All Things AU Linebacker thread

[cole256 17,084]

Make fun of Mikey if you want but one thing about it he hasn't been proven wrong by play on the field

[kd4au 1,145]

Okay, first off, a lot of Whitehead biting on the play action was likely predicated upon the fact that Arkansas is a power run team that had not proven any ability to throw the ball, not to mention the way they were gashing us for yardage in the first half.

However, after watching the replay (was in JHS, so didn't see it on TV live), Kris is definitely going to have to step up, or he's going to be benched. He has all the tools necessary, but he might simply lack the drive to meet his potential. I expect to see a lot more of Williams and Swain this week anyway because we're playing San Jose, but if Frost doesn't get his act together, he's going to lose his spot.

Let us hope that it was all first game jitters, and he'll be playing up to par by the time we hit Manhattan.

He looks absolutely lost and timid out there. I really hate to compare the two but watching him reminds me of Holland. I'm not just saying that because he isn't getting the job done, they really do look similar to me.

Frost looks like what he is a WR playing LB.He does not have the LB mentality.

[ellitor 33,114]

Make fun of Mikey if you want but one thing about it he hasn't been proven wrong by play on the field

Ain't that the truth!

SHHHH!! Be very, very quiet. Don't tell Mikey I agreed. lol

[AUEngineer2016 407]

I think Whitehead played every defensive snap. Is he that irreplaceable on D or do we just not trust his backup? He had the game-changing play when Therezie rocked the QB. He must be our most trusted DB.

Per Coach Johnson's words, while he does not make the most noise JW is the most consistent player on defense and one of the team leaders.

He is virtually the captain of the secondary. He will not come out much barring injury.

I believe they're right that he is definitely the captain on D. You can see it in the pre-snap alignment. JW is all over the place directing traffic, getting people in the right spots. That leads me to what is most confusing and frustrating on D from JW, and that is that on many plays, he appeared that he didn't know where he was supposed to be. On the 2nd passing TD Arkansas had, he was in man coverage on the TE. Right before the pass was thrown, JW pulled up, almost as if he thought that he had help over the top. He didn't. TE made my an easy catch and our defense looks anemic.

Watch the play again. JW made a mistake on it. It had nothing to do with thinking he had help over the top. What happened was it was a play action pass and JW hesitated on the run fake (which he should not have done) because at that point Arky was shoving their stuff down our throats and making us like it.

Went back and watched it. You're exactly right. I had forgotten that it was a play action. Again, you're right, whitehead shouldn't have bitten on the fake. Hindsight is. 20/20 however. My only point was that in the. 1st half he appeared to be unsettled, almost like he was trying to focus I too many things. (Those of you who have played golf know exactly what I'm talking about). In the 2nd half he seemed to have a much Bette grip on things and was able to direct traffic as well as make his own plays. JW really turned it on after the half, kudos to him for being able to bounce back mentally and finish strong despite a poor first half performance.

[cole256 17,084]

Make fun of Mikey if you want but one thing about it he hasn't been proven wrong by play on the field

Ain't that the truth!

SHHHH!! Be very, very quiet. Don't tell Mikey I agreed. lol

Lol. I can't believe I agreed myself

[1TexasTiger 55]

Make fun of Mikey if you want but one thing about it he hasn't been proven wrong by play on the field

I would agree with Mikey in our need for more quality LB's but not with more quantity LB's. We need more Safeties and hybrid LB/Safeties. Quality can come from growth and production from current players.

[ellitor 33,114]

Make fun of Mikey if you want but one thing about it he hasn't been proven wrong by play on the field

I would agree with Mikey in our need for more quality LB's but not with more quantity LB's. We need more Safeties and hybrid LB/Safeties. Quality can come from growth and production from current players.

Mikey's whole point with quantity is you need to sign a number of high quality LB recruits to increase your chance of having SEC caliber LBs. Not every highly ranked kid will pan out as an SEC caliber LB.

