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- Jul 21, 2013
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Anybody watch this guy? I'm interested in anyone that has seen him play...
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/archive/1737426
Trail arrived at Florida as a top high school recruit, but after coach Urban Meyer left, he also chose to leave, winding up at Norfolk State where he played the last three years, the past two seasons as the full-time starter. So far in his Norfolk State career, Trail has combined for 38 tackles for loss, 18.5 sacks, eight forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, two interceptions and 229 total tackles.
"Lynden certainly stands out on the field with his size and ability," an AFC East executive told NFLDraftScout.com. "In my opinion, he's still discovering how good he can be and as he learns better reaction to movement and better recognizes what blockers are doing, this player should get better. A lot of football left in his future."
It has been a long road for Trail, who did not start playing football until he was "10 or 11" because he had epilepsy and his mother feared he would have a seizure if hit too hard.
He played on the same team as Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater growing up, and played wide receiver his first year of junior varisty. He considered quitting football before his sophomore year, but was spurred by a coaching change and went on to catch 17 touchdown passes.
A wide receiver/tight end 'tweener, Trail switched to defense the following year and racked up 77 tackles and 14 years. That caught the eye of the Florida coaching staff even before Trail backed it up with 95 tackles and 20 sacks on defense and eight touchdowns on offense as a senior.
"When I made transition to defense, I fell in love with it," Trail told NFLDraftScout.com. "I could go hit someone and not get in trouble for it? That felt great. I thought I was getting pretty good at it, so maybe I could make a profession at it."
Trail said he made the decision to redshirt his freshman season at Gainesville to add strength, and put on 40 pounds. But Meyer left after the season and Trail was soon gone, along with 16 other recruits from his class.
"My hard work was getting overlooked. It was my time to depart," Trail said. "I don't want to be where I'm not wanted."
Trail was highly sought-after, but did not want to go the junior college route and looked into Norfolk State on the advice of his high school coaches. He has excelled in the team's 3-4 defensive scheme.
Trail is now seeking to become only the second Norfolk State player drafted since 1997.
"That would be huge. It would totally be a blessing," he said of potentially being drafted. "To help put Norfolk State back on the map. More scouts need to come here."
Trail is raw in some fundamental areas with his anticipation, hand use and point of attack power, but offers intriguing tools to develop and projects as an intriguing mid-to-late round investment.
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
STRENGTHS: Certainly passes the eye test with his tall, lengthy frame, but he also looks the part in motion, showing impressive movement skills for his body type. He is a flexible athlete with smooth change of direction skills and long strides to accelerate quickly in pursuit.
Trail has the body bend to dip and run the arc at 45-degree angle without losing speed, displaying good get-off quickness and a consistent motor. He uses his length well to corral ballcarriers and is at his best when he extends at the point of attack to properly work off blocks.
WEAKNESSES: When rushing off the edge, can be slowed by contact at times and struggles to quickly get back up to full speed, not consistently converting speed to power. He needs to continue and develop his hand use and overall strategy to shed blocks quicker. Has a lean lower body and with his taller stature, leverage will likely never be a strength.
Plays mostly linebacker in Norfolk State's 3-4 base scheme, but also has experience with his hand on the ground, which is likely his best NFL position.
--Dane Brugler
http://www.nsuspartans.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=2276
http://mmqb.si.com/2015/02/25/lynden-trail-nfl-draft
interesting listen.....he seems very flexible...like, he'll do anything...and I love the measureables....
http://www.espn.com/blog/ncfnation/...olk-states-lynden-trail-getting-nfl-attention
There are a number of great players in HBCU football. There’s no question about that. However, Norfolk State senior linebacker Lynden Trail has put himself in a very special category with his brilliant play the last two seasons.
Trail, a 6-foot-7, 250-pounder, can do it all. He has the size, speed and experience to play the pass as well as the run, and he knows how to pick his spots in terms of rushing the passer. These qualities have made him a candidate for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is presented annually to the top defensive player at the FCS level.
At 6-foot-7, former Florida Gator Lynden Trail is now receiving attention from NFL scouts as a linebacker at Norfolk State. Courtesy of Norfolk State University
In addition, NFL scouts have been coming out in droves to see the Spartans' talented defensive player. Trail has attracted nearly every NFL team to Norfolk to watch him play the game at an extremely high level. Some scouts have even come several times to see him..
