Who will the 2016 linebackers be?

Submitted by Skunkbearcat on

After today's game, a lot of people have been commenting that our linebackers were too slow, couldn't tackle, and couldn't keep pace/do anything against the physical Ohio State defensive front. We have a bunch of senior Hoke guys that graduate. Who is going to replace them, and are they going to be any better?

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schreibee

November 28th, 2015 at 10:18 PM ^

Clark had very solid, almost great coverge on the TD pass in 2nd Q. Pass coverage gets much better when QBs are under duress (Hackenburg)..

Barrett had the D on its heels the entire game. No push up front (missing proper NT played a role), DE taking poor angles or simply being too slow to direct runners into tacklers, LBs missing the tackles when they did.

There was a play when the game was still very much in doubt wherre we had Elliott trapped for a 8-10 yd loss on a pitch play or sweep - he just ran around or broke the tackle attempts. It was symbolic of the entire game because the D couldn't make the plays it needed to get off the field.

That was the superiority of their athetes pure and simple - Barrett & Elliott are simply faster or have better balance and power than our tacklers.

As those defending the coaches in these threads have pointed out - you can only coach guys to be in the right place - you can't make the tackle for them!

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alum96

November 28th, 2015 at 9:05 PM ^

I think Clark has been a plus player this year as a full time starter and with that experience and maturation will only come back better.  CB is a position where just playing and getting so many reps helps.  He seems to have passed Stribling this year.

Lewis & Clark (woo!) are a good pair of corners to have.

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YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

November 28th, 2015 at 9:04 PM ^

Perhaps we hit a three-run homer with recruits. In all likelihood, Gedeon and McCray are the de facto starters in the middle unless Furbush or frosh beat them out. Marshall and Reuben will fight for the Buck. With the Dline pummeling folks early, hopefully these new guys can get their footing before tough B1G play.

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Football Heaven

November 28th, 2015 at 9:13 PM ^

Thinking Furbush and Gedeon are likely.  Hopefully we get Bush and or Jackson as they both have potential to be day one starters.  I know Viramontes is listed as a QB, but also is a HS linebacker...any possibility there?

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Michology 101

November 28th, 2015 at 9:14 PM ^

Our Dline covered up for our weak LBs for most of this year until injuries occurred. Our Dline should be stronger with more depth next year. If the Dline stays healthy... maybe they can cover the LBs for a whole year. Though I hope we'll have good LB play and not have to rely on the Dline to hide a bad weakness.

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A Fan In Fargo

November 28th, 2015 at 11:45 PM ^

that would be a scary 5 man front. Lawrence Marshall gets his head out of his ass and developes into the deadliest buck backer known to mankind. The guy looks like it just maybe needs to get his head right? Gary at the other end. Mone, Hurst and Glasgow plugging the middle. Scary. Are Henry and Wormley done then or what?

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Danwillhor

November 28th, 2015 at 9:33 PM ^

bulk up Smith if we don't have a clear option at FB. Solid speed for a FB, would be solid on the FB dives/traps, likes contact, great in pass-pro, decent hands. Only issue is he's currently about 225 (?)....230? We'd need to get him up to a HEALTHY, solid 250-260+.

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mgoDAB

November 28th, 2015 at 9:36 PM ^

If we get good play out of Higdon, hit a homerun with our recruits (i.e. Walker commits and is a beast right away), Green and/or Isaac start playing to expectations coming out of high school, Jabrill gets switched to full time offense, or any combination, we could easily benefit from having Smith take Sione's role as a FB/short-yardage back.



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RobM_24

November 28th, 2015 at 9:22 PM ^

I'm not suggesting that they will be LBs, but I don't see any possibility that Smith/Green/Isaac all stay at halfback (if they all return to UM).

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Mevo

November 28th, 2015 at 10:19 PM ^

I heard Brian Cole was switched to safety which I thought was a great move since I saw him play extensively in high school and fet this was better suited to play defense in college.  He is a legit 6'2" and already weighs 210lbs.  Heck, he might be a candidate to play linebacker if he could get in that 220-225 range.  It would be nice to have a linebacker that has legit 4.4 speed....we are missing a flat out stud athlete at linebacker.

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