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Photo by: Kyle Zedaker
2020 Vision: Linebackers
6/29/2020 11:05:00 AM | Football
Every football team is only as good as the next man up and that was evident with linebacker position for the Gopher football team in 2019.Â
Mariano Sori-Marin has been a swiss army knife with experience at multiple linebacker roles for the Gophers. He stepped into a starter role last season when NFL 5th round draft pick Kamal Martin went down with injury, was counted on when the Gophers went to a more traditional 4-3 look and is the likely candidate to replace Thomas Barber's 49 careers games with 38 starts at Mike linebacker.Â
Sori-Marin, a true junior, has played in 25 games the last two seasons. He was a Quad team member on special teams as a freshman and played in all 13 games with seven starts last season. He recorded 42 tackles (18 solo) and tallied a career high eight tackles against Maryland. He is also an Academic All-Big Ten honoree.Â
Redshirt sophomore Braelen Oliver saw an expanded role in 2019 and proved to be a dangerous blitzing linebacker. After seeing action in two games in 2018, Oliver played in all 13 games a season ago and recorded 22 tackles (14 solo), 3.5 tackles for loss and three sacks.
Competition for snaps will be wide open at the linebacker position in 2020. Four juniors are looking to take the next step up the depth chart return in Trenton Guthrie, Thomas Rush, Danny Anderson and Alex Strazzanti.Â
Rush was a member of the Quad team on special teams in 2019 and in the early spring practice season was working into a rush end type role. Anderson, an Eden Prairie native, competed in nine games on special teams in 2019. Strazzanti, Chaska, Minn. native., played in the first nine games of the 2019 season on special teams before missing the remainder due to injury. All three are also Academic All-Big Ten honorees. Guthrie will be looking to make his first collegiate game action in the 2020 season.Â
Minnesota natives, Josh Aune and Ty Barron, are both redshirt sophomores going into the 2020 season. Aune started his career at defensive back where he competed in one game during the 2018 season. He saw action in 12 games last year with the majority of his action coming on special teams. Barron competed in three games on special teams last season. Both Aune and Barron are Academic All-Big Ten honorees.Â
The linebacker core also fields four redshirt freshmen. James Gordon IV competed in four games last season and made two tackles. He was a four-year starter in high school and as a senior, recorded 126 tackles, 26 tackles for loss, eight sacks, five interceptions (returned three for touchdowns).Â
Donald Willis also played in four games in his redshirt season and made one tackle. He was a menace in high school. As a senior, he recorded 112 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, eight sacks, one interception (returned for a touchdown), forced three fumbles, recovered three fumbles (returned two for touchdowns) and blocked three punts.Â
Derik LeCaptain also saw four games of action on special teams in 2019. He was named the Special Teams Scout Player of the Year. Pete Bercich, son of Vikings great Pete Bercich, did not see game action after transferring from St. Thomas.Â
Itayvion Brown, Jaqwondis Burns, Lucas Finnessy and Cody Lindenberg all join the Maroon and Gold as true freshmen. Burns and Lindenberg joined in January while Brown and Finnessy each arrived in June.Â
Brown was a Four-star recruit by 247Sports and Rivals. As a senior, he registered 105 tackles and seven sacks as his team won a state title.Â
Burns is a consensus three-star recruit out of IMG Academy. He helped lead IMG to a No. 6 national ranking as well as being ranked as the No. 1 high school football team in Florida.Â
Finnessy was a two-time Wisconsin Football Coaches Association All-State Team selection and the No. 5 overall recruit out of Wisconsin.Â
Lindenberg was the No. 5 overall recruit out of Minnesota as a two-way player. He was a 2019 Minnesota Vikings All-State Team selection.Â
Mariano Sori-Marin has been a swiss army knife with experience at multiple linebacker roles for the Gophers. He stepped into a starter role last season when NFL 5th round draft pick Kamal Martin went down with injury, was counted on when the Gophers went to a more traditional 4-3 look and is the likely candidate to replace Thomas Barber's 49 careers games with 38 starts at Mike linebacker.Â
Sori-Marin, a true junior, has played in 25 games the last two seasons. He was a Quad team member on special teams as a freshman and played in all 13 games with seven starts last season. He recorded 42 tackles (18 solo) and tallied a career high eight tackles against Maryland. He is also an Academic All-Big Ten honoree.Â
Redshirt sophomore Braelen Oliver saw an expanded role in 2019 and proved to be a dangerous blitzing linebacker. After seeing action in two games in 2018, Oliver played in all 13 games a season ago and recorded 22 tackles (14 solo), 3.5 tackles for loss and three sacks.
Competition for snaps will be wide open at the linebacker position in 2020. Four juniors are looking to take the next step up the depth chart return in Trenton Guthrie, Thomas Rush, Danny Anderson and Alex Strazzanti.Â
Rush was a member of the Quad team on special teams in 2019 and in the early spring practice season was working into a rush end type role. Anderson, an Eden Prairie native, competed in nine games on special teams in 2019. Strazzanti, Chaska, Minn. native., played in the first nine games of the 2019 season on special teams before missing the remainder due to injury. All three are also Academic All-Big Ten honorees. Guthrie will be looking to make his first collegiate game action in the 2020 season.Â
Minnesota natives, Josh Aune and Ty Barron, are both redshirt sophomores going into the 2020 season. Aune started his career at defensive back where he competed in one game during the 2018 season. He saw action in 12 games last year with the majority of his action coming on special teams. Barron competed in three games on special teams last season. Both Aune and Barron are Academic All-Big Ten honorees.Â
The linebacker core also fields four redshirt freshmen. James Gordon IV competed in four games last season and made two tackles. He was a four-year starter in high school and as a senior, recorded 126 tackles, 26 tackles for loss, eight sacks, five interceptions (returned three for touchdowns).Â
Donald Willis also played in four games in his redshirt season and made one tackle. He was a menace in high school. As a senior, he recorded 112 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, eight sacks, one interception (returned for a touchdown), forced three fumbles, recovered three fumbles (returned two for touchdowns) and blocked three punts.Â
Derik LeCaptain also saw four games of action on special teams in 2019. He was named the Special Teams Scout Player of the Year. Pete Bercich, son of Vikings great Pete Bercich, did not see game action after transferring from St. Thomas.Â
Itayvion Brown, Jaqwondis Burns, Lucas Finnessy and Cody Lindenberg all join the Maroon and Gold as true freshmen. Burns and Lindenberg joined in January while Brown and Finnessy each arrived in June.Â
Brown was a Four-star recruit by 247Sports and Rivals. As a senior, he registered 105 tackles and seven sacks as his team won a state title.Â
Burns is a consensus three-star recruit out of IMG Academy. He helped lead IMG to a No. 6 national ranking as well as being ranked as the No. 1 high school football team in Florida.Â
Finnessy was a two-time Wisconsin Football Coaches Association All-State Team selection and the No. 5 overall recruit out of Wisconsin.Â
Lindenberg was the No. 5 overall recruit out of Minnesota as a two-way player. He was a 2019 Minnesota Vikings All-State Team selection.Â
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