Take Two: Can Noah Sewell excel at linebacker at his size?

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or a regional analyst.

MORE: Sewell checks in at No. 2 in updated 2020 inside linebacker rankings

One of the biggest movers up in the Rivals100 was four-star linebacker Noah Sewell, who shot up 33 spots to No. 33 overall after he performed well at the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp presented by adidas in Los Angeles and at other events over the last few months.

If there is one question about Sewell’s game, though, it’s the weight he plays at, because it’s incredibly rare for inside linebackers to weigh around 260 pounds during their junior seasons and still excel.

The Orem, Utah, standout has absolutely bucked that idea this offseason, as he has shown elite ability to move in space, to cover receivers down the field and to also be a physical presence at the line of scrimmage. His performance at the All-American Combine in San Antonio over the holidays, where several Rivals analysts saw him in person, was another outstanding showing.

The only question really remaining is whether Sewell can play the position at 260 pounds - and he might get bigger since he’s only entering his senior year of high school. His brother, Gabe, plays at Nevada at 6-foot and 250 pounds. His other brother, Penei, is a 6-foot-6, 345-pound offensive lineman at Oregon

Can Sewell excel at linebacker at his size or is there a likelihood over the next few years the high four-star prospect will end up moving to somewhere on the defensive line?

“Former Pittsburgh Steeler Levon Kirkland is our linebackers coach at the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp, and he played his NFL career at close to 300 pounds. At the end of the day, size only matters in as much as whether you can play the position. At 230 pounds or 260 pounds, if Sewell can play the position, his size won’t matter.

“What I have seen of him personally at 260 pounds gives me confidence he can play that position at that size.”

“The problem is he’s not long. He’s 6-foot-1, so if he moved to defensive end you’d want him to be longer since those guys are 6-3, 6-4, 6-5, 6-6, in that range. You look at a kid like this and he’s likely going to be an interior linebacker. Despite how well he moves, I don’t think he can be a SAM or WILL linebacker.

“He could end up being a defensive tackle, but what I think he’s going to be is a big, physical, middle linebacker who can cover some ground and is very good against the run. But I do worry about his ability to drop into coverage and his sideline-to-sideline speed. There are concerns being that big.”