Five Impressive Early-Season Linebackers

<p>Through three weeks, there are dozens of well-performing linebackers throughout the state. Here are five that have stood out to me so far through the beginning stages of the 2024 season. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Linebackers</h2>    <p class="text-gray-700">Three weeks in, I have a very good idea of who Gavin is as a linebacker. Starting out, his size at 6'1" 220 is excellent. That size further shows itself with a few hard hits on his tape (0:30, for example). The rest of his tape shows some straight-up good linebacker play. The highlight at 1:15 shows good reaction and attack to the QB run. Several other plays show good between-the-tackles run stops, but I'd honestly like to see much better play speed in the future. </p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/gavinmay2026/status/1835515620693000215 </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700"> I don't usually cover Freshmen, but I was interested in checking in with one of our most promising Watch List players. Through three weeks, Antonio already has some very impressive tape. Namely, Antonio plays fast and hits hard- which is half the battle at the Linebacker position and RARE for a freshman. The highlight at 0:47 shows off a big hit as the QB attempts to scramble. Furthermore, the play at 0:06 highlights Antonio's explosiveness and more hard-hitting. 1:10 shows an impressive block, and 1:20 shows a physical run.</p>   <p>I don't think it's out of the picture for Antonio to be a great Varsity starter in 2025. He still has a lot of room for improvement (IQ, reaction time, blocking, etc), but it's extremely apparent that Antonio is far more physical than most at the JV level. I'm very excited to see how Antonio develops over these next couple of years! </p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/a_lalama2009/status/1835338880972652810 </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">The highlight that Henry sent me is listed as "private" but I was able to watch his Week 1-3 tape. </p>   <p>The first highlight showcases great anticipation on the outside zone stop. That play took a while to develop, and Henry successfully gets in the backfield and makes the big stop. The second and third highlights show the same thing- great instincts, reaction, and decisiveness. That's the theme of his tape. Henry knows how to play the linebacker position and he's a great player for North Muskegon. One glaring flaw I see in his game is athleticism. If Henry can improve his speed, he'd be a valuable prospect for Division 3 programs. </p>    <p><a href="https://twitter.com/HenryHusmann06/status/1835396873450049993">https://twitter.com/HenryHusmann06/status/1835396873450049993</a></p>    <p class="text-gray-700">I'm happy to be watching more tape of Ansel after I watched his week 1 performance against Southgate Anderson in person. The first three highlights shows Ansel at his very best. At his best, Ansel reacts incredibly quickly and explodes toward the ball carrier. Then, the highlight at 0:47 is incredibly impressive. Asel drops back into coverage, then proceeds to make an incredible sideline-to-sideline tackle on the scrambling quarterback. Furthermore, the play at 1:20 shows textbook Linebacker technique in dipping past the block and making an exceptional stop.</p>   <p>This is an amazing 3-week tape. I saw some flaws during week 1, but man, Ansel's highlights are as good as anyone's. I'm quite surprised that I don't see any offers on his Twitter- based on the tape, I'd call him a low GLIAC prospect. </p>      <p class="text-gray-700">Groves always has an extremely strong front 7, and this year, [player_tooltip player_id='913877' first='Dominic' last='Taylor'] is doing WORK as an on-ball OLB/EDGE player. </p>   <p>The tale of the tape is effort. Time and time again, you see high-effort and explosive plays from Dominic. The highlight at 1:11, in particular, showcases his speed off the edge and ability to rush the passer against slow offensive linemen. At 1:55, Dom runs free off the stunt and lays a very quick hit on the quarterback. He also has a few off-ball highlights, but Dominic undoubtedly does his best work on-ball. He's a very good athlete, and I'm looking forward to watching him the rest of the season in addition to this offseason. </p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/DominicTaylor24/status/1835524101747691859 </div></figure>

Through three weeks, there are dozens of well-performing linebackers throughout the state. Here are five that have stood out to me so far through the beginning stages of the 2024 season.