looking at the LB'rs that so many bash

[Hawkeye2222]

these may be the starters and all look to be starting together for the next 3 years

LEO SO Neiman a converted WR
MLB RSSO Jewel a true LB
WLB RSSO Bower


I guess I need to remind people that Hitchen was just a 2* RB and never started till his JUNIOR season at WLB

and 2 of these started as RSFR.
the backups in my opinion just may end up to be these

LEO RSFR Outsey
MLB RSFR Mends
WLB RSSR Perry

they may be young but they do have talent. and having a full year starting in the BT will have a major impact in their development, it is yet to be seen if they all can get up to 230+ to be effective at their positions, as Hitchens and Kirksey both struggled their JUNIOR Year at around 220 vs how they did as SENIORS at 233-235 lbs even Morris as a junior weighed just 225 lbs and played at 240 lbs as a Senior.

 

[ChrisVarick]

Neiman is not a converted WR.

 

[Sterling_Wildcat]

Originally posted by ChrisVarick:
Neiman is not a converted WR.

He played WR in highschool

 

[win1forthe]

One of the areas where the lbs struggled was in pass defense. I know they play hard but in obvious passing downs, they shouldn't even be on the field. The coaching staff has failed to adjust. Why Parker and the defensive staff don't feel as much heat as Davis baffles me.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[Hawkfan_08]

I know they are young so the jury is still out on these guys but I'm really concerned about speed from this group when covering slot recievers and chasing quick running backs/quarterbacks.

Tennessee made these guys look like they were pretty outmatched in that department.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[ChrisVarick]

Originally posted by Sterling_Wildcat:

Originally posted by ChrisVarick:
Neiman is not a converted WR.

He played WR in highschool

Yes, but he also played LB and was recruited as a LB. At most small schools kids both ways. I bet the Paulsen twins play defensive tackle. Are we going to call them converted defensive tackles when the are on the OL? I'm not 100% sure but I bet Boyle plays some LB or safety. If Boyle ends up at QB will we say that our QB is a converted LB?

 

[hawkeyeguy69]

SPEED. That is where we got killed. Bad angles, I guess, could be a lot of it. Safety is included in that. Lowdermilk took some horrible angles. That said, we need the back 7 to step it up bigtime. HUGE. They were not good this year, while the front line kicked A.

The DL will be good again for the next couple of years, at least. If the back 7 can learn to hit, and hit hard, then we may have a solid defense next year.

 

[mehateiowastate]

Are these the three linebackers that we beat UNI, N. Illinois, E. Michigan and Illinois State for?
Sounds like it could be a solid crew...if Iowa played in the Mac

 

[Pitcher24]

Originally posted by ChrisVarick:

Originally posted by Sterling_Wildcat:

Originally posted by ChrisVarick:
Neiman is not a converted WR.

He played WR in highschool

Yes, but he also played LB and was recruited as a LB. At most small schools kids both ways. I bet the Paulsen twins play defensive tackle. Are we going to call them converted defensive tackles when the are on the OL? I'm not 100% sure but I bet Boyle plays some LB or safety. If Boyle ends up at QB will we say that our QB is a converted LB?

Paulsen Twins at DT? I don't see that happening, just curious where did you get that from? And I also don't see Boyle going anywhere else, he has a bad knee from what I understand. I don't see him at a position where he is flying around the field, maybe I am wrong.

 

[MoneyintheBanks]

Originally posted by Pitcher24:

Originally posted by ChrisVarick:

Originally posted by Sterling_Wildcat:

Originally posted by ChrisVarick:
Neiman is not a converted WR.

He played WR in highschool

Yes, but he also played LB and was recruited as a LB. At most small schools kids both ways. I bet the Paulsen twins play defensive tackle. Are we going to call them converted defensive tackles when the are on the OL? I'm not 100% sure but I bet Boyle plays some LB or safety. If Boyle ends up at QB will we say that our QB is a converted LB?

Paulsen Twins at DT? I don't see that happening, just curious where did you get that from? And I also don't see Boyle going anywhere else, he has a bad knee from what I understand. I don't see him at a position where he is flying around the field, maybe I am wrong.

He was being hypothetical saying that we can't call them converted because we didn't recruit them for that position. It's like calling Hyde a converted quarterback when we recruited him as an ATH, I think. The Paulsens are Ol and Boyle is a QB.

 

[TankHawk]

I'm thinking Spearman will be good next year.
Oh wait. What?

