including 2 sacks), 4 pass breakups and 2 forced fumbles. In my opinion Mario has the ability to be the biggest playmaker on the Gopher defense, but hopefully has made up for his lack of game experience and is fully prepared to be a starting linebacker in the Big Ten. If he is able to do that I think Gopher fans could be surprised by the type of impact player he could become this fall.
The remaining starting spot in the middle may be up in the air right now. Last year Mike Sherels started 7 games in the middle, while departed senior Kyle McKenzie started the rest. For those of you keeping track, the game McKenzie did not start in the middle he started at drop linebacker ahead of Mario Reese. So in a way Sherels ended up losing starts in favor of Mario Reese. As for his game Sherels does have some strengths, literally. He is as solid as they come physically at 6’0″ and 235 pounds, and not surprisingly he is tough up the middle and a good tackler. The biggest downside to Sherels is that he’s not that quick and can get beat when forced to move out in space. The other guy battling for the starting spot in the middle is sophomore Alex Daniels. Last season Daniels saw spot action, but managed only 5 tackles through the course of the Big Ten season. Even though he was a little too raw last season, Daniels has a huge “œupside” as they say. He has good athletic ability for his position, and at 6’3″ 255 lbs he will be an imposing physical force. The big question, and one of the key storylines this fall, is whether or not he’s mentally ready to be a starting Big Ten linebacker. His development suffered a blow in the first few days of spring practice when he broke his arm, putting him on the shelf for the rest of spring.
Depth
Depth in numbers is something the Gophers have a lot of at linebacker, but depth in quality is the main question. The guy likely to see the most time would likely be the loser of the Sherels/Daniels battle, followed closely by sophomore Deon Hightower. After John Shevlin missed spring practice because of surgery, Hightower is the guy who won the starting spot in his stead. Deon didn’t play very much last season as a freshman, but he did progress nicely and has made nice strides since then. Shevlin is healthy again and will take back his starting spot, but Hightower appears to be ready to contribute. Since he is only 205 pounds strength is his biggest concern. The other guy who could end up rounding out the two-deep is freshman Nate Triplett. The redshirt freshman Triplett already has Big Ten size at 6’3″ 240 lbs, and going into spring practice he was listed as the third stringer behind Patrick Cheney. But if Triplett is as fast as he’s been billed, then expect to see him rise up the depth chart as the fall goes on. A number of other players could be in the mix as well, including John Carlson, Steve Moore, and possibly true freshmen Tommy Becker and Lee Campbell. A couple of other personnel notes”¦ Mark Mullaney will not play this season due to injury, but it is believed he still is on the scholarship and technically could make an eventual return. This is not considered likely however. Lastly, former Massachusetts transfer James Tindall, who was listed on the second string during spring practice, recently left the program.
Around the Big Ten
After displaying a huge array of All Star linebackers last season, the Big Ten will nearly be starting from scratch this year. Six of the top seven LB’s have moved on, the one exception being the best of the bunch: Penn State senior Paul Posluszny. Last year Posluszny amassed 116 tackles, was a first team All-Big Ten selection and won the Butkus award as the best linebacker in the nation. Posluszny could’ve been a very early draft pick in this past spring’s NFL draft, but a knee injury suffered in the Orange Bowl put an end to any thought of an early exit for him. With Posluszny’s return for the 2006 season, PSU will feature could be (or maybe “œshould be”) the best group of linebackers in the nation. Overshadowed by their teammate are fellow Lions Dan Connor and Tim Shaw. Neither put up the numbers that Poz did, but they each contributed 76 tackles of their own “¦.. Michigan will likely have a solid group of linebackers, and they could be excellent if Prescott Burgess finally can emerge as the star many think he can be. He, along with co-senior Dave Harris give the Wolverines a pair of battle tested LB’s. Ohio State has the daunting task of replacing its three outstanding linebackers. Former Minnesota prep star James Laurinaitis will be in the mix after seeing time as a true freshman last season.
Last Year
Last season was not as good as I’d hoped for the Gopher linebackers. Despite always showing good flashes during his career, Kyle McKenzie could never seem to put it all together and turn in solid play game in and game out. He finished last season with just 56 tackles despite starting every game. As mentioned above, John Shevlin was the top contributor last year. He finished the season with 74 tackles, about on par with Gopher LB’s over the past few years. The combination of Mike Sherels and Mario Reese contributed 96 tackles on the season. As a unit many of the same problems lingered in 2005 as they did in previous years, especially helping out in pass coverage. But as the season went on it became a little clearer that some of the younger guys seeing action may become better players as they gain more experience.
Bottom Line
During the off season the Gophers finally parted ways with inside LB coach Moe Ankeny and hired Middle Tennessee State defensive coordinator Mark Criner to replace him. This was a good move that should yield instant dividends. John Shevlin and Mario Reese both showed flashes of being productive play makers last year, and when you add Alex Daniels, Deon Hightower and Nate Triplett to the mix, I really do believe that we will see the level of linebacker play increase over the next one to two years. But will it happen soon enough to make a difference this year? Probably not, but what I really consider the big key this season is that we see improvement. If we can improve just a little, it will be a great sign heading into the next couple seasons with the loss of only one senior this year.
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