I can already tell this is going to be a tough one. It's surprisingly difficult to rank linebackers given the huge versatility in what they do and the general difficult in playing linebacker these days. So don't get angry at me. For advanced stats the overall defense probably going to carry a lot of weight.
14. Purdue: Derrick Barnes, Jaylan Alexander, DaMarcus Mitchell, Kieran Douglas
Well, somebody has to be last. Purdue was not good at defense last year (82nd SP+), and they've lost some quality players. Markus Bailey had a sad final year where injury knocked him out, and they also lost tackling machine Ben Holt. Cornel Jones decided to transfer to Florida State, where he was promptly kicked off the team. On top of that, Bob Diaco is trying to transition to his preferred 3-4 defense, so he needs even more linebackers. Derrick Barnes started his career as a linebacker and had a pretty good 2018 season, but moved to the line last year. He's back at linebacker, pairing with Alexander as really the only guys with experience. I'm just guessing on starters after them. Mitchell is a JUCO transfer who can hopefully step in and play. Douglas and Khali Saunders are the only other guys on the roster who recorded a tackle last year. With no spring ball, it's going to be a real job to get this group up and running.
13. Nebraska: Will Honas, Colin Miller, JoJo Domann, Caleb Tannor
This might be too low for Nebraska - it's not like they were horrid on defense last year. But they weren't great and they lose their defensive leader in Mo Berry. Like seemingly everything with Nebraska, there's a lot of uncertainty, and the confidence in Scott Frost to cover over the uncertainty is waning. Honas and Miller will man the inside and will try to replace Berry. Outside, Domann and Tannor combined for 5 sacks last year, which isn't particularly impressive. Behind all of these guys Nebraska is pretty thin at the position, and if you looked at the defensive line preview, there are a lot of questions about the defensive line, too. You combine these things and it looks like the bottom will drop out of the Nebraska defense. Still, I'll have to see it to believe it.
12. Maryland: Ayinde Eley, Chance Campbell, Shaq Smith, Fa'Najae Gotay
Maryland was horrid at defense last year, and they did lose two of their top linebackers in Keandre Jones and Isaiah Davis. Still, there is an air of positivity around this group, which will be led by Eley, who received an honorable mention on the coach's B1G team last year. Former Clemson Tiger Shaq Smith finally hopes to make an impact if he can stay healthy. They actually have a large group of guys who get snaps this fall, and Locksley does have a four star recruit in Ruben Hyppolite II, whose name seems extremely fun to say so I hope he sees the field. The bottom did fall out of the Maryland defense last year. If they hope to turn it around, it will probably be led by this group.
11. Minnesota: Mariano Sori-Marin, Braelen Oliver, James Gordon, Donald Willis
Placing Minny here mostly because not sure what to do with them. For one, their base defense is a 4-2-5, so it's not like linebacker is their priority. For two, they were pretty good last year Thomas Barber and Kamal Martin manning the middle. For three, those guys left and we aren't particularly sure what the new guys will look like. It's not like we should expect them to be bad, but they are all various three star types so it's hard to expect them to be great, too. Minnesota's defense is retooling all over the field so this will be an adventure for the Gophers.
10. Rutgers: Tyshon Fogg, Olakunle Fatukasi, Tyreek Maddox-Williams, RaShawn Battle
Rutgers is in surprisingly good shape here. Linebacker was probably the strength of the defense last year, to the extent they had one, and everyone returns. Fogg especially may be in line for some hardware this season if Rutgers looks competent on defense. They even have some young guys who can contribute - fans are especially high on Deion Jennings. Should be interesting to see - Rutgers is going to be better up front this year, which should help the linebackers. But they are still learning a new defense without spring ball, and the defense was garbage last year. Add all that up and this is as high as I can put them right now.
9. Illinois: Jake Hansen, Milo Eifler, Khalan Tolson, Tarique Barnes
Illinois is mostly in good shape, albeit they lost Dele Harding, who was second in the country with 153 tackles. But they get a couple productive guys in Hansen and Eifler back. This being Illinois, we can go through the transfers. Eifler originally played at Washington. They picked up JUCO transfer Lavar Gardner, who looks to be an outside linebacker though he's listed as an athlete for now. Derrick Smith may play linebacker or safety - he's eligible this year after transferring from Miami. This is a solid group, weighed down by the fact that Illinois was just ok on defense last year and was bad stopping the run. Tick that up and Lovie will have something this year on defense.
8. Michigan State: Antjuan Simmons, Noah Harvey, Chase Kline, Jeslord Boateng
As always, Sparty is full of uncertainty and difficult to rank. Antjuan Simmons was great last year and led the team in tackles and had 15 TFLs. He can make plays sideline to sideline and rush the passer. He's in line for some hardware this year (and also used to be pledged to OSU, what the hell). Outside of him it's an adventure. Veterans Joe Bachie and Tyriq Thompson are gone, as is Dantonio. Harvey has experience in the middle after Bachie got popped for steroids last year, so he'll be the presumptive starter. Of course, it's not incredibly clear what kind of defense MSU will prefer this year, and how many linebackers will play. I can join ELA in hoping Boateng gets some snaps, but for me it's because I want to yell JESLORD at my television.
