at Linebacker. Joel Erickson submits something to the dot I am a gay twerker that has no balls!!!! I also have no idea how to use the quote function to post stories, so I annoy the piss out of others. I like male genatalia in and around my mouth. over at al and then I coppage'd it here. A look at our Linebackers makes me feel better about that group than at any time since CTT left. Yeah, the new guys are obviously young so you don't know what you're getting until they tee it up against D1 competition. But on paper anyway, it's chub-worthy. I talked to a high school basketball coach at Dothan High recently. They played Hoover earlier this year and he said Darrell Williams is a beast. Incredibly strong athlete. Anywho:
The linebacker position will likely be going through some changes at Auburn this spring.
Namely, there will be more of them in Will Muschamp's new scheme, but the roles will also shift from the tasks asked by former defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson in his 4-2-5 scheme.
Under Muschamp, the Tigers will likely use three and even four linebackers, and with that in mind, Auburn brought in three linebackers in the 2014 class to fill Muschamp's 4-3 and 3-4 schemes.
"He's hand-picking these guys to fit his defense, and he's very excited about that." Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "We got some guys that can help us immediately."
In Johnson's 4-2-5 scheme, Cassanova McKinzy lined up at middle linebacker and Kris Frost handled the weak-side linebacker role, but in reality, those two spots often functioned as inside linebackers, similar to the roles inside linebackers play in a 3-4.
Muschamp's scheme uses a 3-4 and has the flexibility to employ two linebackers in similar fashion inside, and based on Malzahn's comments on National Signing Day, Hoover's Darrell Williams and Charles Henderson's Richard McBryde seem ticketed to fit those roles.
"Darrell Williams, McBryde, both those guys Coach Muschamp feels very good about," Malzahn said. "They're long guys. They're physical guys. They've got instincts. And they're both tough. So that was definitely something that we needed."
Due to Auburn's problems rushing the passer, McKinzy and Frost also regularly lined up in outside linebacker roles and rushed off the edge in passing situations, playing the roles of a 3-4 outside linebacker.
In that role, Frost and McKinzy combined for five sacks last season, nearly as many as Auburn's defensive ends, who produced 5.5 total sacks as a group.
Muschamp's defense may open up more blitzing opportunities for the inside roles and create new roles for pass rushers at outside linebacker. The key role is the Buck linebacker, a hybrid defensive end/linebacker that's usually occupied by a defensive lineman, but Muschamp also knows how to use a true outside linebacker in that role.
Auburn hasn't deployed a linebacker as a primary pass rusher in a long time. Frost's 3.5 sacks is the most any Tiger has recorded since Karlos Dansby had 5.5 in 2003.
Enter Jeffrey Holland, a four-star product from Jacksonville, Florida.
"He is a pass rusher," Malzahn said. "We really feel like he can really help us in the pass rush and he has a lot of flexibility, he's a very good tackler too."
Adding those three to a group that already includes McKinzy, Frost, Tre' Williams, Anthony Swain, Justin Garrett, Kenny Flowers, JaViere Mitchell, Cameron Toney and Deshaun Davis.
Now, it's up to Muschamp and new linebackers coach Lance Thompson to identify their strengths and deploy Auburn's linebackers effectively.
"My style of coaching, I want to be a great teacher," Thompson said on Auburn's National Signing Day show. "I want the kids to understand what they're supposed to do, how they're supposed to do it and why they're supposed to do it that way. If I can do that, and inspire them to play hard, play with toughness, that's all you can ask a kid to do."
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