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Re: Linebackers in 2007
Height doesn't have that much to do with leverage. Even at 6'4", you're going to be shorter than most of the lineman you run into and thus will still have a relatively easy time staying low if you know what you're doing. A stat that has much more importance than weight on a linebackers ability to shed a block or make a tackle is their hang clean numbers. A linebacker with explosive ability will perform well in the hang clean lift. A 200 pounder with explosive ability (strength plus coordination) will get off ten times more blocks than a 230 pound "bus" guy. Also, look at a guy's "pro-agility" times. That is a drill that measures quickness. Quickness and explosiveness (word?) will do 30 times more for a linebacker than how much he can bench.
Granted, my views are slanted as I was an undersized 6'4" 215 on a good day. By the end of the season I probably ended up being close to 200 with the weight loss. However, the only way my weight ever affected me, in my opinion, was my ability to stay injury-free. At a lower weight, the constant banging wears on a skinny LB more than a guy who has an extra 20 pounds of built-in shock absorbers. By my junior and senior years, my body just started losing it's staying power and healing ability. The only times I wasn't able to get off a block was because I made a bad read or used poor form, not because I didn't weigh 230.
One last editorial piece. Look at the NFL. The trend is towards sleeker and faster LBs. Gone are the 260 lb LB and in are the 230-240 pounder. NFL teams are drafting Safeties and turning them to LB's to gain speed, not size, in their linebacking corps.
Height doesn't have that much to do with leverage. Even at 6'4", you're going to be shorter than most of the lineman you run into and thus will still have a relatively easy time staying low if you know what you're doing. A stat that has much more importance than weight on a linebackers ability to shed a block or make a tackle is their hang clean numbers. A linebacker with explosive ability will perform well in the hang clean lift. A 200 pounder with explosive ability (strength plus coordination) will get off ten times more blocks than a 230 pound "bus" guy. Also, look at a guy's "pro-agility" times. That is a drill that measures quickness. Quickness and explosiveness (word?) will do 30 times more for a linebacker than how much he can bench.
Granted, my views are slanted as I was an undersized 6'4" 215 on a good day. By the end of the season I probably ended up being close to 200 with the weight loss. However, the only way my weight ever affected me, in my opinion, was my ability to stay injury-free. At a lower weight, the constant banging wears on a skinny LB more than a guy who has an extra 20 pounds of built-in shock absorbers. By my junior and senior years, my body just started losing it's staying power and healing ability. The only times I wasn't able to get off a block was because I made a bad read or used poor form, not because I didn't weigh 230.
One last editorial piece. Look at the NFL. The trend is towards sleeker and faster LBs. Gone are the 260 lb LB and in are the 230-240 pounder. NFL teams are drafting Safeties and turning them to LB's to gain speed, not size, in their linebacking corps.
;D
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