WKU Football: Next Man Up — Linebacker
Division I football teams, especially at the G5 level, can be atop the highest mountain one year and be dead last the next. Case in point —…
Division I football teams, especially at the G5 level, can be atop the highest mountain one year and be dead last the next. Case in point — Western Kentucky.
While not losing too many players (the Tops were one of the youngest teams in college football last year, after all), 2019 might still nonetheless have a very different feel to it.
In this series, we’re going to take a look at what the Hilltoppers are losing and who is next in line to replace them in the first year of the Tyson Helton era.
Previous Next Man Up’s: Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Wide Receivers | Tight Ends
Losing
Masai Whyte
Whyte was probably one of my favorite players to watch on the defensive side of the ball. This guy was always flying around and making himself part of the play even being on the back side of the play. The red-shirt senior recorded 76 total tackles, four sacks, three passes deflected, one interception for a 27 yard return.
Der’Quione Mobley
Mobley, a red-shirt senior in 2018, logged 10 total tackles out of the five games he played in.
Ben Holt
Maybe the most surprising and impactful loss is that of Ben Holt, who announced last week that he was leaving the Hill to join his father and Jeff Brohm in West Lafayette at Purdue. Holt’s loss will surely sting, as the Tops are now without their leading tackler from a year ago (116 tackles, 11.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble) and an already thin position on the field just got a lot thinner.
Next Men Up
Whyte was probably one of my favorite players to watch. He played outside linebacker and was continually in the play no matter which side of the field the play went. That’s what you need on a defense. Some of these candidates don’t play outside linebacker, but play Mike linebacker instead. But, who knows what defensive scheme they’re going to use. So if Helton and Clayton White go with a 3–4, WKU could see someone paired with Eli Brown playing both inside linebackers, leaving space for other linebackers take over the outside role. Outisde of Brown, the next men up for the Toppers are:
Damon Lowe
He’s a transfer from EKU. Congratulations on coming to the dark side. Lowe has no real stats otherwise.
Jarrett Sippola
Sippola is a linebacker who has not had any playing time on the defensive side of the ball, but he has played on the special teams so he could make up for it with that. Otherwise, no real stats.
Clay Davis
Davis is a red-shirt junior transfer from Tennessee Tech who sat out the 2018 season due to the transfer rule. My personal feelings aside on the rule, this kid could help the team out with a lot of players not having much experience. At Tennessee Tech, he played in 22 games and recorded 129 total tackles in the two seasons he was there.
Mario Wright, Trey Urquhart, and Tre Leslie
Wright, Trey, and Leslie are all red-shirt freshman who were big names in the 2018 recruiting class and are going to get some experience on special teams or resting the above players as back ups.