The Bobcat Nation

It sure feels like we have a ton of LB's waiting in the wings, and that's a good thing! I think a major weakness of Ash's last two years on defense was in the LB core (not including Mac). I feel like that situation has been rectified and we have an abundance of riches waiting to be used there now. How does everyone view the 2 deep going into spring ball?

My 2 deep:

Sam - Andersen, Hadley (unless he's at Buck), Chapman

Mike - Cozzie, Opland

Will - Hill, Gilman

Do you think they view Hill as more of a Mike or more as a will? I know they wanted to move him to Will last year and he doesn't have prototypical size for mike, but I thought he played very well as a mike last year when healthy. We have so many good players that could play linebacker, I don't know where to put them all. Not listed, but could vie for playing time: Kanow (is he going to continue to be a buck? Seems like we have lots of players slotted there for now), Collins (does he go back to MLB with Sterk coming in?), Brayden Konkol (safety?), Askelson coming in, O'Reilly was said to be given a shot at QB but would switch to OLB if it didn't work out, Jackson McCleery, Sal Aguilar

Starting LB's (my guess):

Troy Andersen
Michael Jobman in the Middle
Josh Hill

The two deep is such a crap shoot at this point.... lots of options, and a couple question marks- like injury status (chapman)? moving positions (Konkel, etc)?......

Random note- but if those 3 mentioned above are the starters, then the starting LB's are all Montana kids... which is cool.

What makes it so difficult as you alluded to is we don’t even know what group of players we have to select from. Is Collins in the mix? Is Konkel in the mix? At 6’5” & 220 lbs could Hadley be a DE? At 6’3” & 205lbs could Kanow be a LB?

Assuming the seven you have listed are the group to select from, and based on the coaches statements of “we’ll try and get our best 11 players on the field”, I’d say the starting linebackers would be; Anderson, Hadley, and Hill.

What a great problem to have.

The MICKSTER wrote:What makes it so difficult as you alluded to is we don’t even know what group of players we have to select from. Is Collins in the mix? Is Konkel in the mix? At 6’5” & 220 lbs could Hadley be a DE? At 6’3” & 205lbs could Kanow be a LB?

Assuming the seven you have listed are the group to select from, and based on the coaches statements of “we’ll try and get our best 11 players on the field”, I’d say the starting linebackers would be; Anderson, Hadley, and Hill.

What a great problem to have.

Judging from the picture of Hadley in the DL shakeup thread, I don't think he's going to be a LB. Buck seems most likely for him now.

I’ve heard Choate tell a story about telling Josh Hill that they recruit guys to replace him. It makes Hill work that much harder. If they do find “that guy” then we’ll be super solid at LB.

Our talent and depth at the key positions is very impressive. The best in years! I really can't think of a position of concern right now.

superbobcat wrote:Our talent and depth at the key positions is very impressive. The best in years! I really can't think of a position of concern right now.

Pass-rusher is still a concern for me. Bryce Sterk will help as well as another year of development from Marks and Jobman along with Hadley and Kanow potentially seeing time at Buck. I like our strong-side ends in Fa'anono, Marks, and Ferriter but Grant was our best bet last year for a consistent pass-rush. Not just sacks but actually flustering the QB. The interior of our line will be strong but we will need more push up the middle than we got last year on passing downs. Yates, Wright, Benson, and Leota is a good group and hopefully they can do even more in 2018.

VimSince03 wrote:

superbobcat wrote:Our talent and depth at the key positions is very impressive. The best in years! I really can't think of a position of concern right now.

Pass-rusher is still a concern for me. Bryce Sterk will help as well as another year of development from Marks and Jobman along with Hadley and Kanow potentially seeing time at Buck. I like our strong-side ends in Fa'anono, Marks, and Ferriter but Grant was our best bet last year for a consistent pass-rush. Not just sacks but actually flustering the QB. The interior of our line will be strong but we will need more push up the middle than we got last year on passing downs. Yates, Wright, Benson, and Leota is a good group and hopefully they can do even more in 2018.

So blitz Andersen/Hill more often to disrupt the plays.

I'm biased, but I'd like to see Andersen at Sam, Hill at Will, and Opland at Mike. Just something about having two former state champion sprinters at LB. Who else in the Big Sky could say that?

topey711 wrote:I'm biased, but I'd like to see Andersen at Sam, Hill at Will, and Opland at Mike. Just something about having two former state champion sprinters at LB. Who else in the Big Sky could say that?