 

[Pitcher24]

Originally posted by MoneyintheBanks:

Originally posted by Pitcher24:

Originally posted by ChrisVarick:

Originally posted by Sterling_Wildcat:

Originally posted by ChrisVarick:
Neiman is not a converted WR.

He played WR in highschool

Yes, but he also played LB and was recruited as a LB. At most small schools kids both ways. I bet the Paulsen twins play defensive tackle. Are we going to call them converted defensive tackles when the are on the OL? I'm not 100% sure but I bet Boyle plays some LB or safety. If Boyle ends up at QB will we say that our QB is a converted LB?

Paulsen Twins at DT? I don't see that happening, just curious where did you get that from? And I also don't see Boyle going anywhere else, he has a bad knee from what I understand. I don't see him at a position where he is flying around the field, maybe I am wrong.

He was being hypothetical saying that we can't call them converted because we didn't recruit them for that position. It's like calling Hyde a converted quarterback when we recruited him as an ATH, I think. The Paulsens are Ol and Boyle is a QB.

Haha well I feel stupid, I was going to say. I have heard talk about Boyle moving to another position though.

 

[PHXIowaClub]

I do think these LBs will be solid in 2016 and 2017 but Iowa went 8-5 against a bad schedule with 3 Sr LBs who all made a NFL roster. Any LBs are going to be solid by their 3rd year starting, no matter how bad their offers were in HS. By the time these guys are solid at their position, Iowa will be weak at another position. It all comes down to a lack of talent at a number of positions and bad in game coaching.

Iowa needs more talent all over the place and they need to get with the times......and I'm not confident it will happen.

 

[herkyhawkerton]

Originally posted by PHXIowaClub:
I do think these LBs will be solid in 2016 and 2017 but Iowa went 8-5 against a bad schedule with 3 Sr LBs who all made a NFL roster.  Any LBs are going to be solid by their 3rd year starting, no matter how bad their offers were in HS.  By the time these guys are solid at their position, Iowa will be weak at another position.  It all comes down to a lack of talent at a number of positions and bad in game coaching.  

Iowa needs more talent all over the place and they need to get with the times......and I'm not confident it will happen.

This. With the current staff and recruiting philosophies it's hard to imagine a time when most of the positions will mature at the same time.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[Auger]

The fact our LB's need to add both speed and size makes things pretty tricky for their development. This just shows the piss poor recruiting at LB over the years the fact these guys are playing this early in their careers is just frustrating. I don't have any ill feelings towards these guys it's the coaching staff that has thrown them to the wolves. These types of guys typically take 3-4 years to develop, when they need to add size, speed, skill and experience. These 3 guys were short on all 4 of those things this year. Next year they will have experience but will still be a little behind in the other areas.

 

[SigMaintHawk]

Originally posted by Auger:
The fact our LB's need to add both speed and size makes things pretty tricky for their development. This just shows the piss poor recruiting at LB over the years the fact these guys are playing this early in their careers is just frustrating. I don't have any ill feelings towards these guys it's the coaching staff that has thrown them to the wolves. These types of guys typically take 3-4 years to develop, when they need to add size, speed, skill and experience. These 3 guys were short on all 4 of those things this year. Next year they will have experience but will still be a little behind in the other areas.

This why the lack of Jucos being brought in is simply perplexing..... 1 total Juco offer at LB last year... They went through spring ball...and zero offers to Jucos at the lb position. They went through fall practice and zero offers to Jucos at this position... We all saw the performance of the LB's this year.. Still zero offers to Jucos at the Lb position... They have had attrition at this position .....still, they don't go after Jucos.....Wouldn't this be an easy sell to a qaulity Juco? Even if a Juco doesn't earn a starting job.. with the complete lack of qaulity expirience anywhere at this position, wouldn't it be a benefit to have something that was more physically/mentally mature for practice fodder? Look at what the offense is competing against in practice? How could a Juco not be a benefit?

 

[Kinnick 4 Prez]

Originally posted by TankHawk:
I'm thinking Spearman will be good next year.
Oh wait. What?

Because he was subpar/average this year?
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[Sterling_Wildcat]

Originally posted by ChrisVarick:

Originally posted by Sterling_Wildcat:

Originally posted by ChrisVarick:
Neiman is not a converted WR.

