The 10 best linebacker corps in college football
On Tuesday we unveiled our Top 10 defensive line groups in college football. The 2016 preseason position rankings continue with the 10 best linebacking groups.
1. Alabama: The Tide lost SEC Defensive Player of the Year Reggie Ragland, but still have an eye-catching collection of linebackers. Let's start with pass-rushing terror Tim Williams, who produced 10.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for losses (TFLs) in limited snaps. Coaches at Bama rave about how instinctive the 6-3, 245-pound Williams is. He's both explosive and strong but also has a great feel for time and space, the way Charles Haley did. The question for Williams in 2016 is how well can he play the run? With Reuben Foster, a 6-1, 240-pound senior, that's no issue. He was second on the team last year with 73 tackles and also had eight TFLs. Foster lights people up in the run game. He's also a leader of the defense and brings plenty of juice to this defense. Ryan Anderson is the other outside linebacker and he's bigger than a lot of D-linemen at 6-2, 258. He had 11.5 TFLs and six sacks last season. Shaun Dion Hamilton started five games last season and he's also back. Rashaan Evans, Christian Miller, Anfernee Jennings, a 270-pound guy who gave the O-line fits last year, would probably start at a bunch of other SEC programs and are pushing for more snaps in Tuscaloosa.
2. Michigan State: An excellent group that could get even better if -- €”as we expect -- Ed Davis gets cleared for his sixth season. The 6-3, 225-pound standout who had 12 TFLs and seven sacks in 2014 was sidelined last season by a knee injury he suffered in training camp. Davis is an All-American talent. He's a good blitzer, slippery and just a really smart football player. In his absence Riley Bullough and Jon Reschke both blossomed, combining for 181 tackles and 13 TFLs. MSU LB coach Mark Snyder, who coached under Mark Dantonio at Ohio State when they had a bunch of play-making linebackers, sees some comparisons with his old Buckeye standouts, likening Bullough "a smart, tough, leader who has good ball skills" to A.J. Hawk and Reschke who is longer and really athletic and good in space like Bobby Carpenter. Chris Frey, an old Chris Spielman protege, is also tough and physical and has taken a step forward by shedding about 15 pounds. Junior Shane Jones, who started a game in 2015 at middle linebacker, played well when he was called upon. Another big plus with this group is that the players are so interchangeable, having the ability to play multiple linebacking spots. Reschke can play all three positions. Sophomore Andrew Dowell, a former prep running back, may be the fastest of the bunch and is getting a good education learning from the older Spartan backers. Oh, and there's yet another Bullough in the pipeline -- Byron, a 6-1, 225-pound sophomore who also had a really strong spring and impressed the MSU coaches.
3. Louisville: Devonte Fields' off-field issues led to his dismissal from TCU. The 6-4, 245-pounder has turned around and made a huge impact on the Cardinals defense. He led the nation in TFLs last year with 22.5 and he really came on late in the season, notching 8.5 sacks in the last four games. Senior Keith Kelsey (107 tackles, 12 TFLs) is also very productive. JC transfer Trevon Young, at 6-4, 230, made eight starts last year and had 8.5 sacks and 10 TFLs. He is coming back from a hip injury though. If Young isn't back close to 100 percent junior James Hearns, a 6-3, 255-pounder who gave the Cards O-linemen fits this spring, appears ready to step in. Stacy Thomas, who also is a standout on the U of L special teams, had 31 tackles last season and also figures to contribute a lot for the Cards at linebacker this fall.
4. Wisconsin: Joe Schobert who made 19.5 TFLs and forced five fumbles last season, has moved on to the NFL, but senior Vince Biegel is still here and he's terrific. He had 14 TFLs and eight sacks to go with 66 tackles. Pro Football Focus ranks Biegel as the nation's top returning outside linebacker, grading him No. 1 both against the run and as a pass rusher. But it wasn't Biegel or Schobert who led the nation's No. 1 scoring defense (13.7 ppg) in tackles in 2015. That was T.J Edwards who also is back after making 84 tackles as a redshirt freshman last year. Jack Cichy, who had 8.5 TFLs and shined in the bowl game by making sacks on three consecutive plays against USC, is battling Chris Orr (46 tackles) to be the other starting ILB next to Edwards. J.J. Watt's brother, T.J., a 6-5, 242-pound sophomore former tight end, is being tabbed to fill in for the departed Schobert. The other big loss for UW is defensive coordinator Dave Aranda who left for LSU. Justin Wilcox comes from USC to take over the D and he does have plenty to work with here but the schedule it brutal in the first two months.
5. Washington: Even after losing four of the top 44 picks in the 2015 NFL draft on defense, the Huskies still had one of the best defenses in college football last season. A fleet group of linebackers had a lot to do with that. Travis Feeney and Cory Littleton have moved on to the NFL, but Azeem Victor (95 tackles and nine TFLs) and Keishawn Beierra (77 tackles and 7.5 TFLs) are still around ready to make plays. Joe Mathis, who started seven games last year and had six TFLs at defensive end will play linebacker this year. He's pretty stout at 250-plus. Psalm Wooching, a former running back and rugby standout, is also pushing for the other vacant starting spot. Ben Burr-Kirven, a former high school sprinter, was a special teams star but also played well when he got into the game at linebacker as a freshman in 2015.
