BEAUMONT, Texas – Another offseason has come and gone, and the calendar has turned the page for August which means players have reported back to campus for preseason camp. It also means LamarCardinals.com will once again be posting its annual position-by-position breakdowns leading up to the team's season opener Saturday, Aug. 30^th at North Texas.
 
Today LamarCardinals.com will break down the LU linebackers.
 
LB Quick Facts:
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 5/5
Starters Returning/Lost: 0/3
Newcomers: 5 (four signees and one transfer)
 
Stats: The Cardinals ended the 2024 season ranked second in the Southland in scoring defense (22.8 ppg), fifth in total defense (367.2 ypg), fourth in rushing defense (138.8 ypg) and seventh in passing (228.3 ypg). The Cardinals also ranked seventh in the league in sacks with 23 and interceptions (11) and recorded 60 tackles for losses.
 
Key Player: Brayden Faulkner (10 games/4 starts - 54 tackles, 18 unassisted, 4.0 TFLs, 2.0 Sacks, 1 PBU) – while not officially listed as a returning starter (due to not making the majority of starts at the same position) Faulkner made four starts last season and is a leader on the defense.
 
The Storyline
Similar to the preview of the Cardinals defensive line, Lamar does not return a lot of starters at linebacker. While the linebackers are listed has having no official starters (again this goes back to my unwavering stubbornness connected to the number of starts at the same position rule – insert eye roll here), Faulkner as mentioned earlier did make four starts at the position last year and in 10 games finished among the team leaders in tackles, tackles for losses and sacks.
 
Faulkner is a leader at the position and on defense. He is a guy who has come in and impressed since his first day on campus and has only improved. He is one of five returning letterwinners at the position to go along with Koda Canady (6-3, 229, Jr.), C.J. Miller (5-11, 225, So.), Nick Rossomando (5-9, 234, So.) and Daiki Yoshikawa (6-0, 216, So.).
 
Similar to Faulkner, Canady has been another player who came in and earned early playing time and has continued to get better. As with every position, if he can stay healthy he should take another step forward in his development this season.
 
The overall experience of the group gets stronger when you throw in senior Jaden Maronen who makes his way to the Golden Triangle from Baylor. Similar in size to that of Faulkner, Maronen (5-11, 227) went to Baylor after playing a key role in leading Katy High School to a state title. A two-year letterwinner with the Bears, Maronen played in 11 games for the Bears last season.
 
Now consider the fact that Lamar's coaching staff redshirted 2024 recruits Dillon Dixon (6-1, 211, New Orleans, La.), Etelridge McKinney (6-1, 223, Dallas, Texas), Isaac Blessing (6-3, 225, Tolar, Texas) and Jackson Bandy (6-3, 227, Nolensville, Tenn.). All four were high-value targets coming out of high school and have now had a full year of coaching under head coach Pete Rossomando, not to mention a full year in an NCAA Division I weight room.
 
If that was not enough, LU also added true freshmen Nehemiah Borner (5-9, 217, Duncanville, Texas) and Jacob Hyder (6-1, 201, Woodville, Texas) to go along with Mid-County Madness rivals A.J. Simon (6-1, 224, Nederland, Texas) and Mason Wuenschel (6-1, 224, Groves, Texas). My point is the cupboard is not empty – maybe young – but it is not empty.
 
When you combine the 2024 redshirts with the incoming freshman to the position, the group averages 6-1, 219 pounds. It's no secret that the linebacker room might be the youngest position group on the team so with that being said it is probably more important for some of these younger guys to step up quicker than at other positions but that should not be viewed as negative. Again, let's revisit a saying from Coach Rossomando, "Experience isn't better, better is better."
 
The Cardinals have options to choose from and the remainder of preseason camp – which is now ticking down into the final few hours before the team transitions into official game week prep – and the entire season to allow the cream to rise to the top, but as we stated earlier the Cardinals have options at the position. The majority of fans may not know these names yet so it's understandable that could make some folks nervous.
 
If you are a cup half full individual then your excited about the prospects, If you a cup half empty person, then you might be a bit more nervous but it also probably means you will be even more excited when these younger, less known names, step up on gameday.