The future at the LB

[Trueblue25]

Franklin/Bennett/Thomas/Moskal - soph's *2 of which are, as of right now, starting.

Henderson/Taylor/Cullen - freshman *Sheppards listed as a Linebacker but I was under the impression he was making moves to the line?

That being said, I think the young talent we have on the field, and coming in, is very very encouraging. Zaire showed flashes last season of being a very dynamic linebacker and in my opinion is poised for a great year. Moskal, Thomas and Bennet did not get many snaps last year, but now have a year in the system under their belts and all three look the part and have very encouraging tapes.

Shy and Henderson are absolute monsters. Would not dream of being a back or a QB with them running me down.

Admittedly I do not know much at all about Ted Taylor. I'm confident in Hodge's ability to continue in improving his game and hopefully he can prove to be stout and dynamic as well on the weak side, great that he's just a junior.


Very, very, very optimistic and excited to see this group grow and terrorize opposing offenses. Hopefully we can teach our enemies to fear coming over the middle again and respect our heavy hitters.

 

[jekelish]

I think Troy Henderson is flying waaaaaaaaay under the radar right now.

We have to outstanding, insanely athletic freshmen linebackers coming in. Obviously we know all about Shy with Bambrewer posting here, and I am confident he's going to be a stud...but no one has really been talking about Henderson. He's going to be a star as well, I'm absolutely confident.

 

[blizz]

I think the group as a whole is impressive, even more impressive is the body of work under Shaffer the last 5 years and counting...that group has been solid while bearing a lot of responsibility, from a scheme standpoint its not said enough how the Shaffer/Bullough philosophy really puts the linebackers in a position to shine.
I'm very encouraged by what I see out of the current group and I think the guys coming on board are only going to elevate the level of play at the position. What I really want to see is a group that has some of the pressure taken off of it by having responsibilities locked down at other positions.

 

[Ringostar57]

We got speed very little size. Franklin is short but big. The thing with linebackers is recognition. You can be olympic 100 meter gold but if you are fooled more than half the time you suck. I have seen in college and NFL linebackers who are slow but anticipate the play correctly just wipe out the developing play and that is all you want a linebacker to do.

 

[anomander]

I think Troy Henderson is flying waaaaaaaaay under the radar right now.

We have to outstanding, insanely athletic freshmen linebackers coming in. Obviously we know all about Shy with Bambrewer posting here, and I am confident he's going to be a stud...but no one has really been talking about Henderson. He's going to be a star as well, I'm absolutely confident.

I have Henderson making the 2 deep.

SAM MIKE WILL

Bennett Franklin Hodge
Thomas Moskal Henderson


We lose 2 veterans in Lynch and Davis, who basically started 7 of their combined 8 years on campus, but I actually think this unit could be even better. It's obviously extremely young, but I think they have the ability to do some things that last years group couldn't do. Throw in Coach Lea being one of the most talented coaches on the team, and I have high hopes despite what we lost.

Between this unit, and the DE's, I actually think we will be better despite the turnover.

 

[AAM62]

I think Troy Henderson is flying waaaaaaaaay under the radar right now.

We have to outstanding, insanely athletic freshmen linebackers coming in. Obviously we know all about Shy with Bambrewer posting here, and I am confident he's going to be a stud...but no one has really been talking about Henderson. He's going to be a star as well, I'm absolutely confident.

He was a stud on one of the premier HS teams in the country and we beat out major programs to keep him. I don't know why he's not talked about more.

 

[anomander]

He was a stud on one of the premier HS teams in the country and we beat out major programs to keep him. I don't know why he's not talked about more.

He's basically been over looked since we learned of his name. Even the staff is guilty of over looking him during his recruitment. The kid was all Orange from the jump, but at a time we were slow playing him for Sawyer Dawson (remember him?). Luckily for us, Dawson committed too Purdue the weekend before Henderson was about to commit to Rutgers. We were able to get involved just at the right time. Personally i've always been a huge fan of what the kid brings to the table. He will be an immediate improvement over Cam when it comes to coverage. He may not be the blitzer Cam was, but he makes up for that in other areas. Really excited for his future. I can eventually see him push Hodge for playing time.

 

[SUFan44]

I have Henderson making the 2 deep.

SAM MIKE WILL

Bennett Franklin Hodge
Thomas Moskal Henderson


We lose 2 veterans in Lynch and Davis, who basically started 7 of their combined 8 years on campus, but I actually think this unit could be even better. It's obviously extremely young, but I think they have the ability to do some things that last years group couldn't do. Throw in Coach Lea being one of the most talented coaches on the team, and I have high hopes despite what we lost.

Between this unit, and the DE's, I actually think we will be better despite the turnover.

Agreed. Hodge was out of position all year at MLB. Franklin is a more natural MLB. Lynch was a great blitzer, but his pass coverage skills were extremely limited IMO. His size and lack of foot speed was exposed much more in the ACC than it was in the Big East.

Moving Thompson to DE instantly gives us our best option at that position in a number of years (since Chandler Jones I'd say). And honestly, in terms of being a disruptive force, call me crazy but I think Thompson has the explosiveness to be a better college player (again, I'm probably crazy and there are many here that might disagree. Never thought Jones lived up to his potential fully while at SU).

 

[RF2044]

I think Troy Henderson is flying waaaaaaaaay under the radar right now.

We have to outstanding, insanely athletic freshmen linebackers coming in. Obviously we know all about Shy with Bambrewer posting here, and I am confident he's going to be a stud...but no one has really been talking about Henderson. He's going to be a star as well, I'm absolutely confident.

He played at a GREAT high school program, in a state chock full of football talent. Agreed--Henderson is going to be a stud once he spends a year in a collegiate S & C program.

 

[O-pulse]

Nice overall analysis; for the D to be effective, we need a solid LB group.