Today we take a look at another walk-on, a guy that just makes play.
8 -- DL/OLB/S Ezekiel Barnett (RS SR) -- Barnett joined the Louisiana Tech program in 2016 from Benton HS in Benton, LA.
Barnett has played in 36 games during his Bulldog career, but did not see a ton of action on defense until 2019.
Let's hit on his special teams work, first. He's been a special teams ace for 3 years. He led the team in ST tackles in 2019 with 7, and he also led the team in ST tackles in 2018 with 6. He was 5th on the team as a RS FR in 2017 with 4. He's been top 4 in snaps played on special teams the last 3 years. He is a great special teams player.
In 2019, his talent on the defensive side really started to show up. What a year he had.
In 486 snaps, which is 50.5% of the snaps Tech's defense played in 2019, Barnett had 59 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 4 sacks, 1 FF, and 1 INT. The 1 INT that he had was a pick-six of Mr. Abraham of USM to seal the 45-30 win for the Bulldogs.
He's 6'2, 213 pounds, a little bit of a tweener, but it doesn't matter. Bob Diaco used him all over the place in 2019.
Snaps by Position:
DL - 194
Box LB - 124
Slot CB - 152
Wide CB - 3
Free Safety - 13
He brings so much versatility in an era of college football that demands it on the defensive side with all the spread offenses.
In case you can't tell, this guy is one of my favorite players on the team. Heck, Diaco would line him up at nose tackle in some pressure situations. He does his job, and he does it well.
What's is Ezekiel Barnett's outlook in 2020? First off, he's a team leader. Great kid, great teammate. In 2020, I expect David Blackwell to absolutely love this guy. He's likely to play the "Bandit" position in my opinion due to his ability to rush the passer and drop back in coverage. Give Barnett 850 snaps and I think he can produce 13 TFL and 7-8 sacks. He's a real weapon and is a guy that hasn't gotten a ton of publicity for the season that he had in 2019.
Thoughts on Barnett?
8 -- DL/OLB/S Ezekiel Barnett (RS SR) -- Barnett joined the Louisiana Tech program in 2016 from Benton HS in Benton, LA.
Barnett has played in 36 games during his Bulldog career, but did not see a ton of action on defense until 2019.
Let's hit on his special teams work, first. He's been a special teams ace for 3 years. He led the team in ST tackles in 2019 with 7, and he also led the team in ST tackles in 2018 with 6. He was 5th on the team as a RS FR in 2017 with 4. He's been top 4 in snaps played on special teams the last 3 years. He is a great special teams player.
In 2019, his talent on the defensive side really started to show up. What a year he had.
In 486 snaps, which is 50.5% of the snaps Tech's defense played in 2019, Barnett had 59 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 4 sacks, 1 FF, and 1 INT. The 1 INT that he had was a pick-six of Mr. Abraham of USM to seal the 45-30 win for the Bulldogs.
He's 6'2, 213 pounds, a little bit of a tweener, but it doesn't matter. Bob Diaco used him all over the place in 2019.
Snaps by Position:
DL - 194
Box LB - 124
Slot CB - 152
Wide CB - 3
Free Safety - 13
He brings so much versatility in an era of college football that demands it on the defensive side with all the spread offenses.
In case you can't tell, this guy is one of my favorite players on the team. Heck, Diaco would line him up at nose tackle in some pressure situations. He does his job, and he does it well.
What's is Ezekiel Barnett's outlook in 2020? First off, he's a team leader. Great kid, great teammate. In 2020, I expect David Blackwell to absolutely love this guy. He's likely to play the "Bandit" position in my opinion due to his ability to rush the passer and drop back in coverage. Give Barnett 850 snaps and I think he can produce 13 TFL and 7-8 sacks. He's a real weapon and is a guy that hasn't gotten a ton of publicity for the season that he had in 2019.
Thoughts on Barnett?
