If there's one reason to be optimistic about the 2009 Mountaineers, it's the linebackers.

There's no way of knowing now if this is the best group in the Big East, or the nation, as some have said, so I won't. Instead, let's be a little more empirical.

In Jeff Casteel's atypical 3-3-5 stack defense that WVU has employed for several years now, the linebackers are the playmakers. That's why it's not unusual for WVU's defensive linemen to have few sacks. Their job is to take on double—and triple-teams, hold their ground, gum up the line and let the linebackers (and sometimes the safeties) swoop in and make the tackles.

This year's linebacker story begins and ends with senior Reed Williams.


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