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# Stampede Bonus: 2025 USF Linebackers Breakdown
- URL: https://www.bayareaexaminer.com/stampede-bonus-2025-usf-linebackers/
- Published: 2025-08-23T19:00:31.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-21T15:46:57.000Z
- Description: A pair of returning starters headline what is probably USF's strongest unit on paper.
- Author: Collin Sherwin
- Tags: #Migrated-1792597384348, #Import 2026-10-21 15:44

*When we’ve finished profiling an entire unit, we’ll run through a final breakdown of that position group at large. We’ll touch on a quick overview of the group, then I’ll break it down by tiers as far as how I see playing time shaking out. Finally, I’ll pose one Big Question that I have about the unit approaching the season, and my general level of confidence.*

*If you missed any unit breakdowns, you can find them here:*

- [*Offensive line*](https://thebayareaexaminer.substack.com/p/stampede-bonus-2025-usf-offensive)
- [*Special teams*](https://thebayareaexaminer.substack.com/p/stampede-bonus-2025-usf-special-teams)

### The Overview:

*Note: from left to right, the columns are player number, player name, specific position, eligibility, On3 consensus recruit rating out of high school (asterisk if the player transferred to USF), defensive FBS snaps in 2024, career FBS games (with 2024 games in parentheses), career FBS starts (with 2024 starts in parentheses), tackles, tackles for loss, sacks, interceptions, and the school they played at in 2024, if different from USF.*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/77/a9/77a9bb8f-d0f1-45b5-8fed-5feacd465ef5/content/images/2026/10/6f72e480-a187-49e5-84d1-ee6fe0556134_1896x458.png)

I think this was a particularly artful use of the transfer portal. Entering the spring, USF had two locked-in, returning starters here in Harris and Shuler, and then a couple young, promising prospects in Rodney Hill and Zavier Hamilton (plus the incoming freshmen, of course). How do you thread the needle between adding experienced depth and making sure you don’t block your prospects’ development? Add two upperclassmen from the portal, both of whom were starters in 2024\. You’re now entering 2025 with *four* players with starting experience, but at least three of these players will be moving on in 2026, giving the young’uns the promise of future opportunities. Well done! That doesn’t even account for the smart addition of DJ McCormick, who is basically the equivalent of an incoming freshman who has already spent a year in a college conditioning program. I’m pretty high on this whole group.

### The Prospectus:

**Tier 1:** [**Mac Harris**](https://thebayareaexaminer.substack.com/p/stampeding-through-the-2025-usf-football-77f) **and** [**Jhalyn Shuler**](https://thebayareaexaminer.substack.com/p/stampeding-through-the-2025-usf-football-422)

As we’ve mentioned in their respective countdown entries, Harris and Shuler are two of the best players on this defense. Both of them are critical not just as run-stoppers, but as some of the Bulls’ most accomplished pass rushers. They started when they were healthy in 2024, and should do so again this season.

**Tier 2:** [**Chavez Brown**](https://thebayareaexaminer.substack.com/p/stampeding-through-the-2025-usf-football-5be)**,** [**Rocco Nicholl**](https://thebayareaexaminer.substack.com/p/stampede-bonus-fall-enrollees)**, and** [**Rodney Hill**](https://thebayareaexaminer.substack.com/p/stampeding-through-the-2025-usf-football-517)

I don’t see any of these players starting, but that’s more a testament to Harris and Shuler than anything else. I do consider them safe bets to be part of the rotation. As we’ve discussed, USF had about five linebackers who saw significant playing time in 2024; I think that number might jump a bit this season, but this would be your group of five. Brown seems like the safest bet of this bunch to contribute since he already has substantial experience playing at this level with North Texas. I also like what Brown brings as a pass rusher - he had 7.5 TFLs and four sacks for the Mean Green in 2024, and of the ‘backers in tiers 1 and 2, he spent the highest percentage of his snaps blitzing.

I expect to see a bigger role for Rodney Hill this season. He earned meaningful defensive snaps as a true freshman, and given that Harris and Shuler are seniors, he’s very much in line to be a multi-year starter for the Bulls in the future.

Nicholl’s role will be interesting. While he was a consistent starter for Kent State last season and racked up tackles like no one’s business (his 61 in eight games before an injury would have put him on pace for nearly 100 over a 13-game season), it must be noted that his 2024 Golden Flashes were one of the worst teams FBS football has seen in some time. Nonetheless, if you’re capable of making 7+ tackles per game at the FBS level, I’m confident that there will be a spot for you in this defensive rotation.

**Tier 3:** [**Zavier Hamilton**](https://thebayareaexaminer.substack.com/p/stampeding-through-the-2025-usf-football-b1c)

I’m really splitting hairs here by putting Hamilton in his own tier, but I strive for pinpoint accuracy here at The Bay Area Examiner dot substack dot com. Hamilton doesn’t quite fit into Tier 2, because we haven’t seen him take any snaps of significance on defense yet. But he’s one of the biggest prospects we’ve seen come to USF in the Golesh era, and he’s got a year of experience under his belt now. I have big expectations for Hamilton in the future, but in 2025, I think it’s fair to set the bar at just making the defensive rotation.

**Tier 4:** [**Gavin Leach**](https://thebayareaexaminer.substack.com/p/stampeding-through-the-2025-usf-football-f32) **and** [**DJ McCormick**](https://thebayareaexaminer.substack.com/p/stampeding-through-the-2025-usf-football-7b9)

There are a lot of reasons to be excited about both of these players. McCormick, as mentioned above, was a high three-star prospect who comes to Tampa after a season spent bulking up at UCF, and now has four seasons of eligibility here. And let me tell you: the coaches cannot stop talking about Leach, to the point where I strongly considered putting him in Tier 3\. Since we’re talking about a true freshman here, I decided to err on the side of caution, but still - I’m expecting big things from him. I don’t expect to see either player handling key snaps yet, but wouldn’t be surprised to see them get late-game and special teams work.

**Tier 5:** [**DeAngelo Bowden**](https://thebayareaexaminer.substack.com/p/stampeding-through-the-2025-usf-football-dda) **and** [**Christian Smith**](https://thebayareaexaminer.substack.com/p/stampede-bonus-fall-enrollees)

Bowden and Smith are incoming freshmen who arrived on campus in August. Either player certainly could end up impressing and find themselves among the higher tiers, but we don’t have a lot of data points yet.

### The Big Question: How much do the underclassmen play?

Admittedly, this is not the most compelling Big Question. But that’s not a bad thing - it’s because I genuinely feel great about this unit. You’ve got two borderline stars in Harris and Shuler, experienced depth in Brown and Nicholl, and highly-touted young players waiting in the wings in Hill and Hamilton, not to mention exciting freshmen like McCormick and Leach. If I had to rank USF units by my confidence levels, I think the linebackers would pretty comfortably be first.

Still, this is something I’m going to be keeping an eye on. With Harris, Shuler, Nicholl, and possibly Brown all set to move on after this season, USF is ideally going to need to identify which young players they feel comfortable handing a starting job to in 2025\. Hill seems to be well on his way, but his development, along with the development of Hamilton, McCormick, Leach, and Bowden, is going to be critical next season and beyond. Can any of the underclassmen other than Hill make it into the regular rotation? Will any of them beat out the incoming transfers? If the answer to either of those questions is yes, I’ll be very excited not just about the present of this unit, but the future as well. If not, that might be an indication that the Bulls are going to be hitting the portal hard at linebacker in the offseason.

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