{"id":21930,"date":"2019-06-24T13:00:46","date_gmt":"2019-06-24T17:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosoncfb.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=21930"},"modified":"2025-09-13T16:15:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T20:15:23","slug":"big-xiis-best-returning-linebackers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2019\/06\/24\/big-xiis-best-returning-linebackers\/","title":{"rendered":"Big XII\u2019s Best Returning Linebackers"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we count down the days to the 2019 College Football Season\u2019s opening kickoff, we have given our thoughts on the best players in the Big XII at several positions.\u00a0 So far, we have offered our perspective on quarterback<\/a>, running back<\/a>, wide receiver<\/a>, and defensive linemen<\/a>.\u00a0 Now, we keep our focus on the defensive side of the ball.\u00a0Without further ado, here are our picks for the Big XII\u2019s best returning linebackers.<\/p>\n

Big XII\u2019s Best Returning Linebackers<\/h2>\n

Honorable Mentions<\/h3>\n

Before jumping into the top five Big XII linebackers, we want to mention a few players who deserve honorable mention.\u00a0 First, Oklahoma State\u2019s Calvin Bundage<\/a><\/strong> deserves attention here. Honestly, Bundage just barely misses our top five best returning linebackers in the conference.\u00a0 The Big XII coaches gave him an Honorable Mention on their All-Conference Team last year.\u00a0Bundage definitely earned the recognition, as he racked up 62 tackles, registering losses on eight of those. He added 1.5 sacks to his totals. \u00a0Seemingly healthy after being slowed by injury last season, the rising senior should prove to be one of the conference\u2019s best linebackers this season.<\/p>\n

Next, we focus on a serious candidate for defensive newcomer of the year: West Virginia\u2019s VanDarius Cowan<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0Surprisingly, a few pundits identify the Mountaineers\u2019 linebacker group as a top four unit in the conference, despite losing stud David Long<\/a> to the NFL. Cowan is a large part of the reason.\u00a0 He stands at 6-4, 235 pounds and provides a mix of speed, athleticism, and power that earned him a high 4-star composite ranking by 247Sports.\u00a0 He was the sixth\u00a0<\/sup>highest-rated linebacker in the 2017 class, and he is the third\u00a0<\/sup>highest-rated returning linebacker at the position in the entire conference.\u00a0 After sitting out last season upon his transfer from Alabama, Cowan should make plenty of noise this season.<\/p>\n

Mike Rose \u2013 Iowa State<\/h3>\n

Iowa State offered two of our top five defensive linemen, and it also brings players who join our list of best linebackers in the Big XII.\u00a0 Simply, the Cyclones defense has been really good the past two seasons.\u00a0 Mike Rose<\/strong><\/a> closely edges out Bundage for fifth on our list at this position. Rose is only a rising sophomore, but he put up big numbers last season.\u00a0 He finished the season with 75 tackles, nine for loss, 1.5 sacks, and returned a fumble recovery for a touchdown.\u00a0 He proved to be a disruptive forced and earned a spot on both The Athletic\u2019s and the FWAA\u2019s Freshman All-American team as a result.\u00a0 The Big XII coaches also gave Rose an Honorable Mention on their All-Conference team.\u00a0 And Rose has plenty of room to improve.<\/p>\n

Jordyn Brooks \u2013 Texas Tech<\/h3>\n

Texas Tech certainly has not been known for its defense for the last decade, (or longer), but it has still featured plenty of bright spots over the years.\u00a0 Senior Jordyn Brooks<\/strong><\/a> offered a bit of light on the Red Raiders\u2019 much-maligned defense last season.\u00a0 He finished with 78 tackles, six-and-a-half tackles for loss, and two-and-a-half sacks.\u00a0 Brooks also added an interception.\u00a0 The versatile Brooks should anchor the Red Raiders defense again this year.\u00a0 Brooks has been an Honorable Mention on the All-Conference team each of the last three years.\u00a0 Expect him to improve upon that this season and earn his spot as one of the best returning linebackers in the Big XII.<\/p>\n

Marcel Spears, Jr. \u2013 Iowa State<\/h3>\n

As strange as it feels to include yet another Cyclone on our top five lists, (this makes the fourth in just two defensive lists), we repeat that the Iowa State defense really has looked that<\/em> good.\u00a0 Last season, Marcel Spears<\/strong><\/a> regressed slightly from his monster 2017 season.\u00a0 Even so, he still put up good numbers, finishing with 69 tackles (down from 107 in 2017!), eight tackles for loss, two-and-a-half sacks, two interceptions (one for a touchdown), and a fumble recovery.\u00a0 Simply, Spears disrupted opposing units early, often, and in a number of ways.\u00a0 Spears has earned an Honorable Mention each of the past two seasons on the All-Conference team, and he should challenge for a first-team nod this season.<\/p>\n

Clay Johnston \u2013 Baylor<\/h3>\n

Though Baylor\u2019s defense finished near the bottom of the conference last season, Clay Johnston<\/strong><\/a> certainly contributed plenty.\u00a0 Johnston finished the season with 99 tackles, five-and-a-half tackles for loss, and a sack.\u00a0 He uses his speed well to find the ball, seemingly on every play.\u00a0 After earning a spot on the All-Conference Second Team last season, the fifth-year senior will look to leave his mark yet again on a Bears team that should be plenty improved from 2018.<\/p>\n

Kenneth Murray \u2013 Oklahoma<\/h3>\n

We pointed out in our list of top five defensive linemen that Oklahoma\u2019s defense was, simply, bad last season. \u00a0But Kenneth Murray<\/strong><\/a> did his best to improve the unit.\u00a0 Murray had a monster season, racking up 155 tackles, 12.5 of which went for a loss.\u00a0 He added four-and-a-half sacks and a fumble recovery, too.\u00a0 Murray finds the gaps, applies pressure, and tackles well.\u00a0 In 2017, Murray earned a spot on the Freshmen All-American Teams by both USA Today and the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA).\u00a0 Last season, he earned a spot on the All-Conference Second Team.\u00a0 Those who finished in front of him have moved on, and the rising junior has nobody left in front of him. \u00a0As a result, Murray tops our list of best returning linebackers in the conference. Look for Murray to shine on a defense rejuvenated by the hire of Alex Grinch<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we count down the days to the 2019 College Football Season\u2019s opening kickoff, we have given our thoughts on the best players in the Big XII at several positions.\u00a0 So far, we have offered our perspective on quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and defensive linemen.\u00a0 Now, we keep our focus on the defensive side […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2744,"featured_media":21933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[239,4780,3408,4830,3466,211,4828,4829,4827,37,234,240,237],"class_list":["post-21930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-big12","tag-baylor-bears","tag-big-12-football","tag-calvin-bundage","tag-clay-johnston","tag-david-long","tag-iowa-state-cyclones","tag-jordyn-brooks","tag-marcel-spears","tag-mike-rose","tag-oklahoma-sooners","tag-oklahoma-state-cowboys","tag-texas-tech-red-raiders","tag-west-virginia-mountaineers"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2744"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21930"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79015,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21930\/revisions\/79015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}