Starting Lineup: Tyler Niedrowski ‘has everything you look for in a linebacker’
To recognize the top players in Berks County football MikeDragoSports.com has selected the “Starting Lineup,” a preseason All-Berks team that includes the top linemen, backs, receivers, linebackers, and specialists.
Players are selected based on past performance, expected performance this season and college potential. Two-way players were given special consideration.
One player will be introduced each day throughout the preseason, in random order (the players are not ranked). This is the 12th installment of the series.
Tyler Niedrowski, Wyomissing
| 6-0 | 195 | Senior | HB/OLB |
Tyler Niedrowski tore the labrum in his right shoulder last October shedding a blocker; outside his locker room few noticed.
Wyomissing’s outside linebacker continued to storm the pocket, shut down the running game, and make outstanding plays in space for a defense ranked No. 4 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League against the rush and No. 5 in total defense.
He was so good that by season’s end he was named Berks County Defensive Player of the Year.
He so naturally gifted he made it look easy, but it wasn’t.
“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life,” he said of managing the pain while maintaining a high level of play. “I know that my team needed me and I really wanted to be there for my guys; I didn’t want to let them down so I kept playing through it.”
Niedrowski finished his junior season with 60 tackles (second on the team), a team-high seven sacks, 10 tackles for loss and 13 quarterback hurries. He was a first-team all-league pick and landed on the All-Berks Small School squad.
The week before he busted up his shoulder in Week 7 against Twin Valley his talents were on full display against Daniel Boone when he recorded five tackles for loss — in the first half. He finished that game with seven tackles on just 21 Boone snaps, including a safety.
Even at less than 100 percent he produced one of the biggest plays of the season for the Spartans when he broke off an 80-yard TD run with 3:15 left to give them a short-lived 27-20 lead over Lampeter-Strasburg in the District 3 Class 4A championship game. (They ended up losing in overtime.)
Niedrowski’s value to the Spartans far exceeds his stats. As their ‘Field Side’ or ‘Sam’ linebacker he plays a hybrid role that requires the footspeed to cover receivers in the open field and to run down backs on sweeps, the strength to shed linemen, and the ability to read plays and get in position to break them up.
Wyomissing traditionally places its best athlete in that ‘Field Side’ outside linebacker spot and turns him loose. That’s what they did with Niedrowski and he did not disappoint.
“He has everything you look for in a linebacker,” said Wyomissing linebackers coach Dave Outland. “To have him at that outside spot, where (you have to play like a) defensive end, a linebacker, and sometimes like a defensive back, he’s just a perfect fit there.
“With his athleticism, his speed, his strength, his knowledge of the game, his technique, he’s able to shut down that edge.”
“He’s a really good athlete, but he’s got that (football) mentality, too,” said Wyomissing coach Bob Wolfrum. “He’s gonna be as physical as he can be. He wants to hit; he loves being physical. He’s one of those guys that when you send him to rush the passer, he’s not just running into blocks, he wants to get to the quarterback.”
Niedrowski credits Wyomissing athletic trainer Dan Geissen for helping keep him on the field and for helping him rehab his shoulder once the season ended. Despite the damage to his shoulder and the pain, he was somehow able to wrestle 28 bouts, win 23 times, score 14 pins, and make it to the 189-pound finals of the BCIAA individual tournament. Finally, after sectionals, he was forced to shut it down.
He had surgery in late February and had to forgo track season, which is a big deal in the Niedrowski household. All of his brothers – Hunter, Evan, and Collin – were champion javelin throwers. He was hoping to maintain that tradition and throw in college; that’s now up in the air. Missing a full season of throwing will make it harder to find a spot on a college roster.
He was told after surgery he would require six months of recovery and rehab. He made it back in three. By June he was lifting and running again and preparing for his final football season at Wyomissing. He concentrated on improving his speed and feels it helped him in pass coverage during the 7-on-7 season.
“I’ll have to wait until the actual season to see how that fits with the other parts of my game,” he said.
An extra step will come in handy on offense, where he’s expected to take a bigger role. He has always played fullback, which has meant playing behind all-league Chase Eisenhower. Niedrowski averaged about six carries a game last year.
Knowing how explosive he can be with the ball and how well he performs in big games Wyomissing’s coaches have moved him to halfback so that he can be in the same backfield as Eisenhower and All-State pick Justice Hardy.
“That’s a punishing backfield,” Niedrowski said.
In Wolfrum’s system the front-line players go full-time on defense and split reps on offense. That means no one’s going to get many carries. Still, Niedrowski is pumped to get a bigger slice of the pie.
“I am extremely excited,” he said. “I’ve wanted to be a halfback for as long as I can remember but it didn’t really fit (for the team).”
| Logan Cammauf | Schuylkill Valley | RB/LB | Senior |
| Chase Eisenhower | Wyomissing | FB/ILB | Senior |
| Drew Engle | Twin Valley | RB/S/KR | Senior |
| Michael Glover | Wilson | TE/DE | Junior |
| Justice Hardy | Wyomissing | RB/WR/S/CB/KR | Junior |
| Chase Herb | Wilson | WR/S | Senior |
| Lebron Leaf | Governor Mifflin | QB/LB | Senior |
| Riley Martinez | Exeter | QB | Senior |
| Lucas Myers | Twin Valley | RB/LB | Junior |
| Tyler Niedrowski | Wyomissing | HB/OLB | Senior |
| Cameron Small | Muhlenberg | RB/S | Senior |
| Joel Ummarino | Exeter | C/DT/DE | Senior |
