As the 2014 football season approaches, the Northwest Rangers are looking to improve on a disappointing 1-8 record from a year ago.

While the whole Ranger team is working relentlessly to prove naysayers wrong, Northwest's linebackers have already shown flashes of being much more talented heading into 2014.

In a six-part series, different units of the Northwest football team will be evaluated and graded. The grade scale will be based on effort, unity, knowledge of the position and individual skillsets.

Arguably one of the best groups is Northwest's linebackers. With a wide variety of speed and strength, the Rangers are poised to stop both the run and pass.

With a handful of new faces and skilled athletes, the Northwest linebacker corps receives a grade of B heading into the 2014 season.

This unit flies to the football. They're aggressive and they play together. They should only get better, but they're already talented. The linebackers are close to an A grading, but depth issues right now lowered them a whole letter grade.

When it comes to stopping the run, the Rangers will rely on freshmen Malik Hawkins of Horn Lake (Miss.) High School and Devante Davis of Olive Branch (Miss.) High School.

Hawkins is prepared for a big season. Hawkins has quick hands and understands how to shed blocks from offensive linemen. Hawkins' strong upper body will be one of his biggest advantages this upcoming season.

"I'm trying to use my hands. I need to use my hips to explode through the man," Hawkins related.

Much like Hawkins, Davis is a big-framed linebacker that powers a punch when he hits running backs. He does a nice job of getting low while firing into his tackles. Both players will need to continue to work on their pass coverage, however.

Due to a few injuries at the linebacker position, Hawkins and Davis took the most reps with Northwest's first, second and third teams during Saturday's practice.

According to Hawkins, the added work will only help the linebackers become more prepared for the physical rigors of college football.

"We're going full speed every day," Hawkins nodded. "During the game you have to go nonstop so it's good to practice it now."

Former Columbus (Miss.) High School star Jarcquarius Clark alongside Alfred Dickens were the two linebackers somewhat sidelined on Saturday. Clark was held out of all drills while Dickens only performed noncontact drills.

Dickens, an Olive Branch (Miss.) native is a well-known athlete around the north Mississippi area. Dickens was committed to play football at the University of Mississippi until he received a severe concussion playing against South Panola last fall.

Directly following his concussion, Dickens was hospitalized immediately. At first, he really struggled with his memory after his head injury. Dickens wasn't sure if he'd every play football again.

The road to recovery was a long, grueling one for Dickens, but he said he's just ecstatic to be back on the football field.

"It feels good coming back from my concussion," Dickens smiled. "I've been away from football for a long time. I love being able to run around and finally putting the pads on. It's a relief. My career was in a lot of doubt last October. Most people thought I'd be scared since my concussion, but I knew after a couple snaps I'd be back into the swing of things."

During noncontact drills, Dickens seemed to be the most athletic linebacker the Rangers have. He has very quick feet and can cut on a dime. While with the Conquistadors, he played both linebacker and safety.

Dickens isn't shabby against the run, but he'll most likely shine against the pass. He has the ability to line up against an opposing team's wide receiver and shut them down. That's a pretty rare talent to have at the linebacker position.

"The game is quicker in college," he explained. "They're (coaches) looking for more speedy guys to cover these fast slots. Since the game is going to a spread offense, the demand for more nickel guys are important."

Coming out of high school, Dickens was ranked the No. 43 linebacker in the country by 247Sports. Along with Ole Miss, he had offers from Florida State, Mississippi State and Memphis.

Terry Caldwell, a redshirt sophomore, recently transferred to Northwest from UNC Charlotte. During his redshirt freshman year with the 49ers, Caldwell started seven games while playing in 10 of 11 games. He accumulated 55 tackles along with 9.5 tackles for loss.

At 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, Caldwell understands how to fly around the field, creating chaos from sideline to sideline.

He's an aggressive player that isn't afraid to put his nose into oncoming traffic. He has good pop while hitting the ball carrier and is usually one of the fastest defensive players off the snap of the football.

While Caldwell has all the attributes on the field, he said he's taken on a leadership role as well. He said he learned a lot during his time with the 49ers. Most importantly, he hopes he can bring a winning mentality to the Rangers.

According to Caldwell, he isn't worried about personal goals. He said "winning" is all that matters to him.
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Head coach Jack Wright goes in-depth about the Northwest linebacker corps…
Wright explains how the game of football has evolved at the linebacker position:
"Just 10 years ago middle linebackers used to be 240 pounds and stuff the box. Now, a guy like that will get spread out and picked apart in the passing game. I feel like we are smaller and athletic and I feel that is the direction the game of football is heading."

Wright said depth due to injury concerns him at the linebacker position:
"We're thin at linebacker. We've had a couple of injuries there. We feel like we have a lot of talent at that position if we can get them healthy and lined up. As of right now it's still a question mark because of depth."

Wright describes Olive Branch linebacker Alfred Dickens' game thus far in camp:
"Alfred is very athletic. He is as advertised. He has a lot of upside, but he's like every other freshman. He's out here swimming a little bit mentally. That puts him behind a little bit when it comes to being ready to play, but definitely the raw talent is there."

Wright says Wilmington, N.C., native Terry Caldwell has great potential:
"He's probably a little ahead of the game. I've been around some transfers before and he's right there where a couple of those other guys were. You can tell he's been at a different level where they've had to studied football 24 hours a day. They're (transfers) a lot more coachable and acceptable to adjustments."