[gravejd 3,270]

Its a balancing act. Would we all love to sign 5-6 LBs this year so we are sure to be covered at that position? Sure we would. But what other position are you willing to sacrifice so you can sign so many LBs? Safeties, DBs, and DL are just as important. So we just gotta hope that the staff starts hitting on some of the new guys they are bringing in and that the guys that are here start stepping up.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Make fun of Mikey if you want but one thing about it he hasn't been proven wrong by play on the field

I would agree with Mikey in our need for more quality LB's but not with more quantity LB's. We need more Safeties and hybrid LB/Safeties. Quality can come from growth and production from current players.

Mikey's whole point with quantity is you need to sign a number of high quality LB recruits to increase your chance of having SEC caliber LBs. Not every highly ranked kid will pan out as an SEC caliber LB.

I feel that way about QBs, so I agree with Mikey's point about LBs. The only thing that I have disagreed with Mikey about is when he says that the LBs who have already been on the field are not capable of all-SEC caliber play. I very rarely believe that a player is incapable of quality play as long as he's still got a shot to prove otherwise. I think McKinzy is already developing into a beast and I hold out hope for Frost.

[ellitor 33,114]

Its a balancing act. Would we all love to sign 5-6 LBs this year so we are sure to be covered at that position? Sure we would. But what other position are you willing to sacrifice so you can sign so many LBs? Safeties, DBs, and DL are just as important. So we just gotta hope that the staff starts hitting on some of the new guys they are bringing in and that the guys that are here start stepping up.

1. Mikey has never said 5-6. He's always said 3-4, preferably 4. 2. There is no sacrificing other positions to sign another LB or 2. We can sign 28 in this class. When the staff fills all their other positional wants there will still be 3 or 4 open slots. Plenty of room to sign another LB or 2 if they want.

[Rednilla 5,396]

Its a balancing act. Would we all love to sign 5-6 LBs this year so we are sure to be covered at that position? Sure we would. But what other position are you willing to sacrifice so you can sign so many LBs? Safeties, DBs, and DL are just as important. So we just gotta hope that the staff starts hitting on some of the new guys they are bringing in and that the guys that are here start stepping up.

1. Mikey has never said 5-6. He's always said 3-4, preferably 4. 2. There is no sacrificing other positions to sign another LB or 2. We can sign 28 in this class. When the staff fills all their other positional wants there will still be 3 or 4 open slots. Plenty of room to sign another LB or 2 if they want.

That's not true, ell. For a long time he argued that the Star was still a linebacker, and I know I remember him saying 'at least 4-5' before. I think it was in this very thread that he made a quip about how if it was okay to go after two players for the Star position, why wouldn't it be okay to go after 4 for linebacker.

However, the biggest problem I've had with the way he talked about the linebackers in the past is how he dismissed the players on the roster as crap and not worth anything. That is why he was always so adamant about signing two per position. I've cited numbers of LBs on scholarship and what it would do to the overall scholarship numbers if we followed his thoughts, and I'm not sure he ever acknowledged it.

Now, 3 to 4 I can live with, and even agree would be a good number to shoot for...but it still doesn't make up for the insinuations about the potential of the linebackers on the roster. Cass McKinzy, for example, IS an All-SEC caliber player, despite the admonitions Mikey had about the entire unit preseason of last year, and we still have a couple of other guys who have unmet potential behind him. Anthony Swain has made some plays, and I don't know that he shouldn't be the one to take Frost's place if Kris doesn't step up his game. Then behind him, we've still got Williams, Toney, Davis, Mitchell, etc.

So it's not like we don't have talent there, even if I do wish we'd been able to sign a third LB last year.

[ellitor 33,114]

I know Mikey includes star as a LB. That was not even apart of what I was relaying at all.

Bottom line is we have no LBs that have played so far to have high quality SEC play in them to this point. Cass has shown flashes but his mental lapses and lack of having a consistent high motor makes him an overall above average LB at best with the potential to be a lot more. Unfortunately Frosty has never been more than mediocre at best and he was not even that Saturday. Definite 5* bust to this point for sure. I have a lot of hope for Tre but he will not be able to do it all by himself. I hope he gets to play versus San Jose.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Bottom line is we have no LBs that have played so far to have high quality SEC play in them to this point. Cass has shown flashes but his mental lapses and lack of having a consistent high motor makes him an overall above average LB at best

That's veeeeeeery debatable.

