We continue our position preview today by turning our attention to the linebackers, the group spearheaded by defensive coordinator Scott Symons who takes over the LB room after coaching the safeties last year.
The biggest question mark for the Liberty defense this offseason is at linebacker where the Flames must replace departing seniors Solomon Ajayi and Brandon Tillmon as well as Remington Green who elected to transfer following the 2019 season.
Returning
Amarii Jenkins missed Liberty’s five spring practices before it got shut down amid the coronavirus outbreak. He has the most experience among the returning linebackers as he played in 13 games in 2019 amassing 27 tackles.
Waylen Cozad entered the program prior to the 2019 season as a JUCO transfer. He played in 11 games and recorded 25 tackles.
Tyren Dupree is a redshirt-sophomore who played in 12 games in 2019. He will push for time as a starter this season.
The coaching staff is very high on redshirt-freshman Malik Caper. It will take him some time to gather the necessary experience to reach his potential with the Flames, but once he does he will be a playmaker.
Aubrey Williams is another redshirt-freshman who was brought in by Freeze and his staff prior to the 2019 season. He originally came in as a safety before moving to linebacker and suffered through injuries during the fall.
Aaron Pierre is a redshirt-junior and somewhat of a forgotten commodity after he dropped out of the rotation in 2019. In 2018, as a redshirt-freshman, he played in all 12 games as a reserve. He made an impression in the limited spring practice reps the team got before practice came to a halt.
Tyron Staples and Carl Poole return to the linebacker room as well.
Newcomers
Anthony Butler joined the program in the spring as a grad transfer from Charlotte. He played in 36 games and made 16 starts for the 49ers during his career, but he hasn’t played in a game since early September. He provides experience and leadership the room doesn’t other wise have and will be a valuable asset in the fall.
Gaberiel Fuster joined the program for the spring semester.
Outlook
While there are a lot of question marks and unproven pieces at linebacker, Scott Symons is confident his group has what it takes to deliver in 2020. He thinks his unit is deeper than the 2019 team despite losing three key pieces. The spring would have been sorely needed for this group to learn the system and gain valuable experience.
