Countdown To Kickoff: 43 Days (Dameon Willis Jr.)

Written by: Alex Compton (@alexncompton)

#43 

There are now 43 days remaining until the Indiana Hoosiers kick-off the 2016 season in Miami against the Florida International Golden Panthers. Join us each day for each part of our 100-day countdown to the opener! Next up, Dameon Willis Jr.!

Dameon Willis Jr.

-Height: 6’1”
-Weight: 229 pounds
-Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
-Position: Linebacker

Don’t look now, but Indiana has quietly assembled one of the best groupings in the conference when you are looking at the linebackers. Marcus Oliver, TJ Simmons, and Tegray Scales are back and will look to anchor a defense in the midst of a needed reshaping. Those three guys are as talented as any in the league, but IU will need more consistent depth at the position in order to take that jump as a defense that is so desperately needed. One guy I am predicting will have a breakout season among the linebackers? The man who wears 43 of course, Dameon Willis Jr. 

By all accounts, Willis Jr. had a moderately successful redshirt freshman season. He appeared in all 13 games, and got consistently better as the season went on. He racked up tackles against good teams, and recovered a fumble in the bucket game in West Lafayette. In addition to contributing on defense, Willis Jr. was also very valuable on special teams last season. He was named special teams player of the week once, which came during the win over Florida International. He showed flashes in his first year of game action, but now comes the hard part- making the jump. 

Flashes are good, but they don’t keep you on the field in the Big Ten. In order for Willis Jr. to see more snaps and make that “jump”, he will have to do a few things. First, he will have to shore up his pass coverage abilities. He is more of a run stopper at this point, but in Tom Allen’s chaotic 4-2-5 scheme, the linebackers have to be versatile. If he can improve in pass coverage, he will likely be given more of a chance in his second season, which is what he needs at this point. The second thing Willis Jr. must do? Produce. When he gets in the game, he just has to make plays, it’s as simple as that. With only 2 true linebackers on the field at a time with this new defense, if Willis Jr. wants to get snaps consistently, he just has to make plays for the unit. If he can do this, he’ll be on the field a bunch. If he can’t, the guy who makes the plays will be on the field instead. Easy concept, not easy to execute. We’ll see what happens. 

I bet Willis Jr. turns heads this season, but my opinion doesn’t matter. It’s up to #43.

Share any memories or expectations you have of Dameon Willis Jr. as a player in the comments section (or on the message boards) and be sure to come back to Hoosier Huddle each day during our countdown!