Mark Stoops praises Josh Allen|UK Hot Topics|Team BattleGround|College BattleGround

Mark Stoops is expecting a big step up in production from sophomore linebacker Josh Allen.

For far too much of Mark Stoops’ tenure, linebacker has been a weakness more often than not.

That seems hard to believe, given the fact that NFL guys like Avery Williamson, Bud Dupree and Za’Darius Smith have been roaming the field under Stoops’ watch. But as good as those guys were, a lack of depth and more impact players along this unit has left it struggling mightily against the heavy-hitting offenses UK sees week in and week out in the SEC, not to mention what Louisville did last year.

That debacle was just one of many examples of the backers not being good enough, something Stoops doesn’t foresee being the case in 2016. In an interview with KSR, Stoops expressed confidence in this unit taking a major step forward this coming season.

Among the players Stoops expects to step up include projected strongside linebacker Josh Allen, who played sparingly as a true freshman last year, and is expecting big things from now that he’s more familiar with the system.

“You’re not going to recruit a better looking outside linebacker in the country,” Stoops said of Allen. “You’ve just got to bring them along. He was a true freshman. You guys have heard me talk about how hard it is to play that position. That’s where it’s hard when you’re trying to piece the whole thing together when you come from where we came from.”

Allen played in all 12 games as a backup linebacker and on special teams as a true freshman in 2015. He recorded just four tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one-half sack, but just avoiding  a redshirt and seeing the field shows how much the staff thought of him.

Allen needs to step up in a big way for the UK backers to become a strength in 2016, or at least, avoid being a weakness.