New Duck Connor Soelle adds leadership and maturity to a defense that lacks it

Last season as a part-time role player for the Arizona Sun Devils on a middling defense, new Oregon Duck Connor Soelle had 30 tackles in 188 snaps.

That suggests tenacity and football smarts. For comparison, in the same year the Ducks boasted two much-hyped 5-star linebackers. One had 56 tackles in 601 defensive snaps, the other buckled the chinstrap for 198 and made 35, ten of those in the Lost Cause in Atlanta. He virtually disappeared for the rest of the year, much as he had over his disappointing and injury-ravaged cameo in Eugene. Two-thirds of his tackles came in two games. The rest of the time was face paint, empty flexing and personal fouls.

Not to overwork the comparison, but Soelle (pronounced SOLE-ee, according to the Arizona Republic) just might blossom in his redshirt season in a new defense, offer more production and less self-promotion. During portal season Hod Rabino of ASU's edition of rivals.com explained to Cats Illustrated:

"I know that he has modest numbers and wasn't somebody who was a fixture at linebacker, but that was because there were two dominant players at linebacker with his older brother Kyle and Merlin Robertson, two guys who have a legitimate chance to play in the NFL. So they really kind of overshadowed him, and that's when you turn on the tape you don't see him making exceptional plays every other down. There were two dominant linebackers playing near him."

Soelle stood out to him as a player with a high football IQ, fierce on special teams. Not the greatest athlete or the biggest, just a reliable, focused guy with a nose for the ball. 

Which is exactly what the Oregon defense and special teams units need, a role player who's focused on the job. Soelle's brief resume shows a track record of focus; he earned a degree in Business Management over his four seasons in Tempe and had a 3.67 grade average in high school while starring in football and track.

Saguaro (AZ) Class of 2019 LB
Connor Soelle @cmsoelle
HT: 6’1 WT: 195
Bench: 260
Squat: 405
40: 4.46
Vertical: 34.5
GPA: 3.677
Offers: Arizona State University, University of Nevada and Army West Point
132 tacked 4.5 sacks 5 interceptions 21.5 TFL.
🎥 Junior Highlights#LevelUp pic.twitter.com/rNrskDmn0r

— Level Up Elites (@levelupelites) March 16, 2018

At Saguaro High Connor played linebacker and safety on a two-time Arizona state champion powerhouse, a team that went 25-3. As a junior he posted 132 total tackles, 21.5 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks, and five interceptions.

A three-star recruit as a prep, he ran an 11.1 100 meters and a 22.62 200 for the track team, running the lead leg on a 4x100 relay team that featured Jacob Conover and Kellee Ringo, who's gone on to be an All-American for the two-time national champion Georgia Bulldogs. 

Saguaro head coach Jason Mohns told the Arizona Republic, "Connor's explosiveness as an athlete is at a different level. His speed, his ability to make plays in the open field, his instincts, he's had a phenomenal career and phenomenal senior season for us."

That's a coach hyping up one of his guys, but it's fair to say Soelle has decent speed and a level head, and there's no doubt Oregon's defense and special teams can benefit from his influence. Defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi liked the way his new linebackers were flying around at spring practice and studying the defense.

The Ducks play a base 4-2-5 defense that employs two inside linebackers. They'll start the year with six on the roster, starters Jeffrey Bassa and Jestin Jacobs, redshirt freshman Devon "The Jet" Jackson, converted safety Jamal Hill, Soelle, and true freshman Jerry Mixon. With nearly all of the teams in the conference playing an up-tempo spread offense, there will be plenty of work to go around.

 In fact, the unit will need good health and a little luck to survive intact to November. A couple of these guys will need to achieve 110% of their perceived potential.

Soelle understands fitting in. When he came to ASU he told Rabino, “As long as you go in there with the right attitude and you’re all bought into what that program is all about, you’re perfect. You’ll fit in just fine. You’re family and everyone treats you like that. It’s not really something that you can describe to people on the outside; you just have to be a part of it to understand what it’s like."

That sounds like a veteran who knows what's going on, but Soelle was talking that way as a 190-pound freshman. Now 6-1, 220 with a business degree in hand, he's ready for a larger role.