Joe Dineen Jr, ILB, Kansas #29
6010, 230, 4.77
Notes: From Lawrence, KS. Saw action in 11 games at various positions in 2014. Played in all 12 games, with 9 starts at linebacker, notching 86 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 3 sacks and 1 PBU in 2015. Started 3 games and had 16 tackles, 3 TFL and 1 PBU before a right hamstring injury forced him to miss the remainder of 2016. Voted team captain and started all 12 games at linebacker, posting 137 tackles, 25 TFL, 2.5 sacks, 2 PBU and 1 FF in 2017. Earned his bachelor’s degree in management and leadership with an entrepreneurship concentration in May 2018.
Positives: Quick, smart and instinctive. Reads quickly and flows to the ball. Penetrates and disrupts. Lives in the opponents’ backfield it seems. Good open-field tackler. Nice range and pursuit. Plays with passion and intensity. Good hitter. Gets depth on his pass drops.
Negatives: Lacks great natural size and gets bounced around at times.
Summary: Needs to play off the ball and isn’t a classic inside run stuffer, but he fits as an inside or weak-side linebacker depending on the scheme.
