Fall is right around the corner. The Roadrunners will report for fall camp on July 31st for year two of the Frank Wilson era. We will start previewing position groups heading into fall camp. Today we will look at the linebackers.

UTSA returns arguably the best pair of linebackers in Conference CUSA. Josiah Tauaefa and La’Kel Bass put up some crazy numbers last season and will likely put up similar numbers this year.

In the words of the great Michael Jordan the ceiling is the roof for one Josiah Tauaefa. He picked up about every possible award a freshman could receive in 2016. Believe it or not Tauaefa has room to grow and become a more complete linebacker. He had issues in pass coverage and was overly aggressive at times. With a year under his belt he is ready to be the anchor of this defense.

Backing up Josiah is Marcos Curry. Marcos has been such an important part of this defense these past couple of years. He might not be the biggest or fastest linebacker, but Curry has found ways to contribute to this team either through specials teams or as a linebacker.

La’Kel Bass might not receive the attention other members of the defense get but he is a vital piece of this defense. He was second in tackles in 2016 with 87, he led the team in tackle for a loss with 11, and got after the quarterback with 5 sacks. He does a little bit of everything for this defense and will likely continue in 2017. Behind Bass is Anthony Hickey a JUCO transfer that contributed sparingly last season.

Some other names to watch here are Leslie Maruo another JUCO transfer that did not play last season because an injury. True freshman linebackers De’Marco Guidry, Donovan Perkins, and Joshua Booker-Brown will likely see some playing time. One might get redshirted but I would not be surprised if all three played either at linebacker or with the special teams.

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