We've got two positions left on defense and they're the two strongest units of the defense, this week we'll take a look at the linebackers. This group is rich with talent and experience with it's starters and while there isn't much experience in the depth there is a lot of talented players that will need to get time in this year to build experience. What'll be interesting to see in these pre-season discussion is if all three of our starters make the Cat-Griz Insider top 10 list (I think they should).
LBs: Jordan Tripp, Brock Coyle, John Kanongata'a, Addison Owen, Jeremiah Kose, Kelsey Lippert, Kendrick Van Ackeren, Connor Lebsock, Tucker Schye.
Projected Depth
Starters: Jordan Tripp (senior), Brock Coyle (senior), JP Kanongata'a (senior)
Backup: Addison Owen (soph), Jeremiah Kose (soph), Kendrick Van Ackeren (soph)
Depth: Connor Lebsock (soph), Kelsey Lippert (soph)
Red Shirt: Tucker Schye (frosh)
Strengths/Weaknesses
Jordan Tripp - Jordan might be one of the very best linebackers ever to suit up in a Montana jersey, this senior season he's got an opportunity to prove he can play on Sundays. He's got the mix of the size, speed, and smarts. He's good in pass coverage, defends the zone-read fairly well, hits hard, and is a leader on and off the field. This year Jordan needs to round out his game, he can't get caught from behind while looking into the stands after a pick and he's got to do his 1/11 and not try to make up for others who get out of position. I noticed that with Tripp last year, at times he was trying to do 2 or 3 players jobs and it would catch him on his heels. I could see Jordan being an ideal 3-4 OLB in the NFL - hopefully this year he keeps going strong, gets after the QBs and piles up the tackles.
Brock Coyle - If I could place a bet on who will finish with the most tackles on the team, I'd put it on Brock. This guy, much like the middle linebackers he's followed (McSurdy and Lebsock), has a nose for the ball. The big thing I want to see in improvement from Brock is forcing turnovers, last year he forced 2 fumbles and recovered one. That's not bad but I'd love to see those numbers double. Brock is a very sure tackler, hopefully he can include more pop to his tackles and force a few more footballs out of the ball carriers hands. Zone/pass coverage wasn't bad in 2012, but hopefully improvement is made there as well. Coyle, much like McSurdy going into his senior year, has a chance to pile up huge numbers and could also get an NFL look.
JP Kanongata'a - Under-rated, IMO, and sometimes forgotten about when our stud LBs are discussed JP has gone from a linebacker who was labeled as too short and too slow to being a solid part of our defense. I think his power-rush when blitzing is the best of all the linebackers. He's quick in coverage and smart on the field. The combination of JP and Tripp on the edges makes for running outside of the tackles very difficult. JP, much like Coyle, needs to improve forcing fumbles, also needs to get into the backfield more and be more disruptive.
Addison Owen - Owen worked in some ST reps last year and will looked upon to contribute there this year as well. In addition Addison should start to see even more reps at outside linebacker. Addison has worked through his conversion from safety in high school to OLB at Montana and played well in the spring. He's very smart in pass coverage but still finds himself out of position at times on the field. Gregorak yells at him a lot (but not as much as he used to), Addison needs to keep improving his rush-defense as well. He's a very versatile player, can cover very well, is really quick. Pass-rush isn't there yet.
Jeremiah Kose - Jeremiah came in last fall recovering from knee surgery and didn't play too much. This spring after seeing him out there and even starting at middle linebacker in the last scrimmage I'm really impressed. Kose tracks the ball-carrier really well, he stays with running backs all the way to the sidelines He's a hard hitter too. Pass coverage is suspect, in a few scrimmages the middle of the field was a pretty easy target to exploit.
Kendrick Van Ackeren - We've got a very limited scope in what we've seen from him but he's poised to grab a starting spot and hold it down for 2 years after this season. Brought in to help at safety he wasn't adapting the playbook well and was just not breaking through like expected. He played OLB at Hawai'i and suddenly when he moved to that spot he killed it. If that small sample we saw is an indicator of what he can contribute - much like Addison Owen - he will be able to come in and play multiple series each game to help keep the starters fresh.
Kelsey Lippert - Lippert took an expanded role this spring due to the resting and injuries of a few other linebackers. In run support he looked pretty solid to me. He was in on a lot of tackles. I didn't see much from him in pass coverage so I can't say how he does there. This year I assume his main role will be special teams with the plan to fight for a starting spot in 2014.
Connor Lebsock - Missed spring ball I believe. Converting from safety to linebacker, I recall someone on here posting that he's added some weight and it doing well. Probably looking at mostly ST duty this year. I'll be interested to see how he looks in fall camp, he was a quick player at safety but now a little bigger/stronger, he's making an Addison Owen-like move, which I would guess will take some time to adjust to.
