It takes a special kind of person to play high school linebacker. Well, maybe not so much special as crazy. We all know the kids that usually play linebacker. They’re a little on edge. You try not to stare into the eyes too long because it’s scary in there. You may not like what you see. There’s a certain personality built for being a prep sport linebacker and it’s usually swirled around in heavy metal, heavy rap, punk, and a few broken noses. If they weren’t playing high school football, there would probably be a lot more damage on the campus. It’s good they’re on the field. Animals are safer. Let’s look at the role of the typical linebacker and at least agree to respect their special “abilities”.

The linebacker is typically the leader of the defense. One, because they’re crazy and everyone’s a little afraid of them but they also sit right in the middle of the defense. You have the lineman right at the line of scrimmage. They’re closest to the action. You also have defensive backs who, as their name implies, are usually set further away. The Line backer is right between the two in a typical defensive set. They generally have a better vantage point than the lineman since they’re set back and upright. They have to communicate to the defensive lineman what they see and typically adjust based on what the offense is trying. The DB’s also take their cues from the linebackers to some extent…especially the Strong Safety who’s usually in the same neighborhood. So what exactly does the prep sport linebacker do when he’s not leading the defense or setting things on fire?

There are two typical roles for the Linebacker. Officially, they are matched up against the running backs. In a perfect world, during a running play, the defensive lineman are all neutralized by the countering offensive players. This usually leaves holes in the line for the running backs to break through. This is where the linebacker needs the toughness we described above. If you’re the linebacker, that running back is usually running straight at you and your responsibility is to meet him at the line and knock him back. See, the lineman get dirty at the line but they’re a few feet apart. You can’t build up to much speed and it usually turns into a wrestling match. The linebacker however, has a large and fast running back coming right at him and he’s had a good 10 yards to build up speed. It’s going to be ugly and you have to be a little bit crazy to want to hit that straight on. That’s the linebacker for you. They basically have to stop a moving train on most running plays. If they don’t, the run play goes from a few yards to 15 real fast. They are the first buttress of defense beyond which, it’s pretty open territory.

The second set is that of a passing offensive play. There are two different options. They can either drop back for pass protection with general responsibility for the middle of the field or they can blitz which is probably a linebacker’s favorite thing to do. On the blitz, they gamble a bit and rush the quarterback. They’re hoping to get him before he can get the pass off. It fits perfectly with their headhunter mentality. See…it’s good in prep football to be a little crazy!

Author Bio: Dennis Jarvis writes about the world of Prep Sports including high school sports such as high school football, basketball, and baseball.

Category: Sports
Keywords: high school linebackers,high school football,prep football,prep sports