2003 Review
 Kai Parham |
2003 was a year of transition for the Virginia linebacking corps. Merrill Robertson and Angelo Crowell departed and Kai Parham and Ahmad Brooks stepped in. Brooks started from day one and Parham took over in the fourth game of the season after an injury to Rich Bedesem. Brooks and Parham entered the program as two of the most highly-touted defensive players ever at UVa and they did not disappoint.
Parham finished fourth on the team in tackles, while Brooks took home virtually every piece of hardware a freshman defender could. In addition to being named a Freshman All-American, Brooks was named the ACC Freshman of the Year by Collegefootballnews.com and the ACC Defensive Freshman of the Year by Sporting News.
Darryl Blackstock continued his attack on the Virginia defensive record book, posting 16 tackles for loss and 23 quarterback pressures. His number of tackles (85) was down from 2003 as was his sack total (6), but he still led the team in that category. Even more important, he continued his development with respect to becoming a complete linebacker, not just a devastating pass rusher.
Raymond Mann departed in 2003 after an up-and-down four years.
2004 Depth Chart
Outside Linebackers
First Team – Dennis Haley (6-1 247 Sr.)
Career Starts: 2. Career Games Played: 21.
First Team – Darryl Blackstock 6-4 240 Jr.)
Career Starts: 27. Career Games Played: 28.
Second Team – Vince Redd (6-6 265 Fr.)
Career Starts: 0. Career Games Played: 1.
Second Team – Jermaine Dias (6-1 231 Fr.)
Career Starts: 0. Career Games Played: 1.
Third Team – Jon Thompson (6-2 220 Sr.)
Career Starts: 0. Career Games Played: 23.
Inside Linebacker
First Team – Kai Parham (6-3 247 So.)
Career Starts: 10. Career Games Played: 14.
First Team – Ahmad Brooks (6-4 249 So.)
Career Starts: 13. Career Games Played: 14.
Second Team – Bryan White (6-1 241 Sr.)
Career Starts: 5. Career Games Played: 33.
Second Team – Rich Bedesem 6-2 234 Sr.)
Career Starts: 9. Career Games Played: 35.
Third Team – Jon Thompson (6-2 220 Sr.)
Nickel Package
Ahmad Brooks (6-4 249 So.)
Darryl Blackstock (6-4 240 Jr.)
Jermaine Dias (6-1 231 Fr.)
Dennis Haley (6-1 247 Sr.)
 Dennis Haley |
It’s easy to like Dennis Haley because of his toughness and his tenacity. Haley won the starting job at outside linebacker in the spring and opened the 2004 campaign with four tackles against Temple. Last year he played in 12 games, posting 36 tackles.
Darryl Blackstock mans the opposite side and is on pace to topple some school sacks and tackles-for-loss records. In his first two seasons, the junior linebacker and 2004 Butkus Award candidate has delivered 195 stops, 33 for loss, 17 sacks and 45 quarterback hurries. He began this season right where he left off a year ago, posting three tackles for loss and a sack against the Owls.
Blackstock is not only an accomplished pass rusher but is a very capable run stopper on the perimeter with the ability to catch players from behind. In 2003, 20 percent of his tackles were for a loss. This season Blackstock enters as a consensus All-ACC pick by Phil Steele, Athlon, Sporting News and Lindy’s. Steele rates him the ninth-best linebacker in the nation while Lindy’s ranks him 10th.
As a freshman Ahmad Brooks led the team in tackles (117), becoming the first freshman to do so since P.J. Killian in 1990. Brooks finished third in tackles for loss and tied for second with three sacks. He began the season with four tackles and 1½ sacks last Saturday against Temple.
Like Blackstock, Brooks is a Butkus Award candidate, a consensus preseason First Team All-ACC selection and is rated by Phil Steele as the No. 2 linebacker in the country.
 Rich Bedesem |
Kai Parham may not get the press that Brooks and Blackstock do, but the “Hammer” may be the most ferocious hitter in the group. Though he only started nine games last year, he still finished fourth on the team (and 14th in the nation among freshmen) with 89 tackles. He received Freshman All-American recognition last fall and enters this season ranked by Steele as the 11th-best linebacker in the country.
Parham is probably Virginia’s best run stopper but senior Rich Bedesem is not far behind. Not many teams have a 10-game starter backing up their first-team linebackers. Bedesem started against Temple and made three tackles, including a sack. Though he will back up Brooks and Parham today against North Carolina, Bedesem will get plenty of action, especially on running downs. For his career, Bedesem has posted 126 tackles, five for a loss and five quarterback pressures.
Bryan White is another former starter who could filll in at inside linebacker in case of injury. In the meantime, he plays a significant role on special teams.
 Jermaine Dias |
Redshirt freshmen Jermaine Dias and Vince Redd were both impressive in fall camp and each saw their first action against the Owls. At 6-6 and 245 pounds, Redd has the ability to tip passes, close up running lanes, and cloud the quarterback’s vision even when he’s checked at the line of scrimmage.
“He’s got unusual size, imposing size for that position,” said UVa coach Al Groh. “He just needs development at that spot.”
Dias serves as the second inside linebacker in the Virginia nickel package and showed on Saturday that his speed can be very disruptive to opposing offenses. Dias is getting some on-the-job training but the coaches like his aggressive style of play. “We’re trying to emphasize to him as well as a few others to be aggressive while he’s learning,” Groh said. “Don’t let the learning part slow down his aggression.”
All-ACC Candidates
Ahmad Brooks
Darryl Blackstock
Kai Parham
All-American Candidates
Ahmad Brooks
Darryl Blackstock
2004 Analysis
 Darryl Blackstock |
Al Groh knows linebackers. He knows how to recruit them and he knows how to coach them. With Dennis Haley, Darryl Blackstock, Kai Parham and Ahmad Brooks , Groh may have the best collection of power, speed and size at the position in America.
Playing behind a talented and experienced defensive line, look for the linebackers to have a very productive season. Last season this group was somewhat restrained by the coaching staff to protect an average secondary and to ease their learning curve. There will be no shackles placed on the 2004 edition. This will be an aggressive group that will be expected to deliver suffocating amounts of pressure on quarterbacks. The front line’s ability to manage the run will free the linebackers to attack with the clear focus of forcing turnovers and nailing quarterbacks.
Virginia’s linebacking unit will be afforded a tremendous opportunity to set new sack records in 2004. Opponents will find it difficult to execute any type of vertical passing attack and the exceptional speed and power of this group will make misdirection, screens and flairs a recipe for losing yardage.
With the Cavalier down linemen controlling the line of scrimmage, the linebackers will be placed in positions to make big plays, especially behind the line of scrimmage. Expect the defense to force a lot of second-and-long and third-and-long situations and expect them to attack in these instances.
In addition to a significant improvement in the pass rush, the linebackers’ goals include not missing tackles, effectively executing their coverage responsibilities and eliminating the damaging aggression penalties that can occur with the attacking style of defense Virginia will deploy.