He played WR in highschool

Yes, but he also played LB and was recruited as a LB. At most small schools kids both ways. I bet the Paulsen twins play defensive tackle. Are we going to call them converted defensive tackles when the are on the OL? I'm not 100% sure but I bet Boyle plays some LB or safety. If Boyle ends up at QB will we say that our QB is a converted LB?

First of all Sycamore has a enrollment of 1,174 it's far from a small school. I played Illinois highschool football with two guys that played for the Hawks in the 80's and neither one of them played both ways. Our enrollment was 1,000. Ben Niemann is gonna be a good one. The kid is a gamer just like Jack Hockaday.

 

[cidhawkeye]

Did I really see a post from 2222 that only mentioned a 2* rating and had absolutely no 40 times listed? Not sure if I am in the same universe anymore.

 

[PHXIowaClub]

Originally posted by cidhawkeye:
Did I really see a post from 2222 that only mentioned a 2* rating and had absolutely no 40 times listed? Not sure if I am in the same universe anymore.

+1. Classic. 2222 loves his exaggerated 40 times and * ratings to try to prove points.

 

[Titanhawk2]

Originally posted by Sterling_Wildcat:

Originally posted by ChrisVarick:
Neiman is not a converted WR.

He played WR in highschool

I'm sure he played LB or something on defense in high school as well. That's like saying Morris was a converted RB - he played both

 

[TampaHawkfan]

I knew who started this thread as soon as I saw the title.

 

[Hawkeye2222]

Neiman was a WR commit for NIU then when he flipped to Iowa Rivals changed his listing from WR to ATH, and there is no mention of him ever playing LB at any time for his HS ever.

Morris was a LB 1st and the RB 2nd for his team and in the Shrine bowl he played LB

Hyde was graded a 2* as a QB because that was what he was in HS, most of the people I know expected him to be either a RB or Slot Receiver nobody expected him to play defense

Hitchens was a 2* RB and nobody ever ever considered him to be a LB.

Angerer was a 5'5 3* out of IA and turned out just fine at 6'1 200 lbs
Jewell was a 2* out of Iowa at 6'2 200 lbs and a 4.7 40

and like I said you should email Bossi the Rivals Director of Recruiting and tell him he is making up these 40 times as these come directly from him and his site.

that or call up ESPN as these come from their recruiting ranking profiles and combines.

ps Jewell was rated a NR by ESPN meaning they never got a chance to be evaluated and my guess is nobody did either except the coaches during their summer camps, not every kid can make it to a camp to be evaluated.

This post was edited on 1/16 11:12 AM by Hawkeye2222

This post was edited on 1/16 11:13 AM by Hawkeye2222

 

[iahawkeyes17]

Originally posted by Hawkeye2222:

Neiman was a WR commit for NIU then when he flipped to Iowa Rivals changed his listing from WR to ATH, and there is no mention of him ever playing LB at any time for his HS ever.

Morris was a LB 1st and the RB 2nd for his team and in the Shrine bowl he played LB

Hyde was graded a 2* as a QB because that was what he was in HS, most of the people I know expected him to be either a RB or Slot Receiver nobody expected him to play defense

Hitchens was a 2* RB and nobody ever ever considered him to be a LB.

Angerer was a 5'5 3* out of IA and turned out just fine at 6'1 200 lbs
Jewell was a 2* out of Iowa at 6'2 200 lbs and a 4.7 40

and like I said you should email Bossi the Rivals Director of Recruiting and tell him he is making up these 40 times as these come directly from him and his site.

that or call up ESPN as these come from their recruiting ranking profiles and combines.

ps Jewell was rated a NR by ESPN meaning they never got a chance to be evaluated and my guess is nobody did either except the coaches during their summer camps, not every kid can make it to a camp to be evaluated.

This post was edited on 1/16 11:12 AM by Hawkeye2222
This post was edited on 1/16 11:13 AM by Hawkeye2222

Wrong again. Posted by Blair 1/7/09 on this very website.

While the Hawkeyes have not yet offered, they have remained in close contact throughout the recruiting process. The Iowa coaching staff sees the 6-foot-1, 170-pound Hyde developing into a cornerback at the college level. So far, the two-star prospect, who earned first team all-state honors at quarterback this year, likes what he has heard from the Hawkeyes.

 

[MoneyintheBanks]

Why do you keep bringing up Jewell as a supporter for your argument? He IS the argument, and was less than stellar last year like the rest of them. I don't get it.