Pretty amazing that most of our linebackers are from Montana. Only two are from out of state. Those ranking services might want to pay more attention to our home grown talent:

LB – Jacob Hadley – So
LB – Tad Gilman – Rf
LB – Sean Opland -- So
LB -- Balue Chapman – So
LB – Grant Collins – Sr
LB – Walker Cozzie – Jr
LB – Jackson McCleery -- So
LB – Josh Hill – Jr
LB – Troy Anderson So
LB – Sal Aguilar -- Rf
LB – Nolan Askelson -- F
?LB? – Brayden Konkel – Jr
?LB? – Callahan O’Reilly – Rf

Swimming in linebackers is pretty accurate. Not sure that the questions of depth are answered just yet. Collins and Chapman may or may not make it back. Konkol and Hill both played out of position last year and are undersized. Andersen looks like he will be a starter. Hadley will be a defensive end. Gilman, Kanow and Jobman saw limited action. There should be plenty of opportunity for talent to show itself in the Spring and Fall. Hopefully that translates to "depth"

I'm sticking with the lineup I posted a few months back:

Buck - Sterk, Hadley
Will - Andersen
Mike - Hill
Sam - Collins

I think Konkol will be moved back to his natural SS / Nickel position. Konkol is an extremely flexible athlete and a guy who I still think is generally underrated. Hadley will be tried at DE. He has probably gained another 10 pounds since I last posted that.

Collins natural position is at Sam I think. I don't think Hill will be moved from Mike, despite being less than ideal in size for the position. Hill is a very tough kid. As long as he's tough enough to play Mike, that's all that matters in my opinion. He's a great kid with natural instincts for the position. Andersen will be the wild card at Will I think. What Gregorak decides to do with him & Konkol in blitz packages next season is one of the things I'm looking forward to the most.

For backups, I think Chapman, Cozzie, & Opland all need to bulk up (which I hope they're doing as I write this). I'd say Askelson will likely not be redshirted this season and I predict he'll be an LB starter in 1-2 years.

Contrary to the roster, I can tell you that Opland is around 220 currently.

So great we have that much depth at linebacker. Now we can move Anderson back on offense. The guy is one of the most dynamic offensive players we have ever had. It’s been a long time since the BSC has seen a guy that when he gets the corner is so difficult to stop. He may be an NFL prospect at LB but we need him on offense. Get him the rock early and often. It will be epic.

I have LB listed as one of the weak spots for 2018. Last year when Hill got hurt they moved Collins to his spot. That tells you about the depth at LB. We lost Bignell. Anderson may or may not play LB and he has only taken a few college snaps at that position. We will see how the young guys develop but for now that is not our strongest spot.

Mtcatfan wrote:So great we have that much depth at linebacker. Now we can move Anderson back on offense. The guy is one of the most dynamic offensive players we have ever had. It’s been a long time since the BSC has seen a guy that when he gets the corner is so difficult to stop. He may be an NFL prospect at LB but we need him on offense. Get him the rock early and often. It will be epic.

I think the plan is to move him to LB but still get him 8-10 touches on offense per game. Choate said something to that effect on his season ending presser, though he said nothing is set in stone yet.

Welp, so Choate said he's moving Jobman to Mike this Spring ... And Konkol is staying at Will.

This seems to indicate our D Line depth is in really good shape, more than anything. Despite the need for a true pass rusher still.

But I guess I'm not really following the plan here. So we're going to put two of our top defensive players together at Will to battle for the position (Konkol & Hill)?

Does this mean Andersen will be tried at Sam? I'm not sure he has the bulk for Sam, but he is a heck of an athlete. Or will Andersen be tried at SS? I would've guessed SS is a more natural position for him, but that's a position that requires sound instincts & heavy experience ideally. Not sure we wouldn't be better off keeping Andersen on O if this is the case.

I’m not sure what to think about Konkol? Better at LB or another position? It’s almost like ya need to move him around depending on the opponent. Similar to what they did with grant Collins last year. Either way, he is a heck of player and needs to be on the field.

I really like the Jobman to middle lb move! I’m excited to see what he can do there

1984TwoMinutesHate wrote:Welp, so Choate said he's moving Jobman to Mike this Spring ... And Konkol is staying at Will.

This seems to indicate our D Line depth is in really good shape, more than anything. Despite the need for a true pass rusher still.

But I guess I'm not really following the plan here. So we're going to put two of our top defensive players together at Will to battle for the position (Konkol & Hill)?

