I'll start with a couple of guys from Big Ten. Feel free to add on ! Michigan St. LB Joe Bachie is the next white Spartan great at linebacker! Recorded 100tkls last year and 2.5sks, 3ints! Nice article below. https://www.landof10.com/michigan-state/michigan-state-football-joe-bachie-new-video-2018 Video, play on mute Next up are Wisconsin LB's Andrew Van Ginkel and Ryan Connelly . Van Ginkel had a breakout JR. Campaign. 39tkls and 6.5 sks, 2ints, 2forced fumbles! Ryan Connelly had 80tkls and 3sks last season! Both are due for big Senior season's!
Joe Dineen (SR) 6'2" 230 Kansas- Led the FBS in solo tackles per game at 7.6, set the KU single season record with 25 TFLs, he had 137 total tackles, 25 TFLS, 2.5 sacks, 2 PBUS. Logan Wilson (JR) 6'2" 230 Wyoming- Led Wyoming in tackles with 119. He also added 1 sack, 1 INT and 2 FF. Cooper Edmiston (JR) 6'3" 237 Tulsa- He had 106 total tackles.
Nice work CelticDB ...early last season watching Michigan State on TV Joe Bachie catches your eye immediately as an impact player w nose for the ball! Wisconsin duo are some play makers! & solid additions Dolphins15..those are some Tackling machines...following Celticdb's post; Dineen would have been my first player mentioned too! Some more quality LBers ILB- Cameron Smith (Sr.) 6'-2" 250 USC....bypassed 18' NFL Draft...Intense...CAREER so far...273 tackles/ 19 for losses (with 2.5 sacks) + 10 deflections, 3 fumble recoveries and 4 INT's (with a TD) ... has appeared in 37 games in his career, with 35 starts. OLB- Porter Gustin (Sr.) 6'-5" 255 USC...High Energy; freakishly strong...battled injuries Jr. year CAREER: 109 tackles/ 23 for losses (with 14 sacks), + 4 deflections... appeared in 31 games with 17 starts. ILB- Pat Jasinski (Sr.) 6'-1" 233 Central Florida....last season...105 tackles, which included 47 solo, 8.0 for loss...Voted Hardest Hitter in AAC by Street in Smith's ILB-Tuf Borland (RS Soph.) 6 '-1" 230 Ohio State...59 tackles & a Sack his freshman game; despite starting later in season Joey Alfieri (Sr.) 6'-3" 236 Stanford....has 21 TFL in his Career & 10.5 Sacks MLB- Brant Mitchell (Sr.) 6'-2" 236 Georgia Tech....need some updated stats...ACC Defensive Player of the Week at least once Ben Humphreys (Sr.) 6'-2" 225 Duke ...207 career tackles; 8 sacks; 2 INT's (one for TD) ; 4 pass deflections; 3 fumble recoveries
Paddy Fisher (R. So) - 6'4" 245 Northwestern...113 total tackles, 9 TFLs, 4 PDs, 4 FFs, 1 FR, 1 INT as a redshirt freshman. He is an absolute beast and should become on of the best LBers in the nation.
Ty Summers (Sr.) 6'-2" 235 TCU .....271 career tackles, 17 TFLs, 6.5 sacks, 9 Pass break-up's & 2 INTs...being touted as Nation's Most Under Rated LBer
Cole Holcomb (SR) 6'1" 225 North Carolina. He has led North Carolina in tackles the last two seasons. He has 223 career tackles. A former walk on of course. Dylan Tonkery (SO) 6'0" 222 West Virginia. Former high school RB turned LB started 8 games last year. He had 43 total tackles with 6.5 TFL and 2 sacks. Cale Garrett (JR) 6'3" 235 Missouri. He led the team 105 total tackles. Also had 10 TFL, 3 sacks and 2 INTS.
Jon Reschke who was a former starting linebacker for Michigan State is back on the team after being dismissed last year for using racist words talking about a teammate in a text. It looks like the team supports his return, interesting to see if he contributes to defense in his 1 last season or is just a backup/special teams guy. He had 75 tackles in 2015.
Colin Schooler (SO) 6'0" 226 Arizona. He was the Pac 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year. He had 95 total tackles, 13.5 TFLs, 4 sacks and 2 INTS. He is the brother of Brendan Schooler the WR at Oregon. Drew comparisons to Scooby Wright.
Breckyn Hager (SR) 6'3" 255 Texas. He was Honorable Mention All Big 12 last season even though he only started 4 games. Of course it's a wonder why he hasn't started more games. He's on the Bednarik Watch list. He has 105 career tackles with 10 sacks. His dad played in the NFL for 9 years. He was all over the field in their bowl game.
Connor Strachan (SR) 6'0 230 Boston College. Only played 2 games in 2017 after going down with a season ending injury, but has produced a good career total of 201 tackles with 28 tfl's, 8 sacks, and 3 int's! Had an amazing All-ACC selection sophomore campaign in 2016. Has really stuck out so far in 2018, with 26 tot tackles, and 2 sacks already!
Ben Burr-Kirven (Sr) 6'0 221 Washington. Was named second team All PAC-12 in 2017, after notching 84 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 1 int! He's the leader of the Huskies defense, and has gotten off to a hot start in 2018 as well already grabbing 33 tackles through 3 games! I havn't heard of any draft buzz on him, but I wont be surprised to see him land on an NFL roster.
Through the quarter point of the season (for most teams) here are the top 5 LBs (solo tackles are what I am ranking them on): 1. Joe Dineen Jr. Kansas - 53 total tackles|37 solo|2.5 TFL|1 INT 2. Cameron Smith USC - 40 total tackles|30 solo|1 sack|5 TFL 4. Drue Tranquill Notre Dame - 33 total tackles|27 solo|1 sack|2 TFL 4. Evan Weaver Cal - 39 total tackles|27 solo|4 PBU **Only played 3 games 7. Ben Burr-Kirven - 53 total tackles|26 solo|2 FF
Nice all of them should be NFL bound! Never heard of Evan Weaver, good to know about another elite LB!