 

[Auger]

You can't really compare this group of LB's to the Kirksey, Morris, Hitchens group. I see alot of optimistic Hawk fans believing this group can develop into those guys. First none of the current guys have the speed or skill set that Kirksey had even when Kirksey was a frosh. Kirksey was by far the best LB of that threesome at Iowa and was the glue to that front 7. Second none of the current group has the skill set of Hitchens either he was an entirely different LB then the current guys. I could see them develop into a Morris type LB but he wasn't the best cover guy.

I think a better comparison for the current guys would be Klinkenborg and Humpal. Maybe even Grant Steen. All those guys were solid LB'S at Iowa but they had there limitations.

This post was edited on 1/16 12:06 PM by Auger

This post was edited on 1/16 10:08 AM by Auger

 

[cidhawkeye]

Morris was a LB 1st and the RB 2nd for his team

This would be incorrect as well, they even had him play QB his senior year.

 

[David1979]

I disagree Auger, I think Niemann does have the speed and skills to be very good. He just needs to add muscle. He will be the best LB out of the three listed as starters on the depth chart. The other two I am hoping someone like Outsey beats one of them out and maybe Kenny beats one out as I am assuming he moves back to linebacker from fullback. I believe Kenny was a second stringer MLB on an early depth chart in fall before he moved to FB.

 

[pink shizzle]

Originally posted by iahawkeyes17:

Originally posted by Hawkeye2222:

Neiman was a WR commit for NIU then when he flipped to Iowa Rivals changed his listing from WR to ATH, and there is no mention of him ever playing LB at any time for his HS ever.

Morris was a LB 1st and the RB 2nd for his team and in the Shrine bowl he played LB

Hyde was graded a 2* as a QB because that was what he was in HS, most of the people I know expected him to be either a RB or Slot Receiver nobody expected him to play defense

Hitchens was a 2* RB and nobody ever ever considered him to be a LB.

Angerer was a 5'5 3* out of IA and turned out just fine at 6'1 200 lbs
Jewell was a 2* out of Iowa at 6'2 200 lbs and a 4.7 40

and like I said you should email Bossi the Rivals Director of Recruiting and tell him he is making up these 40 times as these come directly from him and his site.

that or call up ESPN as these come from their recruiting ranking profiles and combines.

ps Jewell was rated a NR by ESPN meaning they never got a chance to be evaluated and my guess is nobody did either except the coaches during their summer camps, not every kid can make it to a camp to be evaluated.

This post was edited on 1/16 11:12 AM by Hawkeye2222
This post was edited on 1/16 11:13 AM by Hawkeye2222

Wrong again. Posted by Blair 1/7/09 on this very website.

While the Hawkeyes have not yet offered, they have remained in close contact throughout the recruiting process. The Iowa coaching staff sees the 6-foot-1, 170-pound Hyde developing into a cornerback at the college level. So far, the two-star prospect, who earned first team all-state honors at quarterback this year, likes what he has heard from the Hawkeyes.

Nice find

 

[Auger]

Originally posted by David1979:

I disagree Auger, I think Niemann does have the speed and skills to be very good. He just needs to add muscle. He will be the best LB out of the three listed as starters on the depth chart. The other two I am hoping someone like Outsey beats one of them out and maybe Kenny beats one out as I am assuming he moves back to linebacker from fullback. I believe Kenny was a second stringer MLB on an early depth chart in fall before he moved to FB.

Never said they can't be good was basically saying none of them have the speed or skills that match that of Kirksey. Klinkenborg, Humpal and Steen were all nice LB's but they also lacked in some areas on the field. Niemann is a good prospect but he is 2 years away from adding the good weight one needs to be a full season productive LB. You need to atleast be a solid 220 to hold up at LB for a entire season and he is 15lbs from that. Adding 15lbs of good weight and keeping your speed is not easy at all to do in 6-7 months let a lone 12.

 

[jdv77]

I think Auger is a little harsh in saying that the current group of linebackers doesn't compare to Kirksey, Hitchens, and Morris. If anything, Hitchens and Kirksey had to put on even more weight than the current group before they were ready to be big 10 linebackers. Kirksey came here at 6'2 200 and Hitchens was 6'1 195. Morris was the most ready to play at 6'2 215.