Does this mean Andersen will be tried at Sam? I'm not sure he has the bulk for Sam, but he is a heck of an athlete. Or will Andersen be tried at SS? I would've guessed SS is a more natural position for him, but that's a position that requires sound instincts & heavy experience ideally. Not sure we wouldn't be better off keeping Andersen on O if this is the case.

The best way to look at this is not get locked in to putting a guy at any certain linebacker spot. All of them are versatile and smart so that is a plus for Gregorak. Jobman is getting reps at Mike this spring but that doesn't mean he is remaining there OR becoming the starting Mike linebacker. Josh is going to get limited reps this spring as he is the presumed starter at Mike.

Troy doesn't have enough bulk for Sam?! Mac Bignell was the Sam linebacker at an All-Big Sky level playing at 205-220. Troy is already up around 220-225. Earlier you said Grant Collins is a good fit at Sam and I think the exact opposite. Usually Sams are a lighter linebacker because they have to be good in coverage as well as sound in their run fits. Cole Moore was a good example of a solid Sam linebacker. Grant was moved to Buck because he is great around the line of scrimmage and not the strongest in pass coverage. Grant is a throwback "thumper" of a linebacker because he is great against the run so the coaches got him on the line of scrimmage to get after the QB. There was a reason Balue and Hadley (pre-hulk mode) competed for the Sam spot last spring. They are twitchy athletes who can run with receivers/tight ends in pass coverage while also be sufficient in stopping the run. Really I think Konkol or Hill would make good Sam linebackers as well. If Jobman does really well this spring, the LB group could be Konkol (Will), Josh or Jobman (Mike), and Josh or Troy (Sam) with Hadley or Sterk or Jobman (Buck). Chad Kanow, Sean Opland, Walker Cozzie, Tadan Gilman, and Sal Aguilar will all get heavy work this spring to compete for the 2-deep.

VimSince03 wrote:

1984TwoMinutesHate wrote:Welp, so Choate said he's moving Jobman to Mike this Spring ... And Konkol is staying at Will.

This seems to indicate our D Line depth is in really good shape, more than anything. Despite the need for a true pass rusher still.

But I guess I'm not really following the plan here. So we're going to put two of our top defensive players together at Will to battle for the position (Konkol & Hill)?

Does this mean Andersen will be tried at Sam? I'm not sure he has the bulk for Sam, but he is a heck of an athlete. Or will Andersen be tried at SS? I would've guessed SS is a more natural position for him, but that's a position that requires sound instincts & heavy experience ideally. Not sure we wouldn't be better off keeping Andersen on O if this is the case.

The best way to look at this is not get locked in to putting a guy at any certain linebacker spot. All of them are versatile and smart so that is a plus for Gregorak. Jobman is getting reps at Mike this spring but that doesn't mean he is remaining there OR becoming the starting Mike linebacker. Josh is going to get limited reps this spring as he is the presumed starter at Mike.

Troy doesn't have enough bulk for Sam?! Mac Bignell was the Sam linebacker at an All-Big Sky level playing at 205-220. Troy is already up around 220-225. Earlier you said Grant Collins is a good fit at Sam and I think the exact opposite. Usually Sams are a lighter linebacker because they have to be good in coverage as well as sound in their run fits. Cole Moore was a good example of a solid Sam linebacker. Grant was moved to Buck because he is great around the line of scrimmage and not the strongest in pass coverage. Grant is a throwback "thumper" of a linebacker because he is great against the run so the coaches got him on the line of scrimmage to get after the QB. There was a reason Balue and Hadley (pre-hulk mode) competed for the Sam spot last spring. They are twitchy athletes who can run with receivers/tight ends in pass coverage while also be sufficient in stopping the run. Really I think Konkol or Hill would make good Sam linebackers as well. If Jobman does really well this spring, the LB group could be Konkol (Will), Josh or Jobman (Mike), and Josh or Troy (Sam) with Hadley or Sterk or Jobman (Buck). Chad Kanow, Sean Opland, Walker Cozzie, Tadan Gilman, and Sal Aguilar will all get heavy work this spring to compete for the 2-deep.

VIM, in the long run it doesn't matter as we rotate so many guys through, BUT do you see Andersen starting at LB come fall? I see him needing some reps and maybe being a starter mid-way through the year. He's one of the most talented kids on the field and roster, its just a tough deal to keep moving him around and learning all the plays etc.