[gravejd 3,270]

E, 1. Mikey includes star as a LB and wants to sign 2 at each position. So that makes 6 right? Or have I misunderstood something? 2. We can only sign 28 players so we can't sign 2 at every position. So there has to be a give and take here. We could also use some more DL with all we have graduating. Can't sign 8 DL and 6 LBs in this class. So you have to hope you hit on the guys you get. That's all my post was meant to say and I don't think see why you would attempt to correct/argue that statement. Or whatever our reply was meant to do...

[ellitor 33,114]

E, 1. Mikey includes star as a LB and wants to sign 2 at each position. So that makes 6 right? Or have I misunderstood something? 2. We can only sign 28 players so we can't sign 2 at every position. So there has to be a give and take here. We could also use some more DL with all we have graduating. Can't sign 8 DL and 6 LBs in this class. So you have to hope you hit on the guys you get. That's all my post was meant to say and I don't think see why you would attempt to correct/argue that statement. Or whatever our reply was meant to do...

The staff is not planning on signing 8 DLs. The plan is 4 to 5. We can sign 2 at each LB ands star position. Remember we already have 2 LB commits and 2 star commits in this class. It ain't much more to sign 1 or 2 more LBs. I don't agree with Mikey in counting stars as LBs since Cheese is the ones who coach them but if someone were to count LBs and Stars together then 5-6 is not far fetched at all.

[Mikey 16,714]

I aim to please, but it's hard to hit a moving target. When y'all kept insisting that Star is not a LB, I changed my number from 4-5 to 3-4. I never really went to "two per position" until Star was taken out of it and that left 2 LB positions, for a max of four. I hope that clears the numbers up.

We have no linebacker currently on the team that has had one game where he was named anything like "SEC Defensive Player of the Week". I don't think we've even had one perform to the level of getting consideration for such an award. I think Tre Williams is the LB most likely to win such an award and that's at some point in the future. DeShaun Davis, assuming he completely recovers from his injury, might be second most likely.

Some of the players that "hopefully will develop" are third and fourth year juniors. It's time for those guys to put up or shut up.

So yes, we need to sign three to four top LB prospects until the position is properly stocked and I'm not that far off from the staff. We already have two "LB only" commits this year in Williams and McBryde and are still in pursuit of others. If someone wants to go back and count Star/Lb prospects in as a LB spot, then we're at five already with Colbert, Atkinson and Sullivan added to the above two. It's clear the staff agrees that we need more LB type players.

[AU Is Gold 410]

I aim to please, but it's hard to hit a moving target. When y'all kept insisting that Star is not a LB, I changed my number from 4-5 to 3-4. I never really went to "two per position" until Star was taken out of it and that left 2 LB positions, for a max of four. I hope that clears the numbers up.

We have no linebacker currently on the team that has had one game where he was named anything like "SEC Defensive Player of the Week". I don't think we've even had one perform to the level of getting consideration for such an award. I think Tre Williams is the LB most likely to win such an award and that's at some point in the future. DeShaun Davis, assuming he completely recovers from his injury, might be second most likely.

Some of the players that "hopefully will develop" are third and fourth year juniors. It's time for those guys to put up or shut up.

So yes, we need to sign three to four top LB prospects until the position is properly stocked and I'm not that far off from the staff. We already have two "LB only" commits this year in Williams and McBryde and are still in pursuit of others. If someone wants to go back and count Star/Lb prospects in as a LB spot, then we're at five already with Colbert, Atkinson and Sullivan added to the above two. It's clear the staff agrees that we need more LB type players.

I'm calling it! I say either Therezie, Garrett, or Mckinzy win a defensive player of the week. Mikey, I hope you cheer for my victory!

[ellitor 33,114]

I aim to please, but it's hard to hit a moving target. When y'all kept insisting that Star is not a LB, I changed my number from 4-5 to 3-4. I never really went to "two per position" until Star was taken out of it and that left 2 LB positions, for a max of four. I hope that clears the numbers up.

