Tony Barnhart has five “impressions of spring practice” he shares today. Most are pretty mundane – ‘Bama wants to get tougher on offense, Auburn wants to play more than one QB, Fulmer is toying with using Eric Berry on offense, etc. – but one note caught my attention:
… I talked to some South Carolina people at the Georgia Dome yesterday and they tell me that linebacker Jasper Brinkley (from Thomson) is up to about 270 and that it is all muscle.
Now Jasper Brinkley may be a genetic freak, but if he’s up to 270 pounds (about a 20 pound increase) and is coming off of a serious knee injury, it’s likely that he’s not going to rank among the elite at linebacker in speed. Or even the well above average, for that matter.
Is he a mutant? Does he lose weight? Does he move to another position? Beats me, but just remember what kind of pressure a spread offense puts on big linebackers (although Brinkley plays inside rather than at the Sam spot).
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UPDATE: Speaking of giant, mutant linebackers, remember Allen Bailey, the five-star recruit from South Georgia who didn’t come to Athens in part because he wanted to be a 275 pound linebacker? Well, he ain’t.
A UM insider who watches the closed spring practices said Allen Bailey has been the the best defensive end opposite Eric Moncur…
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Didn’t Boss have an ACL tear in 2000? Wasn’t quite as effective in 01, but had a monster season in 02. if Brinkley really is in the 270 range and coming off an ACL injury, you’re right, gonna be tough to play at the level he did before
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This link shows him at 6-2, 275. That’s damn big for an inside LBer in this day and age.
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Well at least we know that if he doesn’t make it into the NFL, at that size he can do wonders for Pro Wrestling.
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