We look at the Kirksey, Hitchens, Morris group of linebackers much more fondly after their senior years than we did going into that year. Morris had played well as a freshman, and then seemed to have not elevated his play during his sophomore and junior years. Turns out a lot of that was due to the DL in front of him. Hitchens made a lot of tackles as a junior, but it wasn't until his senior year that they were made close to the line of scrimmage. Kirksey was solid, but he wasn't a beast until his senior year (some of that is by design--our scheme has the OLB play a lot of coverage so he didn't rack up stats like the others). Each of them played much better when we had a DL in front of them that could keep the OL from consistently getting to them.

I think that Jewell, Bower, and Niemann are all good athletes. Jewell placed at state in shot put, and played running back. Bower ran the 100, 200, 400, 4 x 110 hurdles, and through shotput. Niemann was a wide receiver. I don't think that their ability to run is the issue. I think that they are like Kirksey, Hitchens, and Morris in that they need to continue to add size and strength. They also need to grow in their recognition--diagnosing plays and playing fast. But it is revisionist history to suggest that wasn't also true of Kirksey, Hitchens and Morris.

I think that the current group has a chance to develop and be recognized as a good group of linebackers. I do recognize the problem, noted earlier in this thread, that it feels like when we have one veteran group, another position has a bunch of rookies. Last year's LB issues certainly hurt what I felt was a good defense up front and at corner.

 

[pocha444444]

Originally posted by Sterling_Wildcat:

Originally posted by ChrisVarick:

Originally posted by Sterling_Wildcat:

Originally posted by ChrisVarick:

Neiman is not a converted WR.

He played WR in highschool

Yes, but he also played LB and was recruited as a LB. At most small schools kids both ways. I bet the Paulsen twins play defensive tackle. Are we going to call them converted defensive tackles when the are on the OL? I'm not 100% sure but I bet Boyle plays some LB or safety. If Boyle ends up at QB will we say that our QB is a converted LB?

First of all Sycamore has a enrollment of 1,174 it's far from a small school. I played Illinois highschool football with two guys that played for the Hawks in the 80's and neither one of them played both ways. Our enrollment was 1,000. Ben Niemann is gonna be a good one. The kid is a gamer just like Jack Hockaday.

Why don't you just admit you were wrong instead of arguing about meaningless enrollment figures?
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[Hawkeye2222]

a lot on here wanted Alston over Morris as they were sure that Alston was way better than Morris, sorry but you tools only think of Morris, Kirksey and Hitchens "AFTER" their SR years and forget what the were like before, their SR year,

like it or not here are their 40 times
Nieman 4.54 40 vs Kirksey 4.5 40 like 4 hundreths of a second is going to make that big a difference, that's why he was a WR in HS

Bower no 40 time listed Hitchens 4.5 40 time

Jewell 4.7 40 time Morris 4.6 40not exactly the speed you people B**** ABOUT Iowa not having at the LB position
and speed is not the issue with the MLB position as it is the OLB that pick up the TE's and WR's on the edges

these are what some of the new comers bring
Outsey 6'3 ESPN shows no 40 time
Mends 6'0 4.59 40 4.29 short shuttle

also the fastest time for all LB'rs was 4.48 40 not exactly speed demon speed in the 2014 class

Jinnings in the 2015 class brings a 4.3 short shuttle time, with LB'rs need this for speed not 40 times

 

[MoneyintheBanks]

Originally posted by Hawkeye2222:

a lot on here wanted Alston over Morris as they were sure that Alston was way better than Morris, sorry but you tools only think of Morris, Kirksey and Hitchens "AFTER" their SR years and forget what the were like before, their SR year,

like it or not here are their 40 times
Nieman 4.54 40 vs Kirksey 4.5 40 like 4 hundreths of a second is going to make that big a difference, that's why he was a WR in HS

Bower no 40 time listed Hitchens 4.5 40 time

Jewell 4.7 40 time Morris 4.6 40not exactly the speed you people B**** ABOUT Iowa not having at the LB position
and speed is not the issue with the MLB position as it is the OLB that pick up the TE's and WR's on the edges

these are what some of the new comers bring
Outsey 6'3 ESPN shows no 40 time
Mends 6'0 4.59 40 4.29 short shuttle

also the fastest time for all LB'rs was 4.48 40 not exactly speed demon speed in the 2014 class

Jinnings in the 2015 class brings a 4.3 short shuttle time, with LB'rs need this for speed not 40 times

I read one line and laughed. What a vague line of bull

 

[CuttyDoesIt]

Originally posted by Titanhawk2:

Originally posted by Sterling_Wildcat:

Originally posted by ChrisVarick:
Neiman is not a converted WR.

