Gary Cosby Jr./USA TODAY Sports (Dean); Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports (Ojabo) 1. One of the best off-ball linebackers of his generation, David is still playing at an extremely high level and may benefit from New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis and Los Angeles Rams linebacker Bobby Wagner playing very good football well into their 30s on recently signed contracts of their own. Pittsburgh Steelers (94/100) Cameron Heyward was second behind only Aaron Donald in PFF's grades of interior defensive linemen last season. 2021 PFF grade: 60.4 (30th of 89). 6 defense in the league last year, and Smith was a big reason why. There may be no better all-around linebacker in the class. According to PFF, T.J. Edwards was the 10 th-ranked linebacker in 2021 but is still unproven and only has started 30 games in the NFL. Former Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons just wrapped up his second season in the NFL, and he continues to leave little doubt the Dallas Cowboys made the smart decision using a first-round draft pick on him. JaWhaun Bentley is a hard-nosed player like his counterpart Mack Wilson. His elite run-stopping ability was on display against the Packers in the divisional round, too. Editor's note: For up-to-the-minute updates based on everythingwerehearing around the NFL, go to PFF's free agency rankings, where you can sort by position, team needs, and more all offseason long. Las Vegas brings in Jayon Brown from the Titans to play alongside Denzel Perryman. Nakobe Dean is a dark horse with this group. The only season in which he did not record at least 100 tackles was his rookie campaign, when he missed two games. Cole Holcomb, WAS: Impressive young linebacker who could see the numbers improve in 2022. His 2021 campaign wasn't his best, but he seems like a player that's just going to get better, and someone who could end up becoming the next Lavonte David for the Bucs. Cunningham is one of the most run-focused linebackers in the game, but his PFF coverage grade has declined throughout his career, dripping from average at best to outright poor over the last two seasons. Subscribe to PFF+ to unlock An error occured while loading Position Grades. Foyesade Oluokun was brought in from Atlanta, but there is certainly hope that the team's two rookie picks at the position, Devin Lloyd and Chad Muma, can play early. The six players in the 1A tier figure to be the favorites to post the highest tackle numbers in the league based on their expected role in their defenses. Still, the Rams ranked fourth in the NFL last season in zone coverages (82.60%). Unlock all tools and content including Player Grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Premium Stats, Greenline and DFS. despite dropping into coverage at times. The transition from college football to the NFL used to be smooth for linebackers, but even elite prospects can now struggle in Year 1. The first week of March will see the NFL Combine which will be followed by College Pro Days. He finished as the highest-graded linebacker in football, recording 140 tackles, two interceptions and a career-high six sacks. The former undrafted free agent is in for a big pay raise this offseason after making the absolute most of his one-year deal. 3 min read. Nakobe Dean, LB, Georgia . 2022 NFL linebacker unit rankings: Giants come in at 24 (PFF . 2022 NFL Linebacker Rankings 1. Despite what PFF says, I don't think there are that many more linebackers who are better in coverage than Kendricks. 16 at his position by PFF Teams AFC East Bills Dolphins Jets Patriots AFC North Bengals Browns Ravens Steelers AFC South Colts Jaguars Texans Titans AFC West. The Jaguars replaced Jack with Oluokun, who also has outstanding physical traits. 2022 NFL linebacker unit rankings: San Francisco 49ers claim the top spot, Seattle Seahawks crack the top 10 Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers middle linebacker Fred Warner (54) lines up over Green Bay Packers center Josh Myers (71) during the first quarter at Levi's Stadium. Even, Parsons is already one of the best defensive playmakers in the NFL as he enters just his second season in the league, but its difficult to rank him purely as an off-the-ball linebacker. However, he's still a work in progress in coverage and didn't tally a single interception or pass breakup in his college career. Devin Lloyd and Nakobe Dean will be the talk of the class and likely the only two first-round linebacker prospects in 2022, but there's still