Trail started his college career at the University of Florida before transferring to Norfolk State; this is his third season with the Spartans. He really opened a lot of eyes last season when he was named a first-team All-American by The Sports Network and was a Black College All-American by the Sheridan Broadcast Network. He had 95 total tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks in 2013.
Trail has put together another impressive season in 2014 for the Spartans. He has 21 solo and 37 total tackles, with 8.5 tackles for loss. These numbers, along with his overall play, have kept a steady stream of NFL scouts at his games.
“This is the second or third time, probably the fourth time, in my years as a coach here we’ve had a player who will probably be selected in the top three rounds,” Norfolk State head coach Pete Adrian said. “That’s what happens at this level. We’ve had over 100 scouts here at the start of the season.
“We get three, four, five a day. Now, we’re getting people back for the third and fourth time. We’ve had heads of scouting, assistant GMs and all that stuff. They want make sure a player who plays at this level of competition can go on and play at the next level. I give Lynden a lot of credit. He’s staying focused and thinking about the football season and letting cards fall where they may.”
Trail has apparently been playing his cards right. Adrian has seen him develop on and off the field.
“He’s a really focused young man,” Adrian said. “He’s done a great job. He started out at the University of Florida and for whatever reason decided to leave and he’s been here for three years. He works hard in the offseason. He works hard on the practice field. He’s going to graduate in December with his degree, which everyone is excited about, and it certainly looks like he’ll have the opportunity to play at the next level.”
Norfolk State (3-5 overall, 3-1 MEAC) will visit Florida A&M (2-6 overall, 2-2 MEAC) Saturday in Tallahassee for an important conference matchup. The Spartans are one of six teams in the MEAC with one loss. They want to stay in the hunt for the league championship, so it’s a big game for NSU. You can expect a good crowd at the game as well as plenty of NFL scouts on hand to take another peek at Lynden Trail.
edit
Senior bowl stuff
http://jacksonville.com/sports/foot...er-lynden-trail-makes-plays-shows-versatility
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...e-learned-from-day-3-of-senior-bowl-practices
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/archive/1737426
Trail arrived at Florida as a top high school recruit, but after coach Urban Meyer left, he also chose to leave, winding up at Norfolk State where he played the last three years, the past two seasons as the full-time starter. So far in his Norfolk State career, Trail has combined for 38 tackles for loss, 18.5 sacks, eight forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, two interceptions and 229 total tackles.
"Lynden certainly stands out on the field with his size and ability," an AFC East executive told NFLDraftScout.com. "In my opinion, he's still discovering how good he can be and as he learns better reaction to movement and better recognizes what blockers are doing, this player should get better. A lot of football left in his future."
It has been a long road for Trail, who did not start playing football until he was "10 or 11" because he had epilepsy and his mother feared he would have a seizure if hit too hard.
He played on the same team as Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater growing up, and played wide receiver his first year of junior varisty. He considered quitting football before his sophomore year, but was spurred by a coaching change and went on to catch 17 touchdown passes.
A wide receiver/tight end 'tweener, Trail switched to defense the following year and racked up 77 tackles and 14 years. That caught the eye of the Florida coaching staff even before Trail backed it up with 95 tackles and 20 sacks on defense and eight touchdowns on offense as a senior.
"When I made transition to defense, I fell in love with it," Trail told NFLDraftScout.com. "I could go hit someone and not get in trouble for it? That felt great. I thought I was getting pretty good at it, so maybe I could make a profession at it."
Trail said he made the decision to redshirt his freshman season at Gainesville to add strength, and put on 40 pounds. But Meyer left after the season and Trail was soon gone, along with 16 other recruits from his class.
"My hard work was getting overlooked. It was my time to depart," Trail said. "I don't want to be where I'm not wanted."
Trail was highly sought-after, but did not want to go the junior college route and looked into Norfolk State on the advice of his high school coaches. He has excelled in the team's 3-4 defensive scheme.
Trail is now seeking to become only the second Norfolk State player drafted since 1997.
"That would be huge. It would totally be a blessing," he said of potentially being drafted. "To help put Norfolk State back on the map. More scouts need to come here."
Trail is raw in some fundamental areas with his anticipation, hand use and point of attack power, but offers intriguing tools to develop and projects as an intriguing mid-to-late round investment.
