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2027 Kaden Henderson 5* LB from Tampa Jesuit

shumbly33 said:
Fred Warner - 3 star - 86
Jack Campbell - 3 star #119 ILB prospect
Devin Lloyd - 3 star #134 OLB
Devin Bush - 4 star #279 nationally
Zack Baun - 3 star #1039 nationally
Demario Davis - 3 Star
Bobby Wagner - 2 star
Cedric Gray - 3 star #810 nationally
Nick Bolton - 3 star #89 ILB Prospect
Tyrice Knight - 2 star on the composite

I just pulled the top 10 pff linebackers in 2025, and googled their recruiting rankings, so I would say you are 100% correct. The only one of the top 10 that was a blue chip was Devin Bush.
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Wow, Carson schwesinger unranked out of highschool .DROY.
 
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LB is the hardest position to project (on defense) mainly because you can't measure intangibles and intelligence at a camp. You also have a lot of kids who don't even play off-ball LB (like Henderson). His whole tape is on the edge.

This is why we see so many low ranked LB's turn into All Pros. Traits are important for LB's but after a certain point it's just diminishing returns. You don't need to be 6'3" running a 4.4 to be a great LB. A guy who's 6'0" running a 4.6 but studies film relentlessly and plays violent can be just as (if not more) productive.

At the end of the day, even if we recruit an off-ball Linebacker there's a really good chance that Hetherman is gonna have to start from square one with the kid once he gets on campus. Most high school coaches aren't teaching Linebackers to do what we are.

I've had this discussion with Hetherman and other college LB coaches multiple times. The new LB's often arrive with a basic "see ball, get ball" mentality, they don't play with their hands and they're often overly aggressive to a fault. (i.e. they just run straight into the line of scrimmage recklessly)

The way we play LB has to be taught from square one...so we recruit athletic, long, violent kids and mold them. (and hope they figure it out)

It's literally the same thing I've had to do in high school when I get transfers.
 
Coach Macho said:
LB is the hardest position to project (on defense) mainly because you can't measure intangibles and intelligence at a camp. You also have a lot of kids who don't even play off-ball LB (like Henderson). His whole tape is on the edge.

This is why we see so many low ranked LB's turn into All Pros. Traits are important for LB's but after a certain point it's just diminishing returns. You don't need to be 6'3" running a 4.4 to be a great LB. A guy who's 6'0" running a 4.6 but studies film relentlessly and plays violent can be just as (if not more) productive.

At the end of the day, even if we recruit an off-ball Linebacker there's a really good chance that Hetherman is gonna have to start from square one with the kid once he gets on campus. Most high school coaches aren't teaching Linebackers to do what we are.

I've had this discussion with Hetherman and other college LB coaches multiple times. The new LB's often arrive with a basic "see ball, get ball" mentality, they don't play with their hands and they're often overly aggressive to a fault. (i.e. they just run straight into the line of scrimmage recklessly)

The way we play LB has to be taught from square one...so we recruit athletic, long, violent kids and mold them. (and hope they figure it out)

It's literally the same thing I've had to do in high school when I get transfers.
Click to expand...
I'd rather recruit big safeties than DE's trying to learn LB. Trying to convert DEs to LBs is difficult because they require very different skillsets. LBs need to be able to diagnose the play in a split second.

Ray Lewis, Jon Vilma, D. Perriman, et al arrived in Coral Gables at 6'0 . That's plenty tall to play LB.
 
Cane30 said:
LSU is in the lead. His OV there is the 23rd.
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Is in the lead? Tell us more about that.

Simmons has an update on him this morning via the On3 board for us: Recruiting Storm
Center.

Has us in strong position for him. Canes and Aggies battling at the top with Buckeyes as a third school to watch.
 
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Combo said:
I'd rather recruit big safeties than DE's trying to learn LB. Trying to convert DEs to LBs is difficult because they require very different skillsets. LBs need to be able to diagnose the play in a split second.

Ray Lewis, Jon Vilma, D. Perriman, et al arrived in Coral Gables at 6'0 . That's plenty tall to play LB.
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Double edged sword, fam. On the same hand, that big safety may not be able to adjust to the physicality that comes with playing a level closer to the LOS.Life in that box 24/7 is a different animal. Bringing guys down and taking their hands out of the dirt to play LB both have their advantages and drawbacks. That’s why cats like Hetherman make the big bucks…
 
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Combo said:
I'd rather recruit big safeties than DE's trying to learn LB. Trying to convert DEs to LBs is difficult because they require very different skillsets. LBs need to be able to diagnose the play in a split second.

Ray Lewis, Jon Vilma, D. Perriman, et al arrived in Coral Gables at 6'0 . That's plenty tall to play LB.
Click to expand...
I don't think they're concerned about what position the kid plays in high school. He could be a Safety or an Edge guy. They're looking for specific traits. Length, speed, violence. They'll teach them the rest when they get on campus.

Even if the kid played off-ball Linebacker, the scheme/reads that Hetherman is teaching are likely going to be different than what he was doing in high school... so he's gonna need some development. They don't count on LB's to be first year contributors on defense anyway.
 
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