UTEP auditions new group of inside linebackers

The UTEP Miners continued their spring football practice on Monday.Rudy Gutierrez/El Paso Times

Buy PhotoFor various reasons, usually related to health, the linebacker position tends to look a lot different in the spring than it does in fall.

That's probably true again this season as the anchor in the middle, perennial leading tackler Alvin Jones, is out for the spring following surgery and junior college transfer Jamar Smith doesn't join the team until this summer.

The upshot of that is the Miners are getting to look at different people at the inside linebacker spot alongside returning starter Dante Lovilette. While to some extent that's place holding for Jones, it's also a chance to develop…