In his senior season, Denzel Burrell is getting a taste of what life will be like as an outside linebacker for UVa. The 6-4, 210-pound Columbia High School (Maplewood, N.J.) recruit has seen playing time at outside linebacker this year after enjoying a great junior season as a defensive end.

As a junior last season, Burrell disrupted opposing backfields with 26 quarterback pressures, 23 tackles-for-loss and 10 sacks. So how is Burrell faring in his first year playing linebacker?

“I’m mixing time at outside linebacker and defensive end and I played one game at middle linebacker due to our injuries,” Burrell said. “I’ve felt comfortable playing outside linebacker. It’s been difficult in that other teams know about me so I get a lot of double teams, but I’ve liked it. The one thing I’m learning now is reading play action passes. I feel better doing that now. I’m doing well at playing the run and blitzing, which is what I like to do. I’m getting used to the game speed at linebacker.”

Burrell is encouraged about how he’s performed at the outside linebacker position.

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