For example...
2005: Jake Hutton
2006: Paul Igboeli
2007: Kyle Gallagher
2008: Bobby Wagner
2009: C-c-c-c-c-combo breaker!!!
2010: Jake Doughty
2011: Tavaris McMillian
And with the Kyler Fackrell hype machine running at full speed, it looks like he'll take care of 2012's entry on this list, making it seven of the last eight years a freshman linebacker was an impact player. But before we crown his ass, let's keep things within context of the sure things...
The bar for excellence here was obviously set by Wagner. Nobody in their right mind will dispute that. He was the cornerstone for USU's defense for the last three years as he earned first-team all-conference honors in each of those seasons (which will now be termed "Pulling a Wagner", formerly known as "Pulling a Harris" and possibly known in the future as "Pulling a Medlin")
Here's my prediction though: Of all the guys on that list from 2005 to 2011, McMillian will come the closest to having the impact that Wagner did. As a freshman last year, T-16 tied for the sixth most tackles on the team and was behind only Wagner, Levi Koskan and Bojay Filimoeatu in tackles for loss with 7.5. He finished the year strong too with 17 total tackles and four TFLs over the team's final three games.