a lot of talent at the position on Days 2 and 3 of the draft. David missed five games in 2021 due to injury, but he still had a solid season, recording 97 combined tackles. In 2021, Davis was given a career-high AV of 15 while again being named an All-Pro after he recorded 105 combined tackles, 13 tackles for loss and three sacks. PFF Free Agency Rank: 86 2021 Snaps: 783 2021 PFF grade: 64.2 (24th of 89) Barr agreed to a pay cut before the 2021 season that also voided the 2022 and 2023 seasons on his five-year extension signed in 2019. Our exclusive database, featuring the most in-depth collection of NFL player performance data. Recently, Seth Galina from PFF ranked all 32 linebacker units in the league. may surprise some based on his age. Van Noy has now had stints in Detroit and Miami, but his good PFF grades are almost exclusively reserved for his time in the Patriots defense. Unlock all tools and content including Player Grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Premium Stats, Greenline and DFS. Why drafting Dallas Cowboys LB Micah Parsons among the top-12 may not be the best decision. 88 selection in the 2019 NFL Draft. Players like T.J. Watt, Matt Judon, Harold Landry and Shaquil Barrett are not included. The Rams have a great defense, and the 32-year-old Wagner could find himself rejuvenated in 2022. Within 2021 and 2022's class, Detroit made use of the later rounds to nab names such as wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown, linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez and edge James Houston. Contract projection: Available in PFF's free agency rankings. According to training camp reports, that is paying off big time for the Eagles. PFF's exclusive metrics provide matchup previews, position rankings, grades, and snap counts. Perryman was looking for a new contract heading into 2022 but ultimately played out the year, earning a strong 80.5 run-defense grade. Click here for PFF's full list of top 100 free agents. Davis is a player people keep expecting to regress, but he just hasn't. Chicago Bears Roquan Smith and Indianapolis Colts Shaquille (Darius) Leonard stock is falling due to availability concerns, making E.J. Speed and Matthew Adams late-round dart throws. The entire schedule was released on January 31, 2022. Smith is a complete athletic projection. Turn on this feature to cross off players during your draft. The Super Bowl has come and gone in 2022 and we have started to turn our attention to the next football season. Projected contract: Three years, $25.5 million ($8.5M per year, $16.5 million total guaranteed), PFF Free Agency Rank: 65 When healthy, Johnson is among the best sideline-to-sideline run-defenders at off-ball linebacker in the league. Al-Shaair is in line to get paid as a free agent after teammatesFred Warner and Dre Greenlawfind themselves among the 16 highest-paid off-ball linebackers in the NFL. 2021 PFF grade: 53.0 (50th of 89). With that in mind, some of these units have fewer members than others. Johnson finds himself in one of the most unique contract situations in NFL history. Parsons took the NFL by storm in his rookie season, recording 84 combined tackles and a Dallas Cowboys rookie record 13 sacks. Still, the. While Chicago lost Akiem Hicks and Khalil Mackin the offseason, this unit could be rather strong again with some of the additions made in the secondary, and with the defensive-minded Matt Eberflus taking over as head coach. His PFF grade of 77.9 ranked eighth last year among linebackers, and he once again showed he's a well-rounded linebacker that doesn't get the kind of credit he deserves. Like the Chiefs, the Bengals also went into last season with a lot of unknowns surrounding the linebacker position but found a really good pair in, A position of weakness for the Eagles in 2021 might turn into a position of strength in 2022 with the additions of rookie, The Ravens are still looking for that breakout year from. He subsequently graded out to 76.5 in his first season. Here's the top 10 entering the 2022 season: 1. Monson ranked Long, who has been an absolute steal since being drafted in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL draft, as the No. His struggles come in coverage, where he's allowed nearly 1,000 yards over the past two seasons. After looking like one of the worst linebackers in the NFL for a few years in Green Bay, Blake Martinez rebounded with a solid season in 2020 in New York before succumbing to injury early in the 2021 campaign. Unlock all tools and content including Player Grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Premium Stats, Greenline and DFS. Galina ranked the Colts at No. 9 linebacker in coverage with a 73.9. For IDP fantasy football leagues, there is a ton of variance in preseason player rankings, but utilizing tiers can help us properly value each group of players in. 2021 Snaps: 987 1. Edmunds also missed just 6.5% of potential tackles, the lowest rate of his career and another huge sign of continued growth from a football intelligence and play recognition standpoint. As stated in the article, Galina only included true off-ball . 