Lyons finally feels at home at linebacker
TALLAHASSEE — Tyrell Lyons is not sure whether FSU coaches view him as a linebacker or a safety.
For this spring, he’s a linebacker. But that could change at any time.
Being between two positions has its downsides, but Lyons has become accustomed to rotating around and, for the time, feels as if he’s found a home at linebacker.
“Nobody knows the future. Anything can happen, but I feel like I’m a full-time linebacker,” Lyons said. “And if [the coaching staff ] wants to move me back, I wouldn’t have a problem because I’m selfless and trying to do what the team needs me to do.”
FSU entered the spring with iffy depth at linebacker after starter Reggie Northrup tore his ACL in the Rose Bowl and key reserve E.J. Levenberry transferred. An already thin lineup took another hit when coach Jimbo Fisher announced that potential starter Matthew Thomas would miss the rest of the spring with a shoulder injury. Terrance Smith, the leader of the unit, has been held back with turf toe, meaning that Lyons and sophomore Ro’Derrick Hoskins have been the lone scholarship linebackers regularly receiving reps this spring.
“That’s one of the main reasons why I took the opportunity, I wasn’t going to let it go to waste,” Lyons said.
Lyons has made the most of the substantial serving size of reps so far, although he admittedly must adjust to playing closer to the line of scrimmage after working at safety in 2013 and most of 2014 before a rash of injuries forced him to play at linebacker against Louisville last season.
“I think Tyrell is actually doing pretty good,” safety Nate Andrews said. “He’s our fastest linebacker. He definitely needs to get physical, but he’s doing a great job.”
Athleticism is helping the 220-pound Lyons adjust to being a little slight for linebacker. Playing linebacker provides a vastly differ- ent viewpoint than safety; instead of seeing the whole field, Lyons looks at offensive guards and then running backs when the play begins in order to diagnose where the ball is going.
“I am,” Lyons said with a laugh when asked whether he was giving up a lot of size to opposing linemen. “I use my speed around it I but I don’t really worry about that. I just worry about reading my keys.”
That speed makes Lyons a potential sub-package player for FSU. The Seminoles are comfortable running a lot of plays from the Dime formation, which calls on six defensive backs to be on the field in obvious passing situations. With experience as a safety, Lyons is more polished in coverage and a little more athletic than the typical linebacker, and he could give FSU coaches the option of keeping him on the field instead of subbing in an additional defensive back if an opponent is in a no-huddle offense.
“That’s one of the main things why I took the job to linebacker,” Lyons said. “The game is changing a lot. They’re running a lot of spread, so they don’t really have to go Dime with me, that’s the thing about the bulking up. They don’t have to go Dime and take me out.”
Versatility ensures that Lyons will find the field some way or another in 2015, but it also prevents him from being at one defined position. When asked whether he was asked to bulk up in order to help the transition to linebacker Lyons could only chuckle.
“I don’t know. That’s one of the toughest questions because I go over with coaches and they just go ‘ummmm,’ but it doesn’t really matter to me,” Lyons said. “I just want to do whatever the team needs help with.
“If they’re like, ‘Tyrell, I need you to do this,’ I’ll do it. If they’re like, ‘I need you to gain 10 pounds,’ I’ll do it. If they’re like, ‘I need you to lose 10 pounds for this game,’ I’ll do it. It’s not really me, it’s me for the team.”