Spring Preview: Linebackers

YJMD

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It's a thin group that not many are super high on. But the coaching staff feels more confident, and we haven't seen quite the same recruiting emphasis on LBs that we have for the lines. Part of this is playing a base nickel and having more hybrid safety/LB types not included in this analysis.

But my hope is what the article points out about DL play being accurate, and we're better off at LB than it appears. Some of the issues noted were also depth in zone coverage, although I wonder if some of that was attempting to compensate for vulnerabilities on draws, scrambles, RPOs, etc. The DL figures to be significantly improved, so I'm excited to see what's up there.

BJS is moving to RB. He was a high prospect there out of HS, but the position is loaded. Sadly I see high transfer potential, especially coming off foot injury. He does have a RS year to burn if needed. He had the most trouble with positioning of the LBs and maybe just isn't instinctual there the way you need.

Hopefully Knight can break out. Awesome athleticism. If the DL really is significantly better, he'll have a chance to show it off even more.

Howard is interesting to me. He seemingly is the odd man out at RB, but he's got the experience and complete skill set that I'd really miss him on 3rd down and as the guy to step up after injury. Probably could move back over to RB easily enough if needed.

Freshmen I'm not sure. None had jumped out to me as being ready to play at this level, but some people mature a lot by game time, especially physically.
 

Deleted member 2897

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Swilling moving to RB, Howard moving to LB. I'm not confident those 2 will pan out. I feel bad for both. Jahmyr Gibbs, Jamious Griffin, Jordan Mason...
 

RyanS12

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Well that's an interesting move considering...
Yea. Thought the same. He was pretty highly regarded as a RB in HS. Hopefully he takes the year off, let’s his foot recover and gets his body in to shape for that position. With Mason graduating next year and more than likely a transfer at that position he could fill a void. Or transfer.....
 

Gtech50

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Im worried about LB depth.. we were thin last year and will be again this year too. Im hopeful of major improvement on the DL but we need the LB group to be solid or the D will struggle again. Hopefully Meiguez and Franks can develop quickly or we can get a transfer after Spring practice.
 

RyanS12

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Im worried about LB depth.. we were thin last year and will be again this year too. Im hopeful of major improvement on the DL but we need the LB group to be solid or the D will struggle again. Hopefully Meiguez and Franks can develop quickly or we can get a transfer after Spring practice.
It’s technically not insider info so I’ll say it here. I saw a post on another site stating the Quez Jackson has taking anything GT related down on his IG and Twitter accounts. I’m not saying it’s something but it could be something. I don’t put too much into 18-22 year olds social media accounts but you know....
So there could be more depth issues at the position
 

yeti92

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It’s technically not insider info so I’ll say it here. I saw a post on another site stating the Quez Jackson has taking anything GT related down on his IG and Twitter accounts. I’m not saying it’s something but it could be something. I don’t put too much into 18-22 year olds social media accounts but you know....
So there could be more depth issues at the position
Well his picture on ig is still of him in a GT uniform, and a good portion of his posts are from Tech game highlights and stuff. He played in every game the past two years so you would figure he'd be heavily in the mix again this season, so it seems off that he would want to leave.
 

RyanS12

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Well his picture on ig is still of him in a GT uniform, and a good portion of his posts are from Tech game highlights and stuff. He played in every game the past two years so you would figure he'd be heavily in the mix again this season, so it seems off that he would want to leave.
Good. Hope he stays! The kid can play.
I haven’t looked at his accounts personally, just passing along what I read on the other site.
 

slugboy

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Maybe we’ll play some fullback this year
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Jerry the Jacket

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Since we only play 2 linebackers, depth here should be limited to 5 or 6 at the most. That's about where we are at. The issue is that we really do not have any outstanding talent on the current roster. Curry is a solid player and gives it everything he has and I am hopeful that he will have a super season in this his fifth year. I think he is the leader at the position. Here is how I would rank the posititon:

1) Curry
2) Thomas
3) Jackson
4) Knight
5) Evans
6) Howard

The 3 freshmen will most likely redshirt although there is a real need here if any of them can show a breakout type performance in the off season.

I think the Jordan-Swilling / Howard experiment is just that. Both are great athletes but not great football players. It doesn't hurt to take a look at them at a new position. Maybe one will strike gold. If not I would look for one or both to transfer or continue to be just an occasional type player. Howard is a good special teams player so that might end up being his home.

If I were the coaches, I would look at moving Chico Bennet, J. Henderson or J. Dominek to linebacker. These guys are undersized for the D Line but could be right sized for the linebacker position. We really have to have some significant improvement in this position group if we hope to be a competitive ACC defense.

Go Jackets
 

InsideLB

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Like the Howard and BJS experiments. Howard surprised on STs and may surprise at LB. BJS might just be a natural RB and will somewhat know the position from HS.

And you never know. Get a big rash of injuries and the position flexibility may be key.

Article was good in that it pointed out just how critical the DL is to the LBs. Position is so much easier with disruptive DL. You can run wild unblocked and make plays galore.
 
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