6'2 230, 6'0 222, 6'1 215 isn't a huge starting LB corps by any means but not tiny.
I agree with the secondary. They aren't big (with the exception of a few good sized back ups).
Week 1 Depth Chart - UNI
- Thread starter danielyp29
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I agree with the secondary. They aren't big (with the exception of a few good sized back ups).
Not sure if the first one is entirely serious, but I agree with the second one. Garcia is a great story and I would love for him to have a great senior year like that.
I did not realize that Lima is only a sophomore. Having three years of that big body, assuming he is healthy but opposed to two, feels all the nicer for the future.
As a whole. Look at 2nd string. Players under 200 lbs have no business playing linebacker at the collegiate level.
You can't just make a blanket statement like that. It's reasonable to assume that Austin would only be used in situations like 3rd and very long or similar scenarios....as such, his weight is pretty much irrelevant. They aren't going to plug him in at LB in short to medium yardage situations.
As for the other LB's, they are mostly par for the course size wise when compared to other conference LB corps.
Reading between the lines; it's also a coach's way of telling the scholarship players at that position to work harder.
I see a roster that is developing size, depth, and flexibility at most of its positional groupings that was frankly not there in previous seasons. Injuries are going to happen in this sport, and many of them in the past absolutely killed us. Losing Jake Campos last year hurt badly, but we have more options on the line this year. Losing a Kene Nwangwu would have been horrible in past seasons, but now we can roll with Warren, Montgomery, and Lang and give him a year to get healthy and come back even stronger than before. That is nice to have.
I see that at most positions, but not linebacker yet. I like our starters, but the size, likely talent, and experience behind them is not the most assuring. That is before we account for the fact one of our most important guys has never played the position at this level. I would have to think we will be in nickel a lot or some 4-2-1-4 with the "star" guy in there a lot, if only to reduce the snap counts and try to avoid injury on the few Big 12 linebackers that we have. Losing Park would be the worst, but we do not have a ton of options if Lanning or Harvey goes down.
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The "Star" will see plenty of action in our track meets against Tech & Okie State. Also whenever facing two minute drills and other obvious passing situations.
Trends are cyclical. We especially need to try and play "large" in a 4-3 base for our non conference slate. Then you have Baylor transitioning back to power football. Kansas State & OU can play smashmouth as well. The Big 12 isn't as pass-happy nowadays.
I agree with all of that...we are definitely still quite thin at Linebacker. I think if we have a major injury you may see an RS come off Hummel or Vance....hope that doesn't happen though. What I don't think would happen, is an effort to just plug Austin in for Harvey if he were to have an injury. We must keep our QB and our LB's relatively healthy if we want to have a nice season...no small task in the Big 12.
Did a quick weight comparison from last year's UNI depth chart (or 2016 roster if player wasn't on depth chart). Excluded new faces.
Nice to see Park, Warren, Butler and the tackles add weight. TE's have slimmed down. I don't know what to think about the defense. Uwazurike pulled an Adam Shaheen apparently.
Nice to see Park, Warren, Butler and the tackles add weight. TE's have slimmed down. I don't know what to think about the defense. Uwazurike pulled an Adam Shaheen apparently.
If you take a look at the career games played list on the right, we have what looks to be a somewhat experienced backup in Jack Spreen, as well. I agree we need to keep the starters healthy, but it's doubtful the two freshmen will see the field this year. Especially since we haven't heard their names mentioned by the coaches at all. It's unfortunate because I was pumped to hear about those two.
Ok, since I'm getting some hate on my post.
Bailey: True Soph who was documented as having poor practice habits last year
Benton: Walk-on who showed promise
Waggoner: Started one game last year
Trent: Started four games last year
Harvey: Was a beast last year, I will concede that
Northrup: Got unseated by a RS Soph who has never really played
This is where my "Can't completely trust them yet" is coming from
Harvey was not a beast, he was subpar LB against the run. He did blitz well.
I get where you are coming from. Just think a few points can be refuted.
JD Waggoner had 22 tackles in 11 games in 2015 and was on his way to a decent year in 2016 (12 tackles in almost 5 games) before season ending injury. He's played a decent amount of football. He's a high motor guy who does the little things.
Vernell Trent hasn't been the most productive guy but has played a lot of football for ISU. He's also somebody that definitely was forced to play too early so it's almost a bit unfair to him. Sounds like he's made strides this offseason.
JaQuan Bailey had a pretty solid true freshman year and by all accounts should be quite good this year. The coaches have stated that he has bought in, which is big.
Spencer Benton is another solid guy who played a bunch last year that while he won't make the highlight-reel plays, he will play sound, assignment football.
Reggan Northrup has 82 tackles in his first two seasons of playing time, so if somebody him out I don't see how that's a negative. He's already played a lot of football for ISU.
I'm not saying there is a ton of experience or All-conference caliber guys in that front 7 (there isn't right now), but there are a few building blocks for the staff to add the newcomers around.
What I got out of this depth chart is we're going to win a lot of games if we can put 12 men on the field on both sides of the ball. I hope the refs aren't watching too closely.
He was team lead for tackles, wasn't he?
Edit: tied for team lead and was also HM All Big 12...
