LINCOLN — What typically takes first-year Nebraska players months to learn, linebacker Lavonte David apparently has accomplished in a few weeks.
All indications are that David will be one of the few newcomers to see considerable playing time in coach Bo Pelini’s defense, heightening outside expectations for a guy who hasn’t taken a snap at the major college level.
It’s too early — and unfair — to label David as an instant game-changer. But with the growing amount of team-wide praise, consider Husker fans’ interest piqued.
David is a 6-foot-1, 210-pound athlete who apparently has the physical gifts to overcome the concept-based hurdles that would normally slow those still learning Pelini’s scheme.
Ask any NU player or coach who has witnessed David’s apparently smooth transition, and he’ll have positive words for the former junior-college standout who played at prep powerhouse Miami Northwestern. Defensive coordinator Carl Pelini called the junior “as instinctive a football player as I’ve been around.”
Even coach Bo Pelini, the hard-edged perfectionist, spent a considerable portion of Tuesday’s weekly press conference raving about David’s ability — and it is not Pelini protocol to join in on preseason hype.
“I see a bright future for Lavonte, I really do,” Bo Pelini said. “I think he’s really come a long way in a short period of time. I think he’s only scratched the surface of his knowledge and where he can go as a player.”
So what can we expect from David on Saturday? I caution you not to assume immediate greatness.
It’s true that Nebraska’s basic rationale for eliminating the standard 4-3 base package and converting to a two-linebacker system was as follows: The Huskers spent much of the 2009 season with no more than one or two linebackers on the field — perhaps as much as 90 percent of the time.
But against Colorado, when NU had to rely on three linebackers to consistently match up with its opponent’s personnel, the Blackshirts allowed a season-high 403 yards.
Could it be that the linebackers, most of whom are young, are still maturing as a group; that they are still learning to play at this level? It really isn’t that far-fetched.
With Sean Fisher out for the year, there’s no question that David is in a great position to win an open job. He soared in as a difference-maker who’s apparently as good as advertised.
But you have to wonder if David’s emergence is based on his talent and skill level, or if his apparent breakthrough is more due to Nebraska’s lack of proven linebacker candidates. Only time will tell.
Whatever the case, David appears to have the coaches’ support. And maybe that’s all that matters.
“I’m not always as confident in a first-year player in the first game as I am with him,” Carl Pelini said. “I think intellectually he gets it.”
It sounds like fans will find out for themselves Saturday.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9585, jon.nyatawa@owh.com
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