6. Tennessee: New defensive coordinator Bob Shoop has produced terrific defenses at Penn State and Vanderbilt the past five years, and he inherits a pretty athletic group of linebackers led by Jalen Reeves Maybin, who has piled up 206 tackles in the past two seasons. Reeves-Maybin isn't huge at 6-0, 230 but he runs in the 4.6s and plays even faster than that because he diagnoses things so quickly. He's also a real leader. The name to remember here though is Darrin Kirkland Jr. He started 10 games last year at middle linebacker as a true freshman, but he's primed for a breakout season in 2016. The 6-1, 235-pounder with 4.5 speed had Shoop very excited when I visited UT in spring. "His football IQ is off the charts," said Shoop. "He runs well. He just gets it. He's only a true sophomore. When it's all said and done for him, we'll be talking about him on a short list of players here at Tennessee." Another young LB on the rise is sophomore Quart'e Sapp, who also can really run. The UT staff was impressed with how he came on over the last two-thirds of spring becoming much more physical. Former walk-on Colton Jumper Cortez McDowell and Kenny Bynum also will push for playing time.
7. Vanderbilt: The Commodores have really struggled since Derek Mason took over the program, but he did get the defense playing well again in 2015, when it finished No. 28 in total defense and was No. 6 in third-down defense. A big reason for that toughness is an excellent group of linebackers. Zach Cunningham is probably the best-kept secret in the SEC. The 6-4, 230-pounder made 103 tackles last season to go with 16.5 TFLs and four forced fumbles. Oren Burks, another rangy guy at 6-3, was a two-year starter at safety before moving into the SAM linebacker spot. He had 58 tackles, three INTs and six pass break-ups in 2015. Landon Stokes, at 6-4, 240, started the last five games at OLB. Another name to remember is Nigel Bowden, who was a 2014 SEC All-Freshman selection when he became the first freshman to lead Vandy in tackles since LB Jamie Winborn did so in 1998. The 6-1, 240-pounder missed most of last season with concussion symptoms but Mason said he's 100 percent recovered.
Salamo Fiso is on the improve.
8. Arizona State: A gambling D got burned quite a bit in 2015 as the Sun Devils finished No. 113 in total defense, but there's plenty of optimism for big improvement because of this group of linebackers. Salamo Fiso is not big at about 6-0, 230, but he's matured into a big-play guy, producing a Pac-12 best 20 TFLs last year along with 99 tackles. Christian Sam, a 6-1, 240-pounder from Texas, made almost as many tackles with 98. The other LB could be JC transfer Koron Crump, who is much rangier at 6-4, 220. He had 32 TFLs and 21 sacks in two seasons of JC ball. Coach Todd Graham gushed about how athletic and relentless Crump was in spring ball.
9. Penn State: The Nittany Lions have a good batch of linebackers again. Athletically, it's a solid group although their top three is probably a bit below some of the other elite LBs in the country. Jason Cabinda made 100 tackles last year and he's just very solid. Senior Brandon Bell who plays field linebacker made 12.5 TFLs in 2015 and has a good knack for making plays. Nyeem Wartman White, at 6-1, 250, is back from a knee injury that cost him almost all of last year. Like Cabinda, he's a good box backer who is really football smart.
10. (Tie) UCLA: This group would probably be even higher on the list if Deon Hollins wasn't now considered a defensive end and was still a linebacker, but it's still a strong group led by playmaking LB Jayon Brown, who entered the line-up after Myles Jack got hurt and shined. Brown proceeded to lead the Bruins in tackles with 93, displaying a nose for the ball that reminds UCLA coaches of former standout Eric Kendricks. In Kenny Young, UCLA has a guy who started 12 games last season and had 69 tackles despite battling through some nagging injuries. Young had a strong spring, showing how physical he could be as he was faced by a scheme that now has heavier personnel packages. Isaako Savaiinaea provides another physical presence while freshmen Lokeni Toailoa, who brings a similar game and turned heads this spring. The best athlete of the bunch is five-star recruit Mique Juarez, who suffered a concussion on the first day of spring practice. Cam Judge, a special teams captain, provides good depth.
10. (Tie) K-State: Junior Elijah Lee is one of the first athletes you notice when you watch K-State in person. He's rangy and athletic at 6-3, 220 and he did everything for the Wildcats in 2015, making 80 tackles, 7.5 TFLs, five sacks, and three INTs. He became the first underclassman to lead K-State in tackles since Mark Simoneau did it in 1998. The other two starters -- €”Charmeachealle Moore and Will Davis -- also make more than their share of plays for the Wildcats, combining for 109 more tackles.
Elijah Lee is a stalwart for Bill Snyder at Kansas State.
Just missed the cut: BYU, TCU, Baylor, Boston College, Texas, Florida, USC, Boise State, Appalachian State.