With the FAU football team’s season-opener over two months away, the UP will evaluate each position group on the roster. Today, we will look at the inside linebackers. 

Inside linebackers are usually run-stuffing players whose job is to handle the offensive lineman from achieving their blocks on them to create space for the running back. Another duty asked of them is to protect in pass coverage and be dependent tacklers. 

Returning from an outstanding sophomore campaign, Eddie Williams will look to keep the momentum from last season into his junior year. In 11 games, Williams registered an impressive 44 tackles, with five of them creating loss of yards. 

The Owls also snagged sophomore Jamie Pettway from the transfer portal. Pettway played for the University of Missouri from 2019 to 2021. After being redshirted his freshman season, he appeared in nine games the following season. This past season, he played in seven games, racked up 10 tackles, and captured a tackle for loss. He will look to bring his experience and talent to the position, and will also look to compete for a spot in the rotation. 

Another nice pickup from the transfer portal is redshirt sophomore Shane Sawyer. He played at the University of Miami in a limited number of games, but will look to compete for a spot in the rotation. The Owls also added freshman Brandon Schabert to the roster as a member of the 2022 recruiting class, as he will look to battle for starting reps.

The Owls have solid depth at the position with juniors Jarrett Jerrels and Makai Sawtelle, as well as redshirt sophomores Justice Cross and Warren Sapp II. Combined, they played in over half of the 2021 campaign and will look to continue battling in the rotation with most of their opportunities expected to be on special teams.  

Jimmy Surin is a contributing writer for the University Press, For more information regarding this story email him at [email protected] or tweet him @SurinJimmy