The experience edge entering the 2017 competition at linebacker favors Weber, Young and Newby by a wide margin. Weber's knowledge of the defense, and the way he played whenever filling in for Josh Banderas, would make him a natural choice to be the guy at middle backer helping organize things. But this could be an intriguing offseason for Trent Bray's position group because there are a lot of younger players who will now start to feel this is their time to rise.
We're not just talking about third-year sophomores such as Tyrin Ferguson and Mohamed Barry, but also that crop of redshirt freshmen that sat out this past fall. Pernell Jefferson, for instance, was a scout team MVP. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound Alexander arrived here not just as a linebacker prospect but also a successful pass rusher in high school, seeming a potential hybrid-type player.
Then there's the case of Avery Roberts. You could say he is one of the top prizes of this Husker recruiting class, and he plans to enroll early. While the linebacker depth chart isn't as thin as it was when Dedrick Young arrived in January two years ago and won a starting job in August, a quote or two after the bowl game would suggest youth will have an opportunity to make its case.
