Nice post! Keep up the good work~!
Chris | Email | Homepage | 08.30.06 - 12:26 am | #

Hey - just a thought. Maybe you could analyze ND's unit at the top of these position reviews, then include them in the rankings. That'd be cool to see how you think ND stacks up vs. other units.


Nice work, as always.
AJ | Email | Homepage | 08.30.06 - 12:32 am | #

So the question becomes, are PSU linebackers good enough to control the entire game?

tOSU had great linebackers last year and they seemed to give ND fits. . . .
atepesm | Email | Homepage | 08.30.06 - 1:51 am | #

AJ - I'll do that on Thursday.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 08.30.06 - 8:02 am | #

tOSU had damn fine DL and DB units as well, at least better than PSU's will be. Sam Young pancakes Connor and Shaw mulitple times, and does a decent job on Posluszny.
IrishHoffy | Email | Homepage | 08.30.06 - 9:03 am | #

A quick update. Michigan released their depth chart for the Vandy game and Chris Graham is listed as the starting WLB and Prescott Burgess is listed as the 2nd string SLB behind Shawn Crable.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 08.30.06 - 9:14 am | #

In case you haven't seen it yet:

https://www.spreadshirt.com/ shop...._id=1489378#top
IrishHoffy | Email | Homepage | 08.30.06 - 10:56 am | #

Nice writeup. I figured I'd throw in my $.02 on Penn State's LBers....

- Posluszny's Orange Bowl knee injury turned out to be a partial tear that didn't even require surgery. He's 100% good to go.

- Dan Connor isn't "extremely fast". He's got amazing instincts and a nack for dropping back into the right area, but he is not all that fast or athletic.

- MLBer Tim Shaw, a former Michigan 100M sprint champion, is the fastest 'backer on the team. Remember the name because he's going to open a lot of eyes at the NFL combine. He's a natural OLBer playing inside because of the presence of Posluszny and Connor but he averaged 10 TPG playing outside last fall when Connor was suspended. During this time Sales replaced Shaw in the middle.

- Jerome Hayes has reportedly now moved up to 2nd team MLBer behind Shaw. I believe he'll be the 4th LBer if PSU elects to go with a 3-4.
Brian | Email | Homepage | 08.30.06 - 12:15 pm | #

Thanks for the scoop Brian.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 08.30.06 - 1:29 pm | #

Just to reiterate Brian, Poz is 100% healthy. He had to sit out spring practice due to rehab, but he was reportedly an animal in the weight room. His body fat is reportedly under 5%. His teammates say he's back stronger and faster than he was last year. That's scary.

Tim Shaw is the forgotten guy in the PSU threesome, but he's good enough to start for any team in the country. He is so fast he was originally a running back his freshman year. If teams try to run away from Poz and Connor, you're going to see Shaw have some ridiculous numbers.
Mike | Email | Homepage | 08.30.06 - 2:40 pm | #

I'd watch out for Sovie. The guy may be tiny by most standards, but he's the fastest of the group and can put a pop on anyone. He beat out some good talent to take the starting spot, and considering this is a very deep unit at that, should make some noise this year. BTW I think Navy has the 17th best LB corps according to Phil Steele.
Adam | Email | Homepage | 08.30.06 - 3:47 pm | #