Tucker Schye - I really liked what I saw from Schye in his highlight reel and the talk around him from all-star games and camps continues to be great. Considering we've got 3 seniors and 5 sophomores the depth is in good shape this year, I'd like to see Schye red-shirt so we can get 4 full years from him. I do wonder about speed/footwork of this level and adapting to it - a red shirt may help that.
LBs: Jordan Tripp, Brock Coyle, John Kanongata'a, Addison Owen, Jeremiah Kose, Kelsey Lippert, Kendrick Van Ackeren, Connor Lebsock, Tucker Schye.
Projected Depth
Starters: Jordan Tripp (senior), Brock Coyle (senior), JP Kanongata'a (senior)
Backup: Addison Owen (soph), Jeremiah Kose (soph), Kendrick Van Ackeren (soph)
Depth: Connor Lebsock (soph), Kelsey Lippert (soph)
Red Shirt: Tucker Schye (frosh)
Strengths/Weaknesses
Jordan Tripp - Jordan might be one of the very best linebackers ever to suit up in a Montana jersey, this senior season he's got an opportunity to prove he can play on Sundays. He's got the mix of the size, speed, and smarts. He's good in pass coverage, defends the zone-read fairly well, hits hard, and is a leader on and off the field. This year Jordan needs to round out his game, he can't get caught from behind while looking into the stands after a pick and he's got to do his 1/11 and not try to make up for others who get out of position. I noticed that with Tripp last year, at times he was trying to do 2 or 3 players jobs and it would catch him on his heels. I could see Jordan being an ideal 3-4 OLB in the NFL - hopefully this year he keeps going strong, gets after the QBs and piles up the tackles.
Brock Coyle - If I could place a bet on who will finish with the most tackles on the team, I'd put it on Brock. This guy, much like the middle linebackers he's followed (McSurdy and Lebsock), has a nose for the ball. The big thing I want to see in improvement from Brock is forcing turnovers, last year he forced 2 fumbles and recovered one. That's not bad but I'd love to see those numbers double. Brock is a very sure tackler, hopefully he can include more pop to his tackles and force a few more footballs out of the ball carriers hands. Zone/pass coverage wasn't bad in 2012, but hopefully improvement is made there as well. Coyle, much like McSurdy going into his senior year, has a chance to pile up huge numbers and could also get an NFL look.
JP Kanongata'a - Under-rated, IMO, and sometimes forgotten about when our stud LBs are discussed JP has gone from a linebacker who was labeled as too short and too slow to being a solid part of our defense. I think his power-rush when blitzing is the best of all the linebackers. He's quick in coverage and smart on the field. The combination of JP and Tripp on the edges makes for running outside of the tackles very difficult. JP, much like Coyle, needs to improve forcing fumbles, also needs to get into the backfield more and be more disruptive.
Addison Owen - Owen worked in some ST reps last year and will looked upon to contribute there this year as well. In addition Addison should start to see even more reps at outside linebacker. Addison has worked through his conversion from safety in high school to OLB at Montana and played well in the spring. He's very smart in pass coverage but still finds himself out of position at times on the field. Gregorak yells at him a lot (but not as much as he used to), Addison needs to keep improving his rush-defense as well. He's a very versatile player, can cover very well, is really quick. Pass-rush isn't there yet.
Jeremiah Kose - Jeremiah came in last fall recovering from knee surgery and didn't play too much. This spring after seeing him out there and even starting at middle linebacker in the last scrimmage I'm really impressed. Kose tracks the ball-carrier really well, he stays with running backs all the way to the sidelines He's a hard hitter too. Pass coverage is suspect, in a few scrimmages the middle of the field was a pretty easy target to exploit.
Kendrick Van Ackeren - We've got a very limited scope in what we've seen from him but he's poised to grab a starting spot and hold it down for 2 years after this season. Brought in to help at safety he wasn't adapting the playbook well and was just not breaking through like expected. He played OLB at Hawai'i and suddenly when he moved to that spot he killed it. If that small sample we saw is an indicator of what he can contribute - much like Addison Owen - he will be able to come in and play multiple series each game to help keep the starters fresh.
Kelsey Lippert - Lippert took an expanded role this spring due to the resting and injuries of a few other linebackers. In run support he looked pretty solid to me. He was in on a lot of tackles. I didn't see much from him in pass coverage so I can't say how he does there. This year I assume his main role will be special teams with the plan to fight for a starting spot in 2014.
Connor Lebsock - Missed spring ball I believe. Converting from safety to linebacker, I recall someone on here posting that he's added some weight and it doing well. Probably looking at mostly ST duty this year. I'll be interested to see how he looks in fall camp, he was a quick player at safety but now a little bigger/stronger, he's making an Addison Owen-like move, which I would guess will take some time to adjust to.
Tucker Schye - I really liked what I saw from Schye in his highlight reel and the talk around him from all-star games and camps continues to be great. Considering we've got 3 seniors and 5 sophomores the depth is in good shape this year, I'd like to see Schye red-shirt so we can get 4 full years from him. I do wonder about speed/footwork of this level and adapting to it - a red shirt may help that.
