Oklahoma State University Athletics
Spring Preview: Linebackers
March 31, 2015 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER -- Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Glenn Spencer has reason to be optimistic about his linebacker corps going into 2015. Senior and three-year letterman Ryan Simmons - who Spencer referred to as the heart and soul of last year's defense - is back at middle linebacker and brings 26 career starts with him. Simmons started every game the last two years. No returning Cowboy has more career tackles than Simmons, who has made 189 career stops. Included in that total are 25.5 tackles for loss, which also leads the team. He made 96 tackles and had 12.0 for loss last season, but while he was productive on the stat sheet, it was his ability to lead and quickly adapt to a completely different defensive scheme than he was used to that drew the most praise from Spencer. In 2013, Simmons was part of an aggressive, attacking-style OSU defense, but after that bunch sustained losses to graduation and the NFL Draft and was forced to compete with inexperienced players in 2014, the coaches asked him to play in more of a Tampa 2 set in which he often times dropped way back into coverage. In both scenarios - attacking and dropping back - Simmons proved his ability to make plays and just like in 2014, he is once again expected to be a rock of the defense in 2015.
Junior Seth Jacobs, also a starter from last year, returns as well after earning defensive MVP honors as part of OSU's Cactus Bowl win over Washington. From his weakside linebacker spot, Jacobs finished 2014 third on the team with 92 tackles and added 6.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions, five pass breakups, two quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles. At the end of last season, Jacobs was honored by the OSU coaching staff as the defensive recipient of the team's Barry Sanders Award, presented to the player with the most contribution with the least recognition.
While Simmons and Jacobs are well-positioned to be starters in 2015, the third starting spot is more fluid. That said, Spencer will be choosing from a strong pool of candidates. Perhaps a better question than who will be the third starter is what does Spencer want to do with that position. If he wants a faster, more agile player there (which has typically been his preference), then junior college transfer Jordan Burton (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) or sophomore Kirk Tucker (6-foot-2, 195 pounds) would be candidates. Burton ranked among the top 10 players nationally in the junior college ranks with 10.8 tackles per game last season at Kilgore JC and Tucker was a special teams standout who played meaningful reps at linebacker late in the season. Sophomore Gyasi Akem (6-foot-1, 215 pounds) may also get a look. If Spencer wants to go with a bigger, more powerful frame at that third linebacker spot, then Justin Phillips (six-foot, 220 pounds) would be a candidate, along with veteran Kris Catlin. Similar to Tucker, Phillips was a standout on special teams who broke into the defensive playing time rotation late in the season last year.
Other names to know in terms of potential for meaningful playing time include senior Devante Averette, sophomore Chad Whitener and redshirt freshman Josh Mabin. Averette was pegged to start last season before an injury derailed that opportunity. He did play in two games in 2014, but welcomes this year's opportunity to show what he can do when at full speed. Whitener is an interesting prospect in that he is a power-five transfer from California who sat out last season per NCAA transfer regulations. The Mansfield, Texas, native played some as a true freshman for the Golden Bears and even recovered a fumble in a Pac-12 game against Oregon State. Mabin was enjoying a very impressive fall camp last year before he was lost for the season to injury. Should he return to that same form, he would appear to be a candidate to be a multi-year playmaker for OSU.
The Bottom Line:
Ryan Simmons and Seth Jacobs are the leaders of this group. Simmons is a two-year starter and three-year letterwinner. It's unclear what to expect beyond those two, but this much is certain: whoever gets the third starting spot will have earned it, because there are several good, fairly evenly-matched candidates in the pool. Regardless of who starts and who doesn't, linebacker appears to be a position group that is deep enough to where Glenn Spencer can roll different players on and off the field and feel good about what he has out there.
