Have You Heard Of: Wisconsin LB Joe Schobert
Have you heard of Wisconsin LB Joe Schobert? Most haven’t outside of Madison, Wisconsin. He’s not a big name but he’s starting to gain national attention as he’s second in the country with 9.5 sacks and 15 tackles for loss only behind Carl Nassib of Penn State. The former walk-on was named a Mid-Season All American by ESPN.com and he continues to prove his worth game in and game out.
Live Feed
Arrowhead Addict
So what do we know about this new defensive threat? Well, he is a former two-time captain and all state player out of Waukesha West High School. His junior year he broke the rushing record that was once held by John Clay and helped Waukesha West win the state championship in 2010. For those who aren’t familiar with Waukesha, Wisconsin it’s an average sized town of about 70,000 people not to far from Milwaukee.
Still, coming out of high school Schobert was only about 6’2 190 lbs and without the elite speed to play RB and without the size to play linebacker Schobert essentially fell through the cracks. Three years later and Schobert is still 6’2 but comes in with 240 lbs of weight and a mid-season resume that’s asking for attention.
What I Like:
If you can find a coach in the country he doesn’t appreciate 9.5 sacks and 15 TFL in seven games be sure to mention which bar you found him in. Not only that but you can credit a 10 tackle (4 for loss), two sack performance for Schobert against Alabama as well as an eight tackle (3.5 for loss), three sack performance against Iowa. Both Alabama and Iowa are respectively No. 8 and 1No. 12 in the country while Schobert alone respectively registered five sacks against both of their quarterbacks. He’s only played in one game without a registered sack and has made a tackle behind the line of scrimmage every game to date. The guy has instincts; he’s always around the football and if he’s not making a play he’s causing a serious disruption. Against Iowa he was all over the offensive line causing problem and put them in position to win a game they eventually ended up losing.
It’s the beginning to the end with Schobert, once he’s earned a step he usually gets to the quarterback.
When he’s engaged he’s a disruptive force. You don’t grab 9.5 sacks by being a nice guy, when Schobert locks in he makes his goal known for the opposition. Another thing I like when I watch Schobert is that his eyes are always active, there’s never a time where you find him completely out of the situation. He doesn’t bite too hard and he doesn’t play unaware. He’s a great run stopper and a guy who has a nose for the football. In the few opportunities that Schobert was given in the open field he did a nice job of breaking down and making solid tackles, however the open field is typically designed for those in coverage which isn’t one of Schobert’s strong points.
What’s left to be desired
Schobert leaves a few things to be desired which is why at the next level he could be a situational guy instead of a three-down linebacker. One of those things is his coverage skills. While registering productive numbers from a run stopping point of view the face of the Wisconsin defense is struggling with keeping passes down. I will say that most often than not Schobert is in position to take down the quarterback more often than he is to defend a pass but without any interceptions and only one pass defended all season it is a bit of concern that his coverage skills will need some refining at the next level.
Another area of concern when watching Schobert is that he gets away with A LOT of arm tackles. Football’s a quick game and I understand that not every tackle is going to be played with perfect form, but when I was watching film I noticed a large amount of “one-handed” tackles or trip ups from Schobert that resulted in tackles. In the NFL those kind of plays aren’t going to happen for him, he’s going to learn to need to put himself in better tackling opportunities where he can grab a hold of someone. Brushing up against people and arm swiping stop counting when you play with the big boys.
One of the more frustrating things I found when watching film on Schobert was that he can SEE everything. He can read and diagnose every play that comes before him but sometimes he gets stuck watching more than he is doing. As stated before when he’s engaged he’s locked in but he gets caught like a deer in the headlights and gives up opportunities to change what could be a good gain into a huge play. Against Alabama, Schobert gets caught watching Derrick Henry and engages his pursuit about two seconds too late, had he started his chase earlier he could’ve prevented a long score.
Expecting to catch Derrick Henry is one thing but being in the right position to bring him down could’ve saved a score and been the difference between 7-14 and 7-21. You can see in the film that Schobert slows down and once he realizes that Henry wasn’t stopped by the defense he starts to run but it’s too late and six points were delivered. In the film I’ve watched on Schobert when the ball is away from him he relaxes far too often and from a coaching standpoint that can become a frustrating thing to deal with. It’s the difference between six points and no points.
Outlook
It can be hard predicting where some of the lesser known defensive players go sometimes. For Schobert a great combine could boost him up boards as well as a strong finish to the year. Nate Orchard left college with 18.5 sacks and after doing well in the combine last year found himself going in the 2nd round to the Cleveland Browns. Schobert will probably be drafted along the same basis but team needs and his physical ability will determine where he actually ends up in the draft. For right now I see him as a situational pass rusher at the next level. He’ll need to improve on coverage skills and wrap up on a few more tackles but overall I see Schobert as a solid prospect for next year’s draft.