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So, despite being virtually depleted at LB the last couple of years, the previous staff decided to keep a guy they recruited as a LB, to stay at a position he didn't play in HS and one he wasn't comfortable playing. More infinite nuggets of wisdom from the Chizik era.
Auburn, AL. LaDarius Owens has felt out of place for two full years. Asked to move to defensive end by Auburn's previous coaching staff, Owens spent those two seasons bulking up and trying to provide pass rush off the edge. But he never really felt at home on the edge. A linebacker at Jess Lanier High in Bessemer, Owens redshirted his first season on campus, then moved to defensive end, where he played mostly as a backup to Corey Lemonier and Dee Ford.
When Auburn brought in its new coaching staff, Owens decided to try to make the transition back to the defense's second level. "That's what he wanted to do," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "When we first recruited him, that's the position we were recruiting him for. He definitely will have a good shot at linebacker."
Owens responded to the opportunity by attacking the offseason. Bulked up to 260 pounds to play defensive end, Owens cut out fried foods, focused on grilled foods and cut down on carbohydrates, dropping all the way down to a listed weight of 248 pounds, although he says he's 243 now.
"It just came off real easy," Owens said. "Once I felt how fast and how quick I was getting, it became addictive."
Athletically, Owens has always felt more comfortable as a stand-up rusher, but his time at defensive end has taught him some skills that will come in handy in Ellis Johnson's defense. Both inside linebackers in the 4-2-5 -- Owens is working at the Mike -- are required to take on blocks from offensive linemen at the line of scrimmage, and Owens hasn't had any trouble through the first four days of practice.
During Saturday's first padded practice, Owens got his first chance to attack offensive linemen as he scrapes to the ball, rather than being in a fight right from the snap. "It was real comfortable for me to come downhill and get my hands on linemen. I tell the guys all the time, it's fun now," Owens said. "Now I've got a head start at them, so now I think I've got the advantage."
Owens' biggest hurdle in the transition back to linebacker is in pass coverage, a skill he rarely had to use the past two seasons.
LaDarius Owens says he's wanted to play linebacker all alongLaDarius Owens, who spent the last two seasons playing defensive end, finally feels comfortable now that he's moved to linebacker. He also has an advantage. Working at the Mike means that Owens is responsible for making most of the calls and communicating to the entire defense, and the rest of the linebackers have to unlearn everything they picked up in Auburn's 4-3 schemes the past two seasons. For Owens, everything is fresh.
"Those guys learned it from 4-3 into the 4-2-5, but this is my first system as a linebacker," Owens said. "They have to change some of the verbiage they had last year to this one, so they have to forget that. This one I'm learning. So it's easy for it to stick to me and me to learn it."
But he brings much-needed numbers and size to a linebacker group heavily depleted after Justin Garrett and JaViere Mitchell moved to the "Star" role, and Owens' time in the film room and playbook has helped. "We just wanted to give him a shot, see if he can do it," Johnson said. "He's picking up coverage and drops, things a defensive lineman wouldn't normally have done. We'll let him fight for the two-deep."
That's all Owens wants. After two seasons playing mostly in a backup role, Owens wants to get on the field. "I didn't move to linebacker to watch or to just add depth," Owens said. "I want to compete."
He's getting his chance now.
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