Gopher Linebackers

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Can I just tell you how much I enjoyed the head banging smiley face? AWESOME!!!

I'm looking forward to seeing our young linebackers. I don't know that we've ever had what I would consider good LB's for the Big Ten and now on paper it looks like we've got a few of them. Brew said yesterday in his press conference that Cooper ran a 4.41 40 and Lawrence ran a 4.44 40. That is anything but the historical prototype Big Ten Linebacker (and that is a good thing). Brew said Cooper is up to 220 lbs which gets him pretty close to the size you need to hit the field at OLB (I feel an OLB should be at least 225 lbs). He has added 20 lbs and has plenty of time to add another 10 lbs. Campbell at MLB is closer to the historical prototype and we need a mix like that for going against spread teams and power running teams. Throw Triplett, Maresh, Tinsley and Reeves in to the mix and we have more talent at LB than we have had in the past and we can redshirt Singleton so that he can gain weight and get up to Big Ten playing size.
 

I agree. LB may be the strength of the 09 team. It seems like there is a very good mixture of size & speed but a bit short on the experience side. Once that comes we could have good depth as well.

Now let the games begin!!!
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
I agree. LB may be the strength of the 09 team. It seems like there is a very good mixture of size & speed but a bit short on the experience side. Once that comes we could have good depth as well.

Now let the games begin!!!
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Exactly. My only fear is that we're likely to only have three upper classmen (Campbell, Triplett, and Lawrence) in the two deep. Judging from the players discussed by Brewster in the press conference the other four will be Cooper, Reeves, Maresh and Tinsley which all hail from the 2008 recruiting class and two weren't on campus last fall. I guess I would rather have a talented frosh or soph than an untalented junior or senior but it remains to be seen how well they will make their reads and whether they're ready for Big Ten ball.
 

Reeves

Reeves is quite fleet of foot as well, correct? If he and cooper can be big enough, and Maresh healthy enough, we will have more than enough speed at LB.
 


balds said:
Reeves is quite fleet of foot as well, correct? If he and cooper can be big enough, and Maresh healthy enough, we will have more than enough speed at LB.
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Yes. Reeve's HS 40 time was about a tenth of a second behind Cooper. Considering they went to the same HS that should be a fairly reliable estimate for relative speed. If he is a 4.5 to 4.55 40 that is still a very good 40 time for a college OLB. Reeves is a little bigger than Cooper so a projected 2010 depth chart would probably have Reeves at SLB and Cooper at WLB with Maresh at MLB. The two deep would be Ryan Grant at SLB, Singleton at WLB and Tinsley at MLB. The 2010 recruits will fill in behind that (Zagzebski already committed, Edwards was recruited at RB but if that doesn't work he has ideal size [6-2 210 lbs--he'll add weight] & speed [sub 4.5 40] to play OLB).

At least that is the way I project it. We could still go get Juco help at LB next year to ease the transition of youth in to the two deep. It will probably depend upon whether the young guys look ready to contribute.
 

Everyone thinks of the linebackers in a 3-4

Hardly anyone thinks of the nose tackle. This has become the most difficult positon to find players to play. It demands the ability to stuff a double team, hold the point, and on occasion beat the doulble team. The more frequent the double team is beaten, the better the nose tackle. You must be quick, extremely strong, have excellent leverage, able to play low when needed, and have great hand and arm technique. Maybe some wrestling in your background.

Having two is a bonus. No one can take 55 snaps a game and be effective. When you mutiply that over 12 games you are well on your way to 700 a year. Now who fits that profile? The best are generally 6-2 to 6-4 and weigh close to 300. They squat 600 and bench 225 all day. Garrett Brown has been the most productive defensive tackle. And he gets my first shot. Second Eric Small, he gets snaps because he is a weight room leader. And the most God given talent that hopefully he is applying in the weight room, voluntary drills, film study. Sophmore Jewhan Edwards. Certainly we have 3 candidates, at the most critical position in the 3-4.
 

It's pretty much all there. Just hoping they bring it together this year. it's a steep learning curve we're asking of the young guys. But at least now we have decent upper classmen for them to emulate.
 

husker70 said:
Hardly anyone thinks of the nose tackle. This has become the most difficult positon to find players to play. It demands the ability to stuff a double team, hold the point, and on occasion beat the doulble team. The more frequent the double team is beaten, the better the nose tackle. You must be quick, extremely strong, have excellent leverage, able to play low when needed, and have great hand and arm technique. Maybe some wrestling in your background.

Having two is a bonus. No one can take 55 snaps a game and be effective. When you mutiply that over 12 games you are well on your way to 700 a year. Now who fits that profile? The best are generally 6-2 to 6-4 and weigh close to 300. They squat 600 and bench 225 all day. Garrett Brown has been the most productive defensive tackle. And he gets my first shot. Second Eric Small, he gets snaps because he is a weight room leader. And the most God given talent that hopefully he is applying in the weight room, voluntary drills, film study. Sophmore Jewhan Edwards. Certainly we have 3 candidates, at the most critical position in the 3-4.
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I for one haven't forgotten the DT's. Speedy LB's are great but if the guard gets to the second level the LB's don't move very fast. I would add Kirkesy to your list but he is probably better in a 4-3 than a 3-4. Hopefully Jacques and Searcy are studs in waiting too but I definitely think we need to add some talent there in the 2010 class.
 



I think our personel is best suited for a 4-3. We have 4 decent tackles and our 2 starters have improved greatly every year so they may turn out to be very good. Plus the 2 sophs have a ton of talent
 

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