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
STRENGTHS: Certainly passes the eye test with his tall, lengthy frame, but he also looks the part in motion, showing impressive movement skills for his body type. He is a flexible athlete with smooth change of direction skills and long strides to accelerate quickly in pursuit.
Trail has the body bend to dip and run the arc at 45-degree angle without losing speed, displaying good get-off quickness and a consistent motor. He uses his length well to corral ballcarriers and is at his best when he extends at the point of attack to properly work off blocks.
WEAKNESSES: When rushing off the edge, can be slowed by contact at times and struggles to quickly get back up to full speed, not consistently converting speed to power. He needs to continue and develop his hand use and overall strategy to shed blocks quicker. Has a lean lower body and with his taller stature, leverage will likely never be a strength.
Plays mostly linebacker in Norfolk State's 3-4 base scheme, but also has experience with his hand on the ground, which is likely his best NFL position.
--Dane Brugler
http://www.nsuspartans.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=2276
http://mmqb.si.com/2015/02/25/lynden-trail-nfl-draft
interesting listen.....he seems very flexible...like, he'll do anything...and I love the measureables....
http://www.espn.com/blog/ncfnation/...olk-states-lynden-trail-getting-nfl-attention
There are a number of great players in HBCU football. There’s no question about that. However, Norfolk State senior linebacker Lynden Trail has put himself in a very special category with his brilliant play the last two seasons.
Trail, a 6-foot-7, 250-pounder, can do it all. He has the size, speed and experience to play the pass as well as the run, and he knows how to pick his spots in terms of rushing the passer. These qualities have made him a candidate for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is presented annually to the top defensive player at the FCS level.
At 6-foot-7, former Florida Gator Lynden Trail is now receiving attention from NFL scouts as a linebacker at Norfolk State. Courtesy of Norfolk State University
In addition, NFL scouts have been coming out in droves to see the Spartans' talented defensive player. Trail has attracted nearly every NFL team to Norfolk to watch him play the game at an extremely high level. Some scouts have even come several times to see him..
Trail started his college career at the University of Florida before transferring to Norfolk State; this is his third season with the Spartans. He really opened a lot of eyes last season when he was named a first-team All-American by The Sports Network and was a Black College All-American by the Sheridan Broadcast Network. He had 95 total tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks in 2013.
Trail has put together another impressive season in 2014 for the Spartans. He has 21 solo and 37 total tackles, with 8.5 tackles for loss. These numbers, along with his overall play, have kept a steady stream of NFL scouts at his games.
“This is the second or third time, probably the fourth time, in my years as a coach here we’ve had a player who will probably be selected in the top three rounds,” Norfolk State head coach Pete Adrian said. “That’s what happens at this level. We’ve had over 100 scouts here at the start of the season.
“We get three, four, five a day. Now, we’re getting people back for the third and fourth time. We’ve had heads of scouting, assistant GMs and all that stuff. They want make sure a player who plays at this level of competition can go on and play at the next level. I give Lynden a lot of credit. He’s staying focused and thinking about the football season and letting cards fall where they may.”
Trail has apparently been playing his cards right. Adrian has seen him develop on and off the field.
“He’s a really focused young man,” Adrian said. “He’s done a great job. He started out at the University of Florida and for whatever reason decided to leave and he’s been here for three years. He works hard in the offseason. He works hard on the practice field. He’s going to graduate in December with his degree, which everyone is excited about, and it certainly looks like he’ll have the opportunity to play at the next level.”
Norfolk State (3-5 overall, 3-1 MEAC) will visit Florida A&M (2-6 overall, 2-2 MEAC) Saturday in Tallahassee for an important conference matchup. The Spartans are one of six teams in the MEAC with one loss. They want to stay in the hunt for the league championship, so it’s a big game for NSU. You can expect a good crowd at the game as well as plenty of NFL scouts on hand to take another peek at Lynden Trail.
edit
Senior bowl stuff
http://jacksonville.com/sports/foot...er-lynden-trail-makes-plays-shows-versatility
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...e-learned-from-day-3-of-senior-bowl-practices
http://www.scout.com/nfl/texans/story/1556174-the-sky-is-the-limit-for-the-texans-lynden-trail
http://wavy.com/2015/04/29/from-nsu-to-the-nfl-lynden-trail-hoping-to-fulfill-dream/
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