Shaka Heyward and Rocky Shelton II discuss the young linebackers that will form the middle of Duke's defense this season.
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00:00 I feel like I got to step up be more of a vocal leader this year. We got a lot of
00:04 new talent this year, fresh talent. The freshmen linebackers came in this year
00:08 doing really good, Christian and Dorian. So I just got to take my role as a vocal
00:12 leader this year, more of a vocal leader. One of the main things I'll try to tell
00:15 them is not to forget the last play and then focus on the play that's coming up.
00:18 And then I'll let them know if they got any questions. They always ask me, you
00:21 know, stuff like that. It taught me a lot about how the, just how the linemen like
00:26 to play, how the teams in our conference like to play, and what I need to do
00:30 myself to get better. Dion's a great back. Definitely all the backs we got are
00:33 really good. So they just helped me get better every day. You know, iron sharpens
00:36 iron. It's another chance to get better for us moving into these coming
00:41 weeks. We got coming up versus Notre Dame, so it's just another chance for us to
00:44 get better, polish our skills. I feel like it's definitely been a long wait, you
00:48 know, just waiting to see if we have season in the first place. And I think a
00:52 lot of guys are definitely excited. We excited to get out there and play Notre
00:54 Dame first game. I learned a lot. I mean, just watching film with him throughout
00:57 the years, even freshman year, we used to watch film together. And just simple, just
01:02 like we just help each other out. My role has changed significantly. Being a two
01:08 last year, twos and with the threes last year, to kind of just being bumped up to
01:11 the threes, I mean to the ones, I'm sorry. I mean, it's tremendous difference. I
01:17 mean, you got to watch, put in more work in the film room, put in more work after
01:20 practice, during practice, have to focus more. Being a one demands a lot and I
01:26 feel like I'm prepared for it. The offseason, just the plays. I mean, just
01:30 getting memorized in the plays and getting the plays down and the right
01:33 technique at the right moments. That's been my main focus. For our position,
01:37 we've been focusing a lot on a strike timing. Pretty much just striking the
01:41 offensive lineman, getting off of him, making the tackle. That's what we've been
01:45 focusing on a lot as linebackers. Moreover, as the defensive as a whole,
01:49 just firing off the ball. The line linebackers just creating another line
01:52 of scrimmage to get the ball carried down as fast as possible. That live game
01:56 actually means a lot. I mean, we've been quarantined, didn't really have a spring,
02:00 been kind of in our homes for the past couple months. Just that live action is
02:05 just, it's very exciting, adrenaline rush. We also get to test out what we are
02:09 defense and see where we are, even conditioning wise. And this Saturday,
02:14 upcoming, this upcoming Saturday, we're even more prepared than last Saturday
02:17 and we're ready to go. The emotions, it just keeps on building up and building
02:21 up. The first game of the season, always exciting. To me, every game is exciting,
02:26 no matter who we play, Notre Dame, anybody. It doesn't matter. And I'm ready
02:31 to go and just keep preparing.