17 linebacker in the NFL going into 2022, placing him in the "young. He signed a monster five-year, $95 million extension last July, and is worth it considering he's just 25. From Week 9 of 2020 through Jewells injury in Week 2 of this season, his 79.8 overall grade ranked fourth among off-ball linebackers and his 79.5 coverage grade ranked fifth. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. Here are PFF's top 32 linebackers ahead of the 2021 NFL season. #1 - Fred Warner, San Francisco 49ers San Francisco 49ers LB Fred Warner The San. Some may think Wagner is too high on this list, and while he took a small step backwards in 2021, he's still one of the best linebackers in the NFL. For all the young players' struggles, there are a lot of promising linebackers who have the talent to become elite players at this level. The Tennessee Titans are set to sport a talented and exciting inside linebacker duo in 2022 with David Long and Zach Cunningham, but where do they rank as compared to others in the NFL?. With Smith entering the final year of his rookie deal, Spotrac believes he's in line to sign a five-year, $88.18 million extension. Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys The first-ever unanimous Defensive Rookie of the Year has quickly become the standard for linebacker play in the NFL. Overall, White has had an incredible start to his career, as he's picked up All-Pro honors, a Pro Bowl bid and a Super Bowl ring in just three years. Elandon Roberts and Jerome Baker are average linebackers who have just one 70.0-plus season grade among their 10 combined years in the NFL. White was a reliable presence at linebacker following the loss of 2020 first-rounderKenneth Murrayduring Weeks 4-9 and when Murray was battling injuries over Weeks 11-15. Projected contract: Two years, $15 million ($7.5M per year, $10M total guaranteed), PFF Free Agency Rank: 86 Edwards has posted 75.0 grades or better in two of his three NFL seasons and is one of the more underrated players in the league. At 6-foot-3, 242 pounds, he has legit NFL size and athleticism. He even hit 107 combined tackles in 2020 despite playing in just 11 games! Amid replacement-level cornerback and safety play at times, Warner's gravitas over the middle of the field allowed the team to play a high percentage of zone coverage to protect its outside cornerbacks. Let's have a look at them. He packs a punch as a downhill player, as he can light up offensive linemen with ease. His processing skills took massive steps forward in 2021, causing his grade to jump from 57.1 to 76.3. The second linebacker tier features 17 linebackers on teams that are expected to be less zone-heavy than those in the tier above. Research past fantasy performance with sortable player stats including PFF-exclusives like aDOT and fantasy points per opportunity. Jack is now trying to reboot his career in Pittsburgh after suffering similar ill-fortune in Jacksonville. PFF themselves had the Cowboys 2021 secondary in the top 10. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports. I agree to receive the "Pick Six Newsletter" and marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers), and other information from CBS Sports and the Paramount family of companies. Something to note is that 3-4 pass-rushers will not appear on this list. Gay hasnt graded as well but possesses the characteristics to become a top linebacker. 2021 PFF grade: 65.1 (T-23rd of 89). Linebacker Rankings 2022 NFL Draft Home Positions LB ALL QUARTERBACK RUNNING BACK WIDE RECEIVER TIGHT END OFFENSIVE LINE DEFENSIVE LINE EDGE LINEBACKER DEFENSIVE BACK #1 RANKED - SCOUTING REPORT 17 Nakobe Dean POSITION RANK #1 OUR RATING 90.4 ILB All Scouts Average Overall Rank 20.8 All Scouts Average Position Rank 2 Height Feet 6-0 James Bradberry (74.1) 2022 PFF Grade 20th ranked Darius Slay (73.1) 2022 PFF Grade 25th ranked Avonte Maddox (71.3) 2022 PFF Grade 33rd ranked Josiah Scott