The names you hear are Compton, Fisher, and Martin. But add a fourth -- Alonza Whaley...

If Martin brings it at LB as he did on special teams
LB is my biggest question mark for the defense this season. Compton appeared in over his head much of last season. Hopefully he's come along splendidly.

Compton did struggle at times last year, but it came out after the season that he was struggling with bum ankles. Hopefully he will make a big step forward in his sophomore year. That's ond thing to consider is that NU has a lot of young talent at the LB position. I think you will see those guys make big strides this coming year.

I like the depth. I thought Compton played MUCH better in the bowl game (probably healthier). Also, I recall doing a little research a year ago (or two) that the biggest improvement typically happens between your first and second season playing. Crick a perfect example -- two career tackles coming into last season.

In terms of scary good and fast LBs, I imagine Martin and LaVonte David! But I suspect David will redshirt a year to learn the scheme and get comfortable with the defense. The other guys all have a year or two in the system on him.

If David were to play this year, that would put May, Holt & David in the same class as Juniors.
I've been thinking that with Martin in that mix also, David could be a redshirt.

I dont see David redshirting. With his skill set and our need he was brought in as a play now or else

Oh yeah, he's talented and all, but do we have enough playing time for Compton, Martin, May, Holt, Fisher, & Whaley when only two start?
David would make a seventh linebacker and when we're in the nickel or dime, he's on the bench.
It could be a tremendous waste of a year of eligibility unless he's that much better than Compton, Martin, & co.

If they wanted or thought David was a redshirt candidate he would never been offered a scholarship to begin with. The only way he RS is injury/bust. You don't go JUCO with the idea of RS them.

I think they would consider the value of having any player learning the system for a year, if they have that year to spare. JUCO doesn't always mean automatic starter or bust to me.

I think that you also have to consider JUCO players are usually JUCO beacause of their grades.
The extra year would make it easier for David to adjust, adapt and pick up the playbook.
Then after a redshirt year come two full quality years of football.

Lavonte David won't be here in the Spring. Gomes was here for the Spring last year, Kinnie wasn't. Both emerged around mid-season. Obviously Gomes was by far the more impact player.

The thing is both Gomes and Kinnie played positions lacking quality depth, which is not so much the case for David IMO. Who did Kinnie have to beat out? Chris Brooks. Meno Holt. Both non-factors. RFr baseball player Khiry Cooper, who also missed spring ball. Curenski Gilleylen. Will Henry. Except for Cooper, all these were veteran wide receivers who just never (or have yet to) make any impact.

Then there's Gomes. Who was his competition for dime? Lance Thorell? Anthony West, perhaps? Mike Hays? Or all those true freshmen.

David, on the other hand, is up against Fisher, Compton, Martin, Whaley, May, Holt -- all young, experienced players -- for one of likely only two available starting spots. And again, he won't be here for the spring.

This isn't to say David might not win a spot by midseason if nobody had solidified their spot. Now that's possible.

I think the "quality depth" thing might be the reason David was offered in the first place. As in, I doubt Bo is as comfortable with the youngsters as you think. I realize they were both redshirt freshmen but neither Compton nor Fisher were very effective last season. I didn't see Whaley even play on kick coverage. I've seen plenty of young kids make huge strides as they mature so I still think these kids could progress into good players but if it weren't for Dillard, NU would've been really awful at LB last season. Compton and Fisher both lacked speed and stregnth last year. That is generally not a good thing. Compton played quite a bit better toward the end of the year, didn't get steamrolled as often, but he still struggled on the sideline plays. Fisher never really showed any athleticism and while he is a decent open field tackler, he just gets dominated by blockers. Like I said before, I'm not betting against them becoming good players by the end of their career here, I am concerned that their lack of athleticism will keep them from becoming all-conference type players and that type of player is what NU has to have.

Thus the David scholarship...

That makes sense. Blake Lawrence was the #1 rated recruit out of Kansas that year, I'm pretty sure a four-star. But he just didn't develop into a dominating LB. Compton was similarly sought after and we had to beat out Oklahoma for Fisher, who have both been in the system two years now. Compton's bad ankles may be a ongoing concern, who knows? As a fan I'm believing this is their breakout year but you are right, coaches just might have a better eye for these things than we do.

By the way, we also had the Williams kid who was very highly regarded out of Texas who arrived injured and left. So that in itself opened up the scholly. Anyway, thanks for the post Slugger.

Williams' knee was completely destroyed in that sideline accident. I recall catching hell here for saying that he might not be able to play any more... but I am above saying I told you so.

Anyway, I look back at some other LB's who played their second year here like Marc Munford and Barrett Ruud, both of those guys were pretty impressive with their abilty to play sideline to sideline, I didn't see that with Compton or Fisher last year. Some cause for concern, IMO.

Thing is I'm a realy believer in development that second year playing. Time after time you hear players who are so much "faster" simply because the light turns out, they don't have to think as much, maybe some extra coaching. Look at how much Asante improved this year from the last two after Mike Brown (I think it was him) spent some time with him.

Let's hope I'm right and let's hope you and others are right about David.

SoCal, thanks for all of the recaps on what Carl had to say regarding the defense. One thing is apparent is that there's some to be some serious competition at all sorts of positions this spring and fall. It's going to be fun to watch it unfold.

I just find it funny how some people are so quick to say that Compton and Fisher suck just because they didn't dominate as freshmen starters. Those two may end up being replaced as starters down the road, but they are still young and have a good chance at contributing down the road. I have no idea how good Compton and Fisher are, but they were highly touted coming out of high school. When people were defending the "talent" of the previous regime, they were saying how these guys were highly recruited and sought after by other top schools. Now, that we are talking about newer guys, these same people are quickly to say they aren't very good.

All true. When I think of players who looked pretty bad as sophomores and developed into good/great players, the list is long. Trevor Johnson, Both Chad and Chris Kelsay were not even mediocre as sophs, great as Jr's and Sr's. Stew Bradley developed into a great LB and is still playing in the pros. I'm not thowing in the towel on these kids at all, I am saying their lack of range is something that will be hard to overcome, will probably prevent them from becoming all conference type players. The other thing to consider when discussing both Compton and Fisher is that they are so young. In Fisher's case, who really knows what he'll look like as a 22 year old man? He could grow into Stew Bradley II. I hope so. In the mean time, neither one of them is physically dominant. Adequate maybe, certainly not dominant. Dillard showed us what a dominant physical presence can do at LB.

We always knew he had it in him. Had the reputation when he arrived. Finally put it together last year. What a great story.

I agree with what you are saying sluggo, but Dillard didn't show us what he was truly made of until his 5th year in the program. Sometimes it takes time for some guys. Asante is another guy who didn't have it "click" until his senior year, after being very average his sophomore and junior seasons. I hope it doesn't take Fisher and Compton until their senior years until they are good/great LB's, but like you said, it is way too early to throw in the towel on those guys.