2021 Gophers Position Previews: Linebackers

After a truncated 2020, Minnesota returns to a full 12-game football season Sept. 2 against Ohio State. Here at Ski-U-Blog will be previews of the team's notable players within each position group. Today's preview post is about the Gophers' many linebackers.

Likely Starters

Perhaps the player whose course in 2020 was most emblematic of the unit as a whole was, fittingly, one of its captains: Mariano Sori-Marin.

Sori-Marin was one of seven new starters on defense after spending two seasons on special teams, as a fill-in, or as a third linebacker. Anticipating he'd see a bigger role in 2020, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Joe Rossi had given Sori-Marin more playing time as a true sophomore. After an offseason and then a couple of tune-up games (Minnesota was to open with Florida Atlantic and Tennessee Tech), Sori-Marin was likely to be ready enough for Big Ten play.

Then the pandemic hit. Spring football was cut short, offseason workouts had to happen at home, the season was cancelled, and then the season was hastily (and cynically) thrown back together for a nine-game, conference-only sprint. The concept of a typical college football season, with standard development and acclimation periods, did not exist.

To be a first-time starter was suddenly a greater challenge. To make the situation harder: The other projected starting linebacker was to miss the season for reasons totally unrelated to the pandemic, so someone even less experienced was now in line to play next to Sori-Marin.

When the season finally started, Minnesota's defense was a mess, and Sori-Marin was a big reason why. While he didn't miss tackles as often as some of his teammates, Sori-Marin misread plays, got pushed around, and was too slow to catch up to opposing ballcarriers. Head coach P.J. Fleck said he was trying to do too much. Sometimes, it looked like it. Other times, Sori-Marin was just outmatched.

Over time, however, Sori-Marin settled into his role. He was far more decisive, cut through traffic, and made plays, finishing the year with two genuinely impressive performances. He was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after recording 12.0 tackles (6 solo, 12 assisted) and a forced fumble against Nebraska. In the Wisconsin game, he made 6.0 tackles (5 solo), including in some critical moments.

By the end of the season, Sori-Marin looked like a legitimate starting linebacker in the Big Ten. At the same time, the rest of the defense improved as well, particularly against the run:

The Minnesota defense going into 2021 cannot remotely be considered perfect, just as Sori-Marin is not a flawless player. (We're still waiting on his coverage skills to improve, for one.) But the unit will almost certainly be far better than it was at the beginning of 2020, thanks in large part to the improvements made by its most experienced linebacker.

To reinforce the linebacker position, Minnesota added Abilene Christian transfer Jack Gibbens. Gibbens was a three-year regular for the Wildcats and made 125.5 tackles and 22.5 TFLs over that stretch. He showed a good understanding of angles and a nose for the ball in the spring game, where he made 3.0 tackles (2 solo, 2 assisted).

Based on Thursday's open practice, Gibbens already figures to start as the Will linebacker. His unremarkable speed doesn't make him an ideal fit for passing situations, so he'll come off on some 3rd-and-longs. Even so, it doesn't appear he'll be a total liability in coverage.

Key Backups

Another reason for optimism is the return of Braelen Oliver, who was meant to start alongside Sori-Marin a season ago but was injured last spring. In 2019, Oliver was often paired with Kamal Martin on 3rd downs, filling the spot of the slower Thomas Barber to bolster Minnesota's pass coverage.

Oliver's most substantial and meaningful playing time of the season came against Penn State. There, he was mostly a non-entity, positively or negatively. This was mostly because plays rarely went in his direction; additionally, he struggled at times to shed the blocking of Penn State's Pat Freiermuth.

Oliver's best statistical performance from his redshirt freshman year was against Illinois, when he made 3.0 tackles (2 solo, 2 assisted), one of which was a for a loss. He also nearly intercepted a pass after smartly reading the quarterback's eyes:

Since he was a package and backup player who didn't see action in close, important games unless someone was missing, Oliver's Pro Football Focus grades can't be considered totally reliable. If you squint a little, you can see rough trends: His coverage grades were usually mediocre to bad, his run defense grades were mediocre to okay, and his pass rush grades were mostly pretty good. All come with sample size disclaimers, which is a big reason why they fluctuated on a weekly basis.

Our most recent look at Oliver was in the spring game, where he made a decent impact with relatively few snaps: 1.5 tackles (1 solo) and a TFL. He presumably was still on a lower workload as part of his comeback, but we don't know for sure.

It's difficult to say what level of play Oliver will bring when he returns to competition. You could envision him becoming an important player two years ago, but that was based on a limited glance at his talents. We don't know how the injuries and the ensuing time off may have affected his development.

For now, Oliver is once again a situational sub. He'll be the third linebacker in 4-3 sets and come in for Gibbens on passing downs.

Cody Lindenberg was a surprise starter in Minnesota's opening game of 2020 and showed flashes of ability, but clearly the true freshman wasn't ready for such a big role. Getting into position to make plays wasn't his problem — tackling was.

That said, Lindenberg looked sharper in May. He was, with Gibbens, a leading linebacker on the Maroon team and made 3.0 tackles (all solo), including one run stuff. Playing against Michigan, without a proper ramp-up to the season because of a pandemic, isn't an introduction that should typically produce flying starts to college careers. Lindenberg might not even be the fourth-most-used linebacker in 2021 but could be a decent regular under more normal circumstances.

Pop quiz: Who finished with the second-most tackles of any Minnesota linebacker last season? The answer: D.J. Gordon IV, who made 12.0 tackles, 1.0 TFL, and an interception. Gordon, now a redshirt sophomore, still had his own growing pains and wasn't yet ready for regular playing time. But as the season progressed, he looked more comfortable and made a handful of plays.

Because he missed the spring game and wasn't available at the open practice, it's hard to tell exactly where Josh Aune is on the depth chart. His snaps increased in the back half of the season, and he looked surer than his underclassman counterparts, but that does not mean Aune excelled. While he played the second-most snaps of the Gophers' linebackers, he was 11th overall on the team in tackles and made just one havoc play. (That was a big one, of course.) Like everyone else, he chased play-action and had his issues fitting the run. Aune played like a backup linebacker.

The important thing to remember, though, is that the two biggest keys to success in college football are talent and continuity. The Gophers will never accumulate top-end talent; not one linebacker on the roster was a composite 4- or 5-star prospect.

As for continuity: Fleck likes to call Minnesota a "developmental program," where in general, high school players come in, marinate, and eventually become quality starters. When they leave, they're replaced by players who have gone through the same process. For the cycle to work, young players have to gain real game experience and become capable backups, or else there will always be drop-offs when starters graduate.

Last year, there was a drop-off, thanks to the departures of Barber and Martin, the injury to Oliver, and the various effects of the pandemic. But 2020's greenhorns are 2021's continuity. They've seen game action and have had a full offseason to develop. For that reason, the Gophers' depth pieces — Lindenberg, Gordon, Aune, and others — are now better equipped than they were a season ago.

Potential Rotation Option

There are only so many snaps to go around when there won't often be more than two linebackers on the field, so someone will spend most of the year on the sideline. Donald Willis was far behind the other linebackers in playing time last year and is therefore a good bet to be limited to blowouts or emergencies.

Notables Unlikely to Contribute

Jaqwondis Burns, one of Minnesota's highest-rated signings in 2020, participated in one game as a true freshman. Burns will play a bigger role eventually but is not close to it yet. And January enrollee Devon Williams didn't participate much in the spring game, so he figures to be far from regular playing time as well.