Benson is not better than Colbert at WLB. And benson isn’t better in pass coverage. Benson wouldn’t be seeing the field if Campbell has been healthy from the jump.
LB Jack Campbell comparisons?
- Thread starter BigOHawk
- Start date
Campbell has played both Mike and Will. I expect Benson and Campbell to start next year.
The Doyle comparison is obtuse. He left the program. PFF currently has Doyle ranked as the #45 linebacker nationally, higher than any for Iowa. He'd be starting here.
Good luck with that.
Campbell is better. He would be starting.
I thought of Greenway first but I think you’re right that Edds is the better comparison.
The point is Jacobs is not. You're probably still wondering when Blake Larsen will break into the lineup over the walk-on Schott.
Sure it doesn't. Jacobs has hardly any sample size and what he does have hasn't graded out well. You have no coherent argument aside from stars.
Abdul Hodge was slow too ....
Campbell will definitely start ... but I think that we'll see guys rotate, that is all. If you've watched the past few years ... Wallace has been doing a pretty good job of getting a bunch of LBs on the field. We no longer exclusively rely upon our top LBs the whole time.
If you've watched games ... this season Wade, Benson, Campbell, and Niemann have each played a lot of snaps. Since Niemann has seniority (in terms of both experience and eligibility) ... he's seen the most snaps. Jacobs has seen some snaps too. Playing 5 LBs ... when our BASE primarily utilizes the CASH position ... that's a pretty active rotation!
With Wade and Niemann graduating ... I think that there is absolutely no reason to assume that Wallace won't find a way to get Benson, Campbell, Colbert, and Jacobs on the field. Obviously not all on at the same time ... but they'll all play!
I tend to agree with this.
If Iowa's defensive line is solid then Iowa will have another high level defense. The linebackers and secondary will be deep. I would love to see Nixon and/or Heflin return for a final year. Shannon and Black appear to have promise. Schulte would be a good candidate to return.
Don't know his 20 time but Benson is pretty damn quick out there. Josey Jewell wasn't exactly a burner either. Most Iowa LBs over the years have had a pretty high IQ, it seems to be a job qualification. I mean, what difference does it make if you are a tenth of a second faster on the track but aren't positioned right or mistake reads when the ball is snapped.
Campbell appears to be the complete package also but Benson hasn't relinquished his starting position for the last two games, since Campbell has been healthy. That tells me that Coach Wallace and Coach Parker really like what they see in Benson. I can see why too - he doesn't make mistakes and he tackles exceptionally well. It should be interesting to see how things shake out next year. Its a good problem to have.
Body type, size. and speed remind me of Urlacher. Now, I am not saying he is Urlacher, but there are some similarities and his speed once he diagnosis the play is unbelievable.
He was out the first two weeks right? If he is healthy the first two weeks does that help Iowa win either of the two games? Our defense has been amazing this year so I am not sure If he would have been the difference between a win or loss in either of those games
He reminds me a lot of Greenway. Benson has played well but the D looks different with Campbell out there.
Campbell reminds me of Kampman before they made him a DL
Yeah let’s not forget Seth Benson won Gatorade player of the year in South Dakota for all it’s worth I’m not sure how comparable that is to Iowa but this is a good problem to have, both have been doing great this year !
Love all the speculation. To me we seem to have guys fighting for spots at LB. I am not hearing much of our DE depth. So here you have a 6 foot 5 LB that seemingly could put on 15 pounds and be pushing 260. He has great speed on the pass rush and seems to have that chip/motor that a great DE needs to have. You know our coaches are considering it. At the very least we see him on 3 rd down in the raider package.
Man we do like to stack expectations on these young guys don't we? Between Pat A and the outlaw you have a couple of guys who were BIG defense player of the year, (in a league that values defense) first team all BIG, and 1st or 2nd team all AA, both with solid NFL careers. I guess were in pretty good shape if Campbell plays up to those standards.......
No. Doyle had a chance to start vs Wisconsin and was terrible. Too slow.
Obviously you haven't watched him this year. He's ranked as the #37 overall linebacker by PFF after yesterday's games.
Thanks for the anecdotal evidence though.
He was trash in the 1 Baylor game I watched. Slow and couldn’t shed blocks, just like last year vs Wisconsin. Nepotism could’ve caused us to never see Campbell’s bright future.
There you go with the anecdotal evidence again. Nepotism didn't get him to be the #37th overall graded linebacker. That argument is obtuse.
I still think Higgins brings some SOLID competition for spot or splits some reps next season. Get him an actual off-season and I think he'll be in the mix.
Moot point folks ... the key similarity is that they both are guys who have a "nose for the ball." That is a great attribute, no matter how you slice it.
Jewell ended up being among the Hawkeye greats ... so that is a feather in his cap. It will be interesting to see what accolades Benson earns through his career.
The thing about guys who have a "nose for the ball" ... is that they tend to be "football players" as Ferentz describes those types AND they tend to play a lot faster than their 40-time tends to suggest.
For BOTH Josey and Benson ... there were early internal rumblings that each had quite the nose for the ball.
It should be fun to see how Iowa's LB situation plays out through the coming years.
Doyle would have been a stud LB in the 80s. LB is being redefined every year. They HAVE to be able to cover yet be strong enough to fill in the run game. They also have to be able to read which gap they have to fill and get there before the lineman gets to them. The read option has transformed what a LB has to be.
Campbell at 6'5 is unique. His length creates huge problems in the passing game getting the ball over him. He is extremely agile for his height. Benson is more the prototypical MLB. Short and quick to the ball. When Niemann is gone, those two combined with Jacobs and Higgins is a great collection of talent.
I rewatched the PSU and Nebby games last night. The thing that stuck out to me was his closing speed! He plays fast. I can’t help wonder if he could play one of the outside LB positions and Benson be the MLB. It sure seems like having them both on the field would be good. The thing about Edds and Greenway that was so impressive was how well they covered receivers in the passing game, as well as their run-stopping ability. I don’t know if Campbell is at that level in coverage or even if he is better at that than Jacobs.
I am sure they will continue to platoon this year, but LB sure looks set for awhile.
I am sure they will continue to platoon this year, but LB sure looks set for awhile.
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