Northwestern football position previews — linebackers

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We’re back again with another positional preview, breaking down each group’s quality, depth and expectations as we’re now just three weeks away from opening kickoff — still at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium.

Beginning last month, Inside NU has been publishing previews on quarterbacks (7/6), running backs (7/15), wide receivers (7/20), tight ends (7/28), offensive linemen (8/4)and defensive linemen (8/9).

This week, we’re taking a look at the Wildcats’ linebackers.

Overview

Returners: Braydon Brus (Gr.), Kobie McKinzie (Gr., Oklahoma transfer), Nigel Glover (R-Jr.), Jack Sadowsky V (Sr.), Payton Roth (R-Jr.), Jason Reynolds II (R-Sr.), Matthew Smith (R-So.), Max Mohring (Fy.), Josh Veldman (R-Fy.), Lincoln Creager (R-Fy.), Qayvier Johnson (R-So.), Miles Crutchley (R-Sr.)

Losses: Mac Uihlein (graduated), Yanni Karlaftis (graduated), Nathaniel Campbell (graduated)

Newcomers: Max Mohring (3-star), Amare Jordan (3-star), Parker Maiers (preferred walk-on)

Unlike the defensive line, the linebackers won’t have to adjust to new coaching. Defensive coordinator Tim McGarigle leads this group for his third straight season after being promoted in Jan. 2024. A Northwestern alum (2006), McGarigle knows a thing or two about running a linebacker room — he finished his playing career at Northwestern as the program’s all-time leader in tackles, recording 545 across his time in Evanston. Last season, under his command, the defense allowed just 19.8 points per game, good for fifth in the Big Ten behind Ohio State, Indiana, Iowa and Oregon and 24th nationally. He’s also shown an ability to build some of the conference’s best talent, having coached six All-Big Ten linebackers in Evanston since being hired as the linebacker coach in 2018, including Uihlein last season, Bryce Gallagher and Xander Mueller in 2023 and 2020 Big Ten Linebacker of the Year Paddy Fisher.

But McGarigle has his work cut out for him after losing Uihlein. The alum called plays for the room from the MIKE spot and landed on the All-Big Ten third team with 100 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss, four interceptions and one forced fumble — one of the biggest drivers of the Wildcats’ defensive success last season.

Two other big names who exited the program following the 2025 season were transfer portal pickups Yanni Karlaftis from Purdue and Nathaniel Campbell, a grad transfer from Yale. Despite high hopes, Karlaftis’s season was cut to just five games due to injury, and he finished with just 11 tackles on the year.

The replacement for that production falls to a pair of players who split the reps at this position just last season. Braydon Brus, a graduate transfer fitting the mold of standouts such as Uihlein, Xander Mueller and Bryce Gallagher, won the WILL job last season. Kobie McKinzie, a transfer from Oklahoma, started seven games at MIKE and one at WILL for the Sooners, stepping into the group as the answer for the gap in the middle. McGarigle’s defense typically runs a Multiple 4-3/4-2-5 scheme that leans heavily on a MIKE and WILL as the base, with a SAM mixed in on three-linebacker downs. It’s also reasonable to expect both Brus and McKinzie’s roles to shift from game to game, similar to how Uihlein and Brus operated last season.

Beyond those two, the Wildcats are banking on internal development from returners who didn’t see much of the field last season. Nigel Glover, a former four-star recruit, is the leading candidate for a breakout year. Now entering his third year in Evanston, he has struggled to get on the field. In 2025, he recorded just five tackles in 12 games. Another addition to the group is Iowa State transfer Jack Sadowsky V, who managed six tackles in his 13 games last season. Payton Roth (eight tackles in 13 games) and Jason Reynolds II round out the second and third strings as depth and special-teams contributors.

Key Player

Braydon Brus

A returning starter from last year’s team, Brus is set to operate as the connective tissue for the linebacker room, and he’s shown he can put together the type of season McGarigle’s defense needs.

Following a 2025 campaign in which he logged 81 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery, Brus is set for a production increase in his fifth and final season. In Northwestern’s bowl win over Central Michigan, Brus turned in a team-high 11 tackles and a pass breakup to close out the year. He beat out Karlaftis for the starting WILL job at the beginning of last season, and now inherits a leadership role with Uihlein gone.

Looking back at the program’s recent history at the position, Brus looks poised to be the newest addition in a line of standout fifth-year Wildcats linebackers. Last August, McGarigle noted Brus’s work ethic, describing him as a player who’s “in [the weight room] early in the morning” and is “going to put in every single bit of effort, leaving no stone unturned.” With McKinzie next to him, Brus already has experience to lean on in the retooled room.

Biggest Question

Can the linebackers replace Uihlein’s playmaking?

McGarigle’s group returns about as much continuity as a coach could ask for, but the real loss was in production. Uihlein wasn’t just a tackling machine — his four interceptions and 6.0 tackles for loss were the type of playmaking that turns a good defense into a tough one. Replacing that is more than just plugging someone in his place.

McKinzie arrives with a real resume and was rated as Northwestern’s second-best transfer of the offseason by On3, behind only quarterback Aidan Chiles. Coming from Oklahoma, he’s gone against a high level of competition in the SEC. Still, he now steps into a much bigger role that includes road trips to Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon. Whether he’s able to match Uihlein’s coverage and ball production at MIKE — not just tackle numbers — remains to be seen in his first year in Evanston.

And now in his third year, maybe it’s finally Glover’s time to fulfill those breakout candidate expectations. If 2026 is the year it happens, extended snaps behind Brus and McKinzie would deepen a depth chart that otherwise thins out quickly beyond the top names. If it’s not, the margin for error becomes smaller.

Projected 2026 LB Depth Chart

MIKE: Kobie McKinzie, Nigel Glover/Jack Sadowsky V

WILL: Braydon Brus, Nigel Glover

SAM/Special Teams: Payton Roth, Jason Reynolds II

Depth: Matthew Smith, Max Mohring, Josh Veldman, Lincoln Creager, Qayvier Johnson, Miles Crutchley, Amare Jordan

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