Middle linebacker battle far from over

EVANSTON-Northwestern is looking to replace just one starter in its linebacker corps in 2017. But that guy will have to fill some pretty big shoes.

The departed starter is, of course, middle linebacker Anthony Walker Jr., who decided after the Pinstripe Bowl in late December to forego his fifth year of eligibility. The two-time All-Big Ten selection had 278 tackles and 39.5 tackles for loss over the last three seasons and figures to go somewhere in the middle rounds of the NFL Draft later this month.

Whoever earns the starting middle linebacker job will be the next in what has been a long line of stud middle linebackers for the Wildcats. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald was a two-time national defensive player of the year, Barry Gardner had an eight-year NFL career, Tim McGarigle holds the unofficial NCAA tackles record and Walker may have been the most talented of them all. That’s quite a bit to live up to.

Neither Fitzgerald nor linebackers coach Randy Bates knows yet who will replace Walker, but one this is for sure: he’ll be from Texas. The two players battling for the job are Nathan Fox and Paddy Fisher, who grew up on opposite sides of Houston; Fox is from Clear Lake on the east side, while Fisher hails from west suburban Katy, a high school powerhouse in the Lone Star State.

The similarities don’t end there. “Both guys are about the same,” said Bates. “Both guys are pretty fast, both guys are large and physical, so we’re really blessed there.” Both players weigh in at 235 pounds, though Fisher, at 6-foot-3, is an inch taller than Fox.

The two are far from identical, though. Fisher has quite a bit of flow, with a thick mop of dark, curly hair, while Fox’s strawberry blond hair is cropped high and tight. Fisher also has a more pronounced Texas drawl and speaks a little more deliberately than the more excitable Fox.

Fox vs. Fisher had been billed as the biggest battle of spring football, but the truth is that the winner won’t be decided until fall camp, shortly before Northwestern’s opener against Nevada on Sept. 2. And there won’t be a loser, either, as both linebackers figure to play quite a bit no matter who jogs onto the field with the first unit.

“It’s gonna be a helluva battle,” said Fitzgerald after Saturday’s final spring practice at Ryan Field. “It’s going to be probably ongoing... I reserve the right to play the best 11 players on every play. If those guys play well enough, we might see them both on the field at the same time.”

Fox, as a rising redshirt sophomore, figured to have the upper hand in this duel. He’s a year older than Fisher and has gotten some playing time, even if most of it was on special teams. Fox has only 11 career tackles, but that’s 11 more than Fisher, who redshirted last season as a freshman.

Fisher says that Fox is also faster and stronger than he is and has a better command of the playbook. He even admitted that Fox is the funnier of the two.

Fox said that when he found out that Walker was entering the NFL draft, he began thinking like the job would be his. “When I saw Anthony Walker decide to go to the NFL, I was like, ‘okay, it’s my turn,’” he said.

His first order of business was getting in better shape. He felt a little slow and heavy last year so he dropped 15 pounds since the end of the season. He did it the old fashioned way, with “diet and cardio.”

But Fisher made a case for himself by having a breakout spring. During Saturday’s final practice, No. 42 made plays all over the field. He excels at playing “physical and getting downhill,” he says, and more than once his heavy hits knocked a running back sideways.

Bates certainly noticed.

“I like to think we recruited pretty good players, and if you watched the freshman (Fisher) who’s never played a game today, he made a lot of plays,” said Bates. “He’s gonna make a lot of plays. He was also the Texas defensive player of the year (he won the High School Lombardi Award).

“I expect him to be as good as Anthony, and really, the same with Fox. They’re just not as experienced. It takes a little time. They’ll make some mistakes that a fourth-year or fifth-year senior won’t.”

Fox said that Fisher’s learning curve has impressed him, too. “He’s ahead of where he should be,” said Fox. “He’s ahead of where I was when I was his age.”

Luckily for whomever is lined up in the middle, there will likely be two experienced outside linebackers around him. Brett Walsh, who started five games in 2016, and Nate Hall, who started eight, will most likely be the starting outside linebackers and leaders of a unit that is quite a bit thinner than it was a year ago.

The couple thousand fans in attendance last Saturday probably noticed that Fox, Walsh and Hall played all three linebacker positions. That’s by design – it gives the coaches flexibility with lineups and makes each player better by knowing what everyone else is doing.

This season, it may also a necessity.

Northwestern has lost six linebackers since this time last year. Walker, Jaylen Prater and Joseph Jones graduated, while Cameron Queiro, Tommy Vitale and Simba Short were all forced to retire because of injuries.

So the Wildcats were left this spring with just six healthy LBs: Walsh, Hall, Fox, Fisher, freshman Jango Glackin and Warren Long, a former running back who made the move to linebacker after the season in an effort to earn more playing time. Three more linebackers, Class of 2017 signees Chee Anyanwu, Blake Gallagher and Peter McIntyre, will arrive this summer, but no one knows whether they will be ready for action this fall.

The attrition at linebacker may seem like a cause for concern, but neither Bates nor Fitzgerald is very worried. They are confident about the guys in the room, even if they are few in number.

“I feel pretty good about that group,” said Fitzgerald. “They’re pretty damn athletic. They’re big, they can run, they like contact. As a former linebacker, those are pretty good qualities. The rest is kind of overrated,” he said with a laugh.

Long, who hasn’t played defense since high school, has made a rapid transition from hit-ee to hitter, according to Bates, who calls the fifth-year senior a “bonus linebacker” he didn't know if he could count on.

“He’s by far farther ahead than I would have expected,” said Bates. “After 15 practices, I think he understands it well. He’s obviously got great speed and agility and he’ll knock the crap out of you. So it’s just a matter of him getting a lot of reps…he’s going to play a lot of football for us.”

The lack of linebacker depth could force Northwestern to play more nickel defense this season. That would put two linebackers on the field instead of three, with the fifth defensive back, most likely safety Jared McGee, dropping down to play outside linebacker.

However they line up, don’t expect the competition for playing time to come between the two Texans in the middle. They know that they may end up playing next to each other at times this season, and they could also stand next to each other on the sideline, too.

“We’re good friends,” said Fisher. “Over spring ball and winter workouts we’ve created a bond. He helps me out a lot, I help him out a lot; it’s a mutual relationship.

“You have to put (personal) relationships aside when it comes to football. You can’t get personal with it. Every day you have to go out and do your job and do your best, and the best man will play.”

Or, in some cases, the best men will both play.