Boise State 2025 spring football position-by-position preview: Linebackers

Marco Notarainni, Andrew Simpson return for Broncos

Boise State's Marco Notarainni gains control of a fumble by Oregon tight end Patrick Herbert. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

Boise State soared to new heights during the 2024 football season.

The Broncos repeated as Mountain West Conference champions and were selected for the College Football Playoff. 

Both accomplishments were program firsts for the Broncos, who finished 12-2 overall after falling to Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl. 

Boise State’s roster will look a bit different next season as star players like running back Ashton Jeanty and defensive end Ahmed Hassanein move on to the NFL. 

With spring ball just around the corner, Boise State Broncos on SI is taking a position-by-position look at head coach Spencer Danielson’s roster heading into next season. 

We have already covered the offensive side of the ball with pieces on the quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends and offensive linemen.

On defense, we began with the defensive linemen/edge rushers and are moving on to the linebacker position. 

Linebackers

The Broncos deploy just two traditional linebackers in their base defense, and both starters from a season ago will be returning in 2025.

Middle linebacker Marco Notarainni and weakside linebacker Andrew Simpson are seasoned players who will lead Boise State’s defense as seniors. 

Notarainni ranked fourth on Boise State last year with 60 total tackles (7.5 for loss) en route to first-team all-Mountain West Conference honors. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound middle backer also had 3.5 sacks, three quarterback hurries, three pass breakups and two fumble recoveries. 

Simpson received three starts as a freshman before taking off as a sophomore, earning second-team all-MWC honors with 66 total tackles (16 for loss) and 6.5 sacks. Simpson missed time due to injury last season, finishing his junior campaign with 46 total tackles, three sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception. 

“Obviously with Andrew Simpson and Marco coming back, it’s going to be huge to have those two linebackers as the anchor of our defense,” Broncos head coach Spencer Danielson said. 

Boise State also has a pair of experienced reserve linebackers returning in Chase Martin and Jake Ripp, both of whom are juniors-to-be. Ripp recorded nine total tackles and 1.5 sacks last year while Martin had five total tackles. 

During the 2024 season, the Broncos regularly used just one linebacker in favor of a dime package. Danielson said he will continue to explore different personnel groupings during spring practice. 

“We’re going to be moving some guys around in spring,” Danielson said. “We need to find out who our best 11 are … and maybe our best 12 depending on the different packages we use.” 

MORE BOISE STATE NEWS & ANALYSIS

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• Boise State 2025 spring football position-by-position preview: Offensive line

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• Pac-12 maintains Mountain West poaching penalties are ‘invalid and unenforceable’

• Boise State 2025 spring football position-by-position preview: Tight ends

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