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An almost entirely new LB room for '26?

skyman said:
Busch film looks good, seems to have good ready size and closing speed in box but I dont think since Mario been here we have gotten a young LB ready for immediate PT, when is last time we had a true freshman LB start out gate? Quarterman crew out of necessity?

Need to hit portal HARD but we havent done well at that spot, might have to tamper big time, Cal LB #0 wanna come across country hopefully?

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Has a lot of pop in his body and understands angles/leverage. His highlights show him playing through traffic pretty well.

I'm always a fan of taking "football players" and he seems to be one of those. From the way he strikes to how he can play multiple positions, he seems like a guy who has limited bust potential.

His highlights don't do anything to assure me of his fluidity in space. He has a couple plays that make me think he's a little stiff, so he could definitely end up limited to the inside or even drop down to the standup edge rusher position (as discussed by others).

I would compare him to a Zach McCloud with a little less pop.
 
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Cane44 said:
I only want one really solid vet LB from the portal... reason being, we HAVE to allow our highly ranked recruits to get PT at some point, or they will never develop.... Measurable's: Wiley and Busch have the size already and seem to be faster LB's as well.... Popo has the most experience now, but I just don't see the speed I'd like from him, but it's not a deal breaker for him.... the rest just don't seem to have the size/weight yet... noDiddy.....
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i completely agree let the highly ranked kids get a chance to play and develop why even recruit them if you dont
 
LuCane said:
Outgoing:

Chase Smith - super senior, presumably gone (heard the thing about another medical shirt)
Adarius Hayes - legal issues, presumably gone
Wes Bissainthe - Senior, played 4 years, would have to somehow apply to return
Jay Alderman - RS Senior, presumably gone
Mo Toure - Grad Student, presumably gone

Possibly returning:

Malik Bryant - has eligibility, but more of a standup End, it seems, has struggled in space
Popo Aguirre - will presumably be part of the rotation
Cam Pruitt - hybrid player, more of a Safety this season
Kellen Wiley - would have loved to see more snaps, will presumably be part of next year's rotation
Kamal Bonner - don't know much about him other than he stood completely still on a TD play
Ezekiel Marcelin - haven't seen him enough; unproven and untested
Bobby Washington* - didn't originally list him because had heard his injury was serious and no idea what that means going forward

Incoming:

Jordan Campbell - highly rated, but may fall into the Malik Bryant stand up Edge player role or even a clearcut DE
Justin Edwards - needs weight
Karsten Busch - people like him, I don't know much about him; the limited stuff I did see didn't look as fluid (sideline to sideline) as I'd hoped, but maybe more of an inside thumper player; would need to see more.

Now, this isn't how I make a living, but if I'm looking at that situation, I'm requesting a bigger budget asap. Next year's defense may be above average to elite at DL and DB - with a couple additions in both. I hope we don't find ourselves with a "the LB position kept us from what we could be" situation.

*I'm sure I missed some stuff. Here for the discussion.
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Definitely need at least one portal LB. Others might disagree, but would feel good if Chase Smith were able to return.
 
Dwinstitles said:
This

If he isn’t we are in deep trouble
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If he isn’t I would expect to be even more aggressive in the portal. Even if he is the staff has shown to be aggressive addressing a need. Even after we got Brantley and o’Connor they got Lucas and the guys in the spring.
 
Thankfully in this era of college football... we have the portal to immediately fill holes.
I think we'll get at least 2 LB's this cycle.

We better not miss on them either. They need to be legit starters.
 
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LuCane said:
Eh, a couple things. They didn't look great this year in certain spots. Namely, flowing into the C and the alley, and in coverage. Had multiple holes doing all of the above. Even some outright busts.

Scott and Thomas cleaned up quite a bit in the run game. I love that Hetherman creatively dropped Safeties or sent run blitzes to the C and to seal the edge, but that begins to open yourself up to counters and getting smoked down the seams (which then requires LB range, as you mentioned).

I think we need a couple LBs who play better in space. Those are expensive, so I pray for at least one.
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Again, you just explained what I said in detail. This is an attacking gap defense that lets the safeties flow and make plays. The ends are on an island outside. Their job is to contain and sometimes they lose it crashing down, but they make a lot of plays crashing. The safeties are used to clean things up. When we get gashed up the middle, it’s because they show our linebackers some eye candy to get them flowing out of their gaps. And bring a blocker to the next level after they double our DTs. We don’t do a whole bunch of scraping for the LBs to run sideline to sideline it seems because we are playing sound gap defense. But that is why we have such great run defense because the LBs do their jobs of taking on blocks and shedding and getting up the gaps and attacking. And let the safeties and star clean up. What surprised me was how good we are on the back end! Our corner play has been great! And the secondary as a whole has balled out.
 
What about this guy?
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Id expect Popo to be one of the starters, I think his experience likely puts him in line to be 'calling' the defense in the middle. Kellen Wiley as the other starter, I think his traits are too good to keep off the field.

I think that duo would be pretty good but the depth gets scary quick.
 
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Popo Wiley and Washington is perfectly fine with me but Pete said we’re going after two LBs in the portal which makes sense. Assuming 1 will be starter caliber plus any combo of Popo, Wiley, Washington, *Chase Smith (if he can get another year ) and that’s a scary group for offenses to have to deal with.
 
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