LB Etienne Sabino (official thread)

[BB73]

This may be the staff wanting to see pass rushing skills while considering Sabino for the Leo spot.

Ozone

At the End: Sophomore linebacker Etienne Sabino practice some as a rush defensive end spot in drills on Tuesday.

[NFBuck]

Originally Posted by BB73

This may be the staff wanting to see pass rushing skills while considering Sabino for the Leo spot.

Ozone

Interesting. Sabino, with his size/speed combo, may give us our best pass rush threat from the LB position since Bobby C left town.

[Buckskin86]

It appears that sophomore linebacker Etienne Sabino is a second-teamer at this point, as the mental side of the game has been a bit of a struggle for him.

Coming into spring, I felt Sabino may be one of the biggest beneficiaries of James Laurinaitis' and Marcus Freeman's departures. And I'm not writing the kid off by any means, it's just that so far, Brian Rolle, Austin Spitler and Homan are definitely the top three linebackers, and Tyler Moeller may be No. 4.

Of Sabino, linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell said:

"He's doing all right. I think he's been hampered just a little bit by playing two different spots in the spring. Being a young kid, two spots is not easy. . . .that?s been a little bit hard on him, so we've kind of here the last couple weeks tried to focus back on playing him at one spot and let him get a little more comfortable."

That spot is middle linebacker.

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[heisman]

Thought we would be hearing more about Sabino fighting for a starting spot. Is he in the doghouse or something?

[Naplesbuckeye]

Its early in his career but so far he hasn't beat out the guys ahead of him. We have a lot of really good linebackers.

[starBUCKS]

Originally Posted by heisman

Thought we would be hearing more about Sabino fighting for a starting spot. Is he in the doghouse or something?

He's in the two deep and will see the field a ton this year, not only as a LB, but on Special Teams.... he's a true Sophomore.... be patient.

[akronbuck]

Originally Posted by starBUCKS

He's in the two deep and will see the field a ton this year, not only as a LB, but on Special Teams.... he's a true Sophomore.... be patient.

bingo. A lot of talent at LB

[osugrad21]

The talent is not an issue...fitting in the system is right now. Too much freelancing that causes unit breakdowns. As soon as Etienne minimizes the mistakes, he will be taking someone's spot.

[buck2006]

Originally Posted by osugrad21

The talent is not an issue...fitting in the system is right now. Too much freelancing that causes unit breakdowns. As soon as Etienne minimizes the mistakes, he will be taking someone's spot.

I do not think he takes Spitlers spot this year and with Bell and Klein coming in at SLB and MLB not sure he will ever starts at OSU.

[Merih]

Originally Posted by buck2006

I do not think he takes Spitlers spot this year and with Bell and Kline coming in at SLB and MLB not sure he will ever starts at OSU.

I have to respectfully disagree. If not starting by the end of the season, Sabino will be the starter by winter conditioning after this season. There's no guarantee that Bell and Klein will even play Sabino's position. If they do; my money is on them waiting their turn behind 'Bino. We have a good one here in Etienne; once that light switch flips in his head he will be a name to remember in Ohio State Football.

[osugrad21]

Originally Posted by buck2006

I do not think he takes Spitlers spot this year and with Bell and Kline coming in at SLB and MLB not sure he will ever starts at OSU.

You are making the same assumptions about Storm and Dorian that were made about Etienne last year. How can you guarantee they will immediately grasp the system?

Not saying you are wrong at all, but when talent isn't the issue, its really a guess as to when that light will fire.

[osubuckeyes2731]

Originally Posted by buck2006

I do not think he takes Spitlers spot this year and with Bell and Kline coming in at SLB and MLB not sure he will ever starts at OSU.

??? I guess you can't ever be sure, but I don't know why you would say that? If Etienne learns to play his responsibilities, he is an amazing talent (More talented than any other linebacker that we have, imo) and will surely be a starter at Ohio State. It's all about learning that everyone on the defense has a specific job on every play and when everyone does their job the team is going to be successful.

[buck2006]

Originally Posted by osugrad21

You are making the same assumptions about Storm and Dorian that were made about Etienne last year. How can you guarantee they will immediately grasp the system?

Not saying you are wrong at all, but when talent isn't the issue, its really a guess as to when that light will fire.

Good point, with Moeller out Sabino will get more opportunities this year.

[AKAKBUCK]

Originally Posted by buck2006

I do not think he takes Spitlers spot this year and with Bell and Kline coming in at SLB and MLB not sure he will ever starts at OSU.

I have an idea... stop thinking.

[MililaniBuckeye]

Originally Posted by buck2006

I do not think he takes Spitlers spot this year and with Bell and Kline coming in at SLB and MLB not sure he will ever starts at OSU.

Sabino was a 5-star and one of the top LBs in the entire country in high school. As grad pointed out, his only problem has been fitting the system...his talent is top-notch. Reminds me a little of Mike D'Andrea a few years back in a way...phenomenal 5-star talent but could never grasp the OSU system (and also had some unfortunate injuries). If/when the light goes on for Sabino, look out...