The Missouri Valley Football Conference has consistently been at the top of the FCS in the 2010s. While a lot of key players from last year have moved on to the pros, there’s still a ton of talent in the Valley.
As the season nears, we’ll rank the top five returners at each position group. Today, we give you the linebackers.
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MORE TOP 5: QB | WR | TE | RB | OL | LB | DB | DL
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5. Quentin Moon, Western Illinois
The Leathernecks are known to always have a hard-nosed defense. The guy who’s been the star of that unit the last few years was Brett Taylor, who now has an NFL contract. But WIU had another linebacker who was among the best in the MVFC. Moon has earned back-to-back All-Conference Honorable Mention honors as a sophomore and junior.
He finished with 70 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss, two sacks and two interceptions last year in which he returned one for a touchdown. Moon won the MVFC Defensive Player of the Week award against Tennessee Tech in Week 1. In his career, Moon totals 184 tackles as he enters 2018 on the preseason All-Conference Second Team.
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4. Angelo Garbutt, Missouri State
Garbutt transferred to play with the Bears last year after starting his career at Iowa. He immediately made an impact as a sophomore and was named an All-Conference Second Team player.
Garbutt finished the year with 84 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. He had three games in a row late in the season with more than 10 tackles, including 17 against Northern Iowa on Nov. 11. Garbutt is a 2018 preseason All-MVFC First Team selection.
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3. Jabril Cox, North Dakota State
The hype was big surrounding Cox during his redshirt freshman season last year. But he wasn’t able to fully show his skillset until he was inserted into the lineup in October versus No. 8 Youngstown State. Cox recorded eight tackles, three for loss and two sacks. He finished the year leading the Bison with 75 tackles and added 13 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.
Cox was named the Valley's Newcomer of the Year, made the All-Conference Second Team and was recognized on the HERO Sports Freshman All-American squad. He’s also on our preseason All-American Second Team and a First Team All-Conference pick.
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2. Armand Dellovade, Youngstown State
Dellovade has won some kind of postseason award since starting nine games as a freshman in 2015. That year he was on the MVFC All-Newcomer squad. In 2016 and 2017, he earned Second Team All-Conference honors as the Penguins were among the best in the FCS in stopping the run.
Last year, Dellovade had 76 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. Expect a big senior season on a ferocious YSU defense as he’s on the All-MVFC First Team and the HERO Sports preseason All-American Second Team.
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1. Christian Rozeboom, South Dakota State
It’s a rarity when Rozeboom isn’t somewhere around the ball when a play ends. He plays with physicality and speed and has put together a nice career already entering his junior season. A preseason selection on the All-Conference and HERO Sports All-American First Teams, Rozeboom is coming off a season with 127 tackles.
This is after recording 132 tackles as the MVFC Freshman of the Year. Rozeboom was named on five different All-American teams in 2017 and has earned back-to-back All-MVFC First Team honors. He’s not only a top linebacker in the Valley, but in the FCS.
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NEXT: The Best Traditions in the FCS
