Written by Duane Long
| 16 August 2009
I was trying to get right with Brian Rolle in the middle. I was told about Rolle in the middle and Spitler at the Sam. lineup during spring. I was rolling it around in my mind thinking about a kid Rolles size stepping into the hole and taking on a 320 lb blocker, stiffing him then making a tackle on the back. I started thinking about Wisconsin obviously. Rolle versus John Clay in the hole is not a good match-up for us. Where else are we going to see that, Penn State? Not like in the past. Their quarterback recruiting says they are going to look a lot like us in the future.
You are going to get the power running game as long as JoePa is there but the offense is going to be built around an athletic quarterback. Where else in the Big Ten are we going to see a heavy dose of iso that requires a 250 lb middle linebacker stuffing the run between the tackles? We did not have that last year. Laurinaitis was not a big chin strap busting classic Mike. We need someone who can run, who can hit gaps on the blitz, and who can cover. He is the kind of player who fits the scheme. He is the kind of player that fits the game the way it is being played nationally, and more and more in the Big Ten. The fact is, he had a great spring and it is not like we don't have options. This squad could not possibly be more loaded at linebacker. No reason to have to create a middle linebacker with the likes of Spitler, Sabino and Klein here.
Speaking of Spitler, him at the Sam is more of a head scratcher. You need to be bigger at the Sam. He is going to be over the tight end and see a heavy dose of run. Spitler is going to have the size and he is a very physical kid, arguably the most physical player on the roster. I don't know about him in coverage. I know we are going to play alot of zone but there are going to be times when the Sam is going to have to cover a tight end one on one. I don't like our match-up with Spitler on a tight end. We are going to have our linebackers sit in zone on passing downs and come up and make plays on receivers. He is going to have to show me more athleticism than I believe him to have. More importantly, with this depth, he is going to have to show it to the coaching staff. It is going to be very interesting to see how he handles it when asked to play in space and cover.
