The second in a series leading up to the April 26-27 draft
Backing up the line is not what it used to be in the NFL. As nickel and dime defensive schemes have come into wider use, putting five and six pass defenders on the field, linebackers are not being utilized in the degree they were.
Let a middle 'backer make a play for a loss on a first down and on the other downs in a series he is likely to be on the sideline. In this climate, linebackers are less prized than they were when Dick Butkus, Joe Schmidt and Ray Nitschke were roaming the land. In the April 26-27 NFL draft, there is a strong possibility that only one linebacker, Keith Rivers of USC, will be tapped in the first round.
Rivers is being projected to go in the middle of the round, perhaps to Philadelphia on choice No. 19.
The NFL evolves. The fullback position, to make this point, has become almost obsolete. Teams prefer to sprinkle receivers along the line of scrimmage and go to one-back alignments rather than have a fullback in there to block. The linebacker position could be experiencing a similar metamorphosis.
Not so, according to Mel Kiper Jr., ESPN's draft analyst.
“It's just that this year there aren't that many,” Kiper said. “New England has a need at linebacker. Cincinnati desperately needs linebacker help. But every year, there aren't going to be a ton of guys who project that highly.”
Kiper has Rivers being identified in the opening round. Other than the 6-foot-2¼, 241-pound Rivers, an outside linebacker, Kiper lists only two possible first-rounders, Vernon Gholston of Ohio State, who is being adjudged more as a defensive end than a linebacker, and Jerod Mayo of Tennessee, whom Kiper considers underrated as an athlete who could line up either outside or in the middle.
“Gholston fits a 3-4 scheme, playing on his feet, like a Shawne Merriman (of the Chargers) or a DeMarcus Ware (of the Cowboys), with a team utilizing him as a hybrid,” Kiper said.
To the ESPN commentator, there are a number of what he termed “decent” linebackers who fit in the second round. As Kiper views it, in this group are Dan Connor of Penn State, Jordan Dizon of Colorado, Curtis Lofton of Oklahoma and Tavares Gooden of Miami.
The most poignant figure among the linebackers has to be Quentin Groves of Auburn. He has size (6-3, 259) and he did some arresting things at the Indianapolis combine, running a 4.56. Groves, however, later was found during a physical examination to have a heart abnormality and he has submitted to heart surgery.
“Minor surgery,” said an Auburn spokesman. One can question whether there is any such thing as minor heart surgery.
Jerry Magee: (619) 293-1830; jerry.magee@uniontrib.com
