Colorado State University Athletics
Photo by: CSU Athletics Communications
Linebackers set for youth movement
8/4/2019 9:00:00 AM | Football
McDonald favors hungry nature of group
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The numbers are easy to find, resting at the top of the defensive stat sheet.
Combined, there are 232 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, a trio of sacks, 10 quarterback hurries and eight pass break ups. Don't forget the three fumble recoveries out of the five the defense collected in 2018.
It will do the Rams no good to ponder the effect the losses of linebackers Josh Watson and Tre Thomas – both of whom found their way into NFL camps as undrafted free agents – will have on the unit. Instead, it's time for a youth movement, which doesn't bother head coach Mike Bobo.
"I feel good. They're young, and they're going to make some mistakes, but they're athletic," he said. "They're good-looking bodies. You look at Mohamed Kamara, you look at Tavian Brown, two guys we signed, then Tron Folsom, the grad transfer. Then the three guys, Cam'ron Carter, Max McDonald and DJ (Dequan Jackson) have done a nice job. Troy Golden is a guy who just wreaked havoc all in the spring; we didn't know what to do. He's put on nice weight, weighs 214 pounds, and we're going to try to find a role for him."
Experience is in short order, to be sure. Folsom brings a strong resume from Troy, where he was a second-team All-Sunbelt pick, but he has to find his way in defensive coordinator John Jancek's scheme. McDonald has starts under his belt, but he was away from the team much of last season as he dealt with anxiety.
As a junior, he took a liking to the blend on campus during spring camp. Youth does not have to be a drawback.
"I think it's a good combination. You still have the eagerness, because sometimes people get complacent when they get older. We don't have that," McDonald said. "We had a bad year, we have a lot of young guys coming back, and we don't have a lot of guys phoning it in. We have a lot of young guys with a lot of hunger, and you add in a year or two for all of us, it lets us get set quick and lets us play fast. I think that's a big one, play fast and play confident."
Carter and Jackson were in backup roles last year, Carter collecting 29 stops in 11 games, Jackson 11 in 10 games. Golden played just enough to grab a redshirt year, then took off in the spring, vaulting to the top of the depth chart with Carter and McDonald. The addition of Folsom just added to the competition.
Before his arrival, the new wave of Rams' linebackers had a chance to gain experience side by side in the spring, which Carter said is already paying dividends in fall camp.
"I feel like last year I got a good amount of reps in the season, and in the spring, I took off in understanding the playbook," he said. "Now I feel like I'm back to flying around in high school, just playing ball.
"We had that connection. We don't have Josh and Tre no more, so we lost that. We have Max, DJ, Golden -- we've got a fine new combination, and that feels good."
The trio of youngster use each other for support as well as study partners, expecting their play to improve with each rep they gain in practice.
Two defensive leaders are gone, the Alpha Dogs of last season's linebacking group. So be it. Who picks up those tackles are not an individual pursuit, but a team goal.
In short, it's time to move on.
"There's going to be a lot of tackles that are going to be had to go around," McDonald said. "They had over 100 each, so they had good seasons. As a defense overall, we're coming together a lot more, we're a lot more cohesive as a group. Whether or not those tackles just go to the backer corps or not, those tackles are going to be had by someone, and that's going to be good."
Combined, there are 232 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, a trio of sacks, 10 quarterback hurries and eight pass break ups. Don't forget the three fumble recoveries out of the five the defense collected in 2018.
It will do the Rams no good to ponder the effect the losses of linebackers Josh Watson and Tre Thomas – both of whom found their way into NFL camps as undrafted free agents – will have on the unit. Instead, it's time for a youth movement, which doesn't bother head coach Mike Bobo.
"I feel good. They're young, and they're going to make some mistakes, but they're athletic," he said. "They're good-looking bodies. You look at Mohamed Kamara, you look at Tavian Brown, two guys we signed, then Tron Folsom, the grad transfer. Then the three guys, Cam'ron Carter, Max McDonald and DJ (Dequan Jackson) have done a nice job. Troy Golden is a guy who just wreaked havoc all in the spring; we didn't know what to do. He's put on nice weight, weighs 214 pounds, and we're going to try to find a role for him."
Experience is in short order, to be sure. Folsom brings a strong resume from Troy, where he was a second-team All-Sunbelt pick, but he has to find his way in defensive coordinator John Jancek's scheme. McDonald has starts under his belt, but he was away from the team much of last season as he dealt with anxiety.
As a junior, he took a liking to the blend on campus during spring camp. Youth does not have to be a drawback.
"I think it's a good combination. You still have the eagerness, because sometimes people get complacent when they get older. We don't have that," McDonald said. "We had a bad year, we have a lot of young guys coming back, and we don't have a lot of guys phoning it in. We have a lot of young guys with a lot of hunger, and you add in a year or two for all of us, it lets us get set quick and lets us play fast. I think that's a big one, play fast and play confident."
Carter and Jackson were in backup roles last year, Carter collecting 29 stops in 11 games, Jackson 11 in 10 games. Golden played just enough to grab a redshirt year, then took off in the spring, vaulting to the top of the depth chart with Carter and McDonald. The addition of Folsom just added to the competition.
Before his arrival, the new wave of Rams' linebackers had a chance to gain experience side by side in the spring, which Carter said is already paying dividends in fall camp.
"I feel like last year I got a good amount of reps in the season, and in the spring, I took off in understanding the playbook," he said. "Now I feel like I'm back to flying around in high school, just playing ball.
"We had that connection. We don't have Josh and Tre no more, so we lost that. We have Max, DJ, Golden -- we've got a fine new combination, and that feels good."
The trio of youngster use each other for support as well as study partners, expecting their play to improve with each rep they gain in practice.
Two defensive leaders are gone, the Alpha Dogs of last season's linebacking group. So be it. Who picks up those tackles are not an individual pursuit, but a team goal.
In short, it's time to move on.
"There's going to be a lot of tackles that are going to be had to go around," McDonald said. "They had over 100 each, so they had good seasons. As a defense overall, we're coming together a lot more, we're a lot more cohesive as a group. Whether or not those tackles just go to the backer corps or not, those tackles are going to be had by someone, and that's going to be good."
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