curtis jacobs

Previously: Quarterback, Running Back, Receivers, Offensive Line, Defensive Line

Five down, two to go on this year's The Enemy, Ranked. We've covered both lines and all the skill position players on offense, which means it's time to hit linebacker before concluding later this week with secondary. For linebackers in this piece, we will mostly be looking at two starters for each team, MIKE and WILL, only including SAM in the table for teams that actually use a SAM consistently, while others may have a player occupying that job quickly shouted out in the write-up. 

12. East Carolina 

Funny enough, the first team we cover in today's piece is one of the few where I'm listing a SLB in the chart, due to ECU's 3-3-5 defense. Sometimes one of those LBs is an EDGE (which were covered last time), sometimes it's a standard LB, hence the inclusion of a third column above. Like so many other spots on ECU's team, the depth chart is decimated after a wave of attrition following the 2022 season. The plan to plug the gaping holes on the LB depth chart is a mix of internal promotion of seldom used pieces, up-transfers from the FCS, and one down-transfer from the P5, and that reality is why the Pirates are taking up the rear of this piece. 

At the starting level, I tentatively have two internal promotions holding off the two FCS transfers, but I don't think it's conclusive. Treylor Jackson is the one returner who has played more than 100 snaps and that was still only 146 last season as the #4 LB on the depth chart. Mike Edwards III has mostly been used on special teams through his first two seasons in Greenville, so this will be his first substantial go of things if he is to win a starting job. The players pushing them from behind were two excellent FCS LBs, BJ Davis from South Carolina State and TyQuan King from North Carolina A&T. They were very good players at a lower level of football... how do they translate upwards? That SAM spot is held down by the down-transferring and excellently named RaRa Dillworth, who was a disaster at UNC but hopefully can find his footing at ECU. He was a blue chip prospect in 2021, so there is some hope at least, but he is yet another shaky piece on a depth chart entirely composed of unknown commodities. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: an actually solid positional group!]