David Long Jr, ILB-OLB, West Virginia #11

5112, 221, 4.72

Notes: From Cincinnati, OH. One of 12 children. Redshirted in 2015. Played in 13 games, notched 65 tackles, 4.5 tackles-for-loss, 2 sacks and 1 forced fumble in 2016. Started 9 games at Will linebacker, missed the first 4 games due to a preseason knee injury, recorded 76 tackles, 16.5 TFL, 4 sacks, 6 pass breakups and 1 fumble recovery in 2017. Started all 12 games at Will linebacker, had 111 tackles, 19 TFL, 8 sacks, 4 PBU, 1 FF and 1 FR in 2018. Graduated in December 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies.

Positives: Extremely quick, active and instinctive. Diagnoses and flies to the football. Very disruptive and spends a lot of time in the opponent’s backfield. Reliable, wrap-up tackler. Adept at eluding blockers. Great inside-out pursuit and closing speed.

Negatives: Significant size limitations and has to be protected and play off the ball. Needs to run around blockers to make plays.

Summary: Not a fit for all schemes, but a real playmaker if utilized properly in the right scheme.