He played WR in highschool

I'm sure he played LB or something on defense in high school as well. That's like saying Morris was a converted RB - he played both

Sure is nice to see a converted QB win the Outland Trophy. Scherff sure is a stud

 

[CuttyDoesIt]

Originally posted by MoneyintheBanks:

Originally posted by Hawkeye2222:

a lot on here wanted Alston over Morris as they were sure that Alston was way better than Morris, sorry but you tools only think of Morris, Kirksey and Hitchens "AFTER" their SR years and forget what the were like before, their SR year,

like it or not here are their 40 times
Nieman 4.54 40 vs Kirksey 4.5 40 like 4 hundreths of a second is going to make that big a difference, that's why he was a WR in HS

Bower no 40 time listed Hitchens 4.5 40 time

Jewell 4.7 40 time Morris 4.6 40not exactly the speed you people B**** ABOUT Iowa not having at the LB position
and speed is not the issue with the MLB position as it is the OLB that pick up the TE's and WR's on the edges

these are what some of the new comers bring
Outsey 6'3 ESPN shows no 40 time
Mends 6'0 4.59 40 4.29 short shuttle

also the fastest time for all LB'rs was 4.48 40 not exactly speed demon speed in the 2014 class

Jinnings in the 2015 class brings a 4.3 short shuttle time, with LB'rs need this for speed not 40 times

I read one line and laughed. What a vague line of bull

Actually/Surprisingly Kilroy is right. A lot of people on here wanted Alston. A lot of fans thought Morris was crap after he was thrown to the wolves during his TRUE FR season.

 

[MoneyintheBanks]

Originally posted by CuttyDoesIt:

Originally posted by MoneyintheBanks:

Originally posted by Hawkeye2222:

a lot on here wanted Alston over Morris as they were sure that Alston was way better than Morris, sorry but you tools only think of Morris, Kirksey and Hitchens "AFTER" their SR years and forget what the were like before, their SR year,

like it or not here are their 40 times
Nieman 4.54 40 vs Kirksey 4.5 40 like 4 hundreths of a second is going to make that big a difference, that's why he was a WR in HS

Bower no 40 time listed Hitchens 4.5 40 time

Jewell 4.7 40 time Morris 4.6 40not exactly the speed you people B**** ABOUT Iowa not having at the LB position
and speed is not the issue with the MLB position as it is the OLB that pick up the TE's and WR's on the edges

these are what some of the new comers bring
Outsey 6'3 ESPN shows no 40 time
Mends 6'0 4.59 40 4.29 short shuttle

also the fastest time for all LB'rs was 4.48 40 not exactly speed demon speed in the 2014 class

Jinnings in the 2015 class brings a 4.3 short shuttle time, with LB'rs need this for speed not 40 times

I read one line and laughed. What a vague line of bull

Actually/Surprisingly Kilroy is right. A lot of people on here wanted Alston. A lot of fans thought Morris was crap after he was thrown to the wolves during his TRUE FR season.

Not any 'fans' I was around

 

[Sterling_Wildcat]

Pocha444444 why don't you look at his highlight video and tell me how many passes you see him catch. Then tell me how many tackles you see him make. After you're done doing that you can kiss my ass.

 

[Auger]

I always love when people list 40 times and think this shows how fast a guy is and how that will translate to the LB position on the field. Just shows how some know nothing about football. Athleticism,lateral movements and your speed off the ball during the first 3 seconds has more to do with on field speed at LB then some 40yd dash time. Kirksey and Hitchins had a lot more of that then any of the current guys. Jewel, Bowers and Perry were slow to the ball all season long. When somebody says a guy is slow at LB it's not because of his 40yd dash time it's because he is slow to the ball. If anybody watched any of the games they would see our LB's had trouble getting to the ball this year. They were beat to the holes, beat to the edge, beat off the line of scrimmage on coverage.

In comparison Ohio St's stud LB'S run some similar 40 times as some of our guys. But somehow they get to the ball a lot quicker and don't get beat off the line of scrimage right away in coverage. This is because they are more athletic have better lateral movements and much better burst of the ball. I hope our LB's aren't running in a straight line 40yds down the field.

This post was edited on 1/16 9:55 PM by Auger

 

[SigMaintHawk]

Fwiw, Niemann had 78 tackles and 45 receptions as a senior.

As a junior he had 60 tackles and 53 receptions.

Info from his official bio.