As the 2017 season draws nearer by the day, it’s time to start taking a look at some of the top players to watch in the Big Ten Conference.
We continue our Ranking the Big Ten series today with the inside linebackers, which boast a slew of top returning talent to quarterback the league's defenses this season.
Previous Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE | OT | OG | C | DT | DE | OLB
After posting one of the most productive individual defensive seasons of any linebacker in college football last season, Iowa’s Josey Jewell is back for his senior year as the Big Ten’s best at his position.
The 6-foot-2, 236-pounder ranked second in the conference with 124 total tackles last year to go along with six tackles for loss, two sacks, and nine pass break-ups.
Jewell was tabbed a fourth-team All-American by several publications as well as earning second-team All-Big Ten honors and being named one of five finalists for the Butkus Award.
The Decorah, Iowa, native is now a consensus preseason first-team all-conference pick, already earning that distinction from Lindy’s, Athlon and Street and Smith’s.
If Jewel can even come close to replicating his numbers from last year in 2017, he’ll likely find himself near the top of NFL draft boards come next April.
Yes, Wisconsin lost two starting linebackers to the NFL in Vince Biegel and T.J. Watt, but the Badgers will once again reload to be one of the best in the country at the position this season.
Leading the way in that regard is junior Jack Cichy, who was off to an impressive start in 2016 before suffering a season-ending injury seven games into the schedule.
Prior to his injury, the 6-2, 225, native of Somerset, Wis., had racked up a team-high 61 tackles and still ended up being named a Butkus Award semifinalist and earning honorable mention All-Big Ten honors.
Cichy now enters his senior year on the Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list and is listed as a second-team preseason all-conference selection by both Lindy’s and Athlon.
After Cichy went down, T.J. Edwards took the reigns as Wisconsin’s leading tackler in 2016, finishing with 89 total stops to go along with 8.5 tackles for loss.
The 6-1, 246, native of Lake Villa, Ill., also added three sacks, three interceptions, two pass breakups and forced a fumble, in addition to four double-digit tackle efforts.
Edwards will once again be a featured piece on the Badgers’ defense this season, and the junior should once again put up some hefty numbers across the board.
Not only does Penn State return the bulk of its explosive offense from last year’s Big Ten title run, also back is the rock of its defense in senior linebacker Jason Cabinda.
Though he missed five games in 2016 due to an arm injury, the 6-1, 232, Cabinda still managed to post 81 total tackles and earn third-team All-Big Ten honors.
Cabinda will be counted on to be the vocal and emotional leader for a Nittany Lion defense that should get plenty of help from its offense this season.
Chris Worley has played a lot of football for Ohio State over the past three years, seeing action in 39 games with 14 starts in his career.
But 2017 will still be a bit of a learning curve for the 6-2, 230, senior from Cleveland, Ohio.
Worley came in as a safety and has been an outside linebacker his entire college career, but he made the move to inside this spring following the departure of the all-league Raekwon McMillan.
He started all 13 games for the Buckeyes at outside linebacker in 2016, finishing fourth on the team with 70 tackles. Now OSU’s man in the middle, expect Worley’s contributions to pick up in a major way this season.