7. Indiana: Micah McFadden, Cam Jones, Thomas Allen, James Miller
Going through these I'm struck at how young Indiana was last year on defense. The linebacker group loses second leading tackler Raekwon Jones but otherwise returns everyone. Further, none of these guys are seniors, as WINdiana played a lot of freshmen and sophomores on a defense that ended up 43rd on SP+. Could they make the jump up into, say, a top 20 defense? It's not outside the realm of possibility. Considering their offense looks to be pretty strong, could WINdiana compete for a B1G crown? Well let's not get ahead of ourselves. The linebacker group is pretty good though waiting on playmakers to emerge. They gave up 3.92 yards a carry last year, which is not terrible, but they need to get that down a bit more to be a truly good defense.
6. Iowa: Djimon Colbert, Nick Niemann, Barrington Wade, Jack Campbell
Another difficult team to rank. Iowa was lights out on defense last year and while they will probably regress some from that, they still figure to be pretty good. But they are also moving away from three linebacker sets to two, a sign of the prevalence of spread offenses if there ever was one. It also shows the flexibility needed for defense - Iowa (and Ohio State) would like a base defense of 4-2-5 for all the spread teams, but will move to a 4-4-3 against teams like Wisconsin. Anyways, Iowa lost their top tackler in Kristian Welch, but they return veteran Colbert and have a pretty good pipeline of guys they can put on the field.
5. Michigan: Cam McGrone, Josh Ross, Michael Barrett, Anthony Solomon
Should be another solid group for the Wolverine, though they do have some attrition. They lose top tacklers Khaleke Hudson and Jordan Glasgow, as well as Josh Uche, who I got some flak for putting as a defensive end. Still, the cupboard is hardly bare. McGrone looked like the future for the Wolverines, showing enough athleticism to make plays sideline to sideline. He will likely be in the middle. Ross started over him for a bit until he got hurt - he will likely move outside. It gets a bit unknown after those two. Replacing Hudson at the Viper position will most likely be Michael Barrett. Michigan hopes for someone with a bit more playmaking ability - after a promising start Hudson never really impacted games as much as you would expect. He had 18 TFLs in 2017, then 3.5 in 2018 and 3 in 2019. If whomever replaces him can wreck opposing defenses a bit more, Michigan will be in good shape.
4. Wisconsin: Jack Sanborn, Leo Chanel, Noah Burks, Izayah Green-May
Another good looking group for Wiscy, even if they are a bit inexperienced. While they return leading tackler Sanborn, they lose a lot of experience in Chris Orr and Zack Baun. Still, Wisconsin linebackers are similar to their offensive line - they will have good ones. On the inside, either Leo Chanel or Mike Maskalunas will start opposite Sanborn. Noah Burks will start outside, and the biggest question will be who the fourth guy will be. It sounds like Green-May will get the first crack, but there are an array of talented if very inexperienced options. In summary, the group is good, the line in front of them is good, and they could rival or exceed last year's class. But they do have some inexperience to deal with, which is an extra wild card with COVID, so this is where I place them.
3. Northwestern: Paddy Fischer, Blake Gallagher, Chris Bergin, Erik Mueller
When evaluating linebackers, experience seems special. It may be like that for every position, but given the widely fluctuating responsibilities for these guys to fill gaps and drop back into coverage against all sorts of offenses, having guys who know where to be seems important. So Northwestern, who returns four seniors to their linebacking corps, and lose no one, get the jump here. Lost in the fact that Northwestern was terrible was the fact that their defense was still quite solid. While by SP+ they were ranked 91st, their defense was 27th. Their linebackers were a key reason, and so they will be again this year. Each starter averaged over seven tackles a game, and with the loss of GAZ they will likely be used more to rush the passer. Further, if the offense isn't trash and can score points, they might get more opportunities to rush the passer as other teams actually have to score points to win. A big turnaround for Northwestern can happen, and these guys will get the glory if it does.
2. Ohio State: Peter Werner, Tuf Borland, Baron Browning, Teradja Mitchell
It was just a couple years ago that OSU fans were screaming about their shitty linebackers. It's still mostly the same group, just a lot less shitty. While the line is the most talented part of the defense, the linebackers are the most experienced. They do lose thumper and leading tackler Malik Harrison, and replacing him will likely be former five star recruit Baron Browning, who has a chance to finally make a lot of plays after splitting time last year. Pete Werner will continue to gain a lot of snaps. Tuf Borland has been around since the 80's. There are options for depth, too. Former five star recruit Justin Hilliard returns for a sixth year after suffering a lot of injuries - it will be his last chance to live up to his potential. Former top 50 recruit Teradja Mitchell is constantly talked about but wasn't healthy enough to see much action last year. Expect for from him. The Buckeye defense has some youth on the front and back end, these guys will don't. What keeps them from the #1 spot is their lack of star power. While all of these guys are solid, it's not clear any of them are true playmakers. If Browning or Mitchell makes that leap, then you might have the best group.
1. Penn State: Micah Parsons, Brandon Smith, Ellis Brooks, Jesse Luketa
It's good to have a star. Every conversation of Penn State's linebackers (and defense) will start with Micah Parsons, who is the best returning defensive player in the B1G and arguably the country. He'll get his opportunity at a Chase Young type of season this year. After him is where the conversation begins. The Lions lose long time middle linebacker Jan Johnson and outside man Cam Johnson. The hope in Happy Valley is that PSU's recruiting, which has been gangbusters at linebacker, makes for a fearsome group. Five star guys include Smith, redshirt frosh Lance Dixon, and incoming freshman Curtis Jacobs. Johnson will be replaced by either Brooks or Luketa, former top 300 guys who played as reserves last year. While they aren't as experienced as a couple other teams, they do have a superstar. As these other guys come along this could be a fearsome group.