We have no linebacker currently on the team that has had one game where he was named anything like "SEC Defensive Player of the Week". I don't think we've even had one perform to the level of getting consideration for such an award. I think Tre Williams is the LB most likely to win such an award and that's at some point in the future. DeShaun Davis, assuming he completely recovers from his injury, might be second most likely.

Some of the players that "hopefully will develop" are third and fourth year juniors. It's time for those guys to put up or shut up.

So yes, we need to sign three to four top LB prospects until the position is properly stocked and I'm not that far off from the staff. We already have two "LB only" commits this year in Williams and McBryde and are still in pursuit of others. If someone wants to go back and count Star/Lb prospects in as a LB spot, then we're at five already with Colbert, Atkinson and Sullivan added to the above two. It's clear the staff agrees that we need more LB type players.

Obviously things can change when players get on campus but as of now Colbert is recruited at boundary safety. I agrre with the rest though.

[ellitor 33,114]

I'm calling it! I say either Therezie, Garrett, or Mckinzy win a defensive player of the week. Mikey, I hope you cheer for my victory!

I could have sworn Therezie won that award once or twive last season?

[chimesAU 89]

I'm calling it! I say either Therezie, Garrett, or Mckinzy win a defensive player of the week. Mikey, I hope you cheer for my victory!

I could have sworn Therezie won that award once or twive last season?

Are we really counting Cadillac as a LB?

[ellitor 33,114]

I'm calling it! I say either Therezie, Garrett, or Mckinzy win a defensive player of the week. Mikey, I hope you cheer for my victory!

I could have sworn Therezie won that award once or twive last season?

Are we really counting Cadillac as a LB?

Looks like Gold is. I was just replying that RT had already won a DPOW award.

[PDub 211]

I think CEJ and CGM explained it pretty well. Ellis said "we didn't have a very physical camp" that's a huge deal and something I'm glad didn't completely kill our first game; and Gus said they ran a few things we weren't ready for. The real deal is that they had 61 yards and 0 points in the second half. I'll reserve full on judgement until after K-State but I like what I saw on both sides of the ball and agree with the coaches comments from camp, "we're miles ahead of where we were this time last year"

Can you link to where he said this, please? I've already asked two others and so far the answers are nothing but hearsay. Nobody can say exactly when and where Ellis said we had didn't have a physical camp. To my thinking had a "soft" camp been the problem, a halftime talkin' to wouldn't have helped.

CEJ said this during the post game interview on the radio network iirc

[chimesAU 89]

I'm calling it! I say either Therezie, Garrett, or Mckinzy win a defensive player of the week. Mikey, I hope you cheer for my victory!

I could have sworn Therezie won that award once or twive last season?

Are we really counting Cadillac as a LB?

Looks like Gold is. I was just replying that RT had already won a DPOW award.

I just don't look at RT and think "linebacker"...

[AU Is Gold 410]

I'm calling it! I say either Therezie, Garrett, or Mckinzy win a defensive player of the week. Mikey, I hope you cheer for my victory!

I could have sworn Therezie won that award once or twive last season?

Are we really counting Cadillac as a LB?

Looks like Gold is. I was just replying that RT had already won a DPOW award.

I just don't look at RT and think "linebacker"...

To be fair, I wouldn't look at Therezie and think linebacker either. But the guy has those linebacker instincts. I thought the star was basically a linebacker with a defensive back's body and speed. At least that's how I always looked at it.

[Mikey 16,714]

I'm calling it! I say either Therezie, Garrett, or Mckinzy win a defensive player of the week. Mikey, I hope you cheer for my victory!

Nope. I've been informed by those who know such things that Star is NOT a linebacker position. ("Why, Star even has different coaches") Of Course Therezie, and possibly Garrett in the future, might win such an award but they are not linebackers! If you don't believe me, just ask those who know.

I should amend my statement to " current linebacker". Therezie, Garrett or Moncrief, to name just three, could conceivably be moved to LB and that would change things. I don't think Mckinzy ever wins such an award, but I hope he does. I'm still thinking Tre Williams and D. Davis are the best bets among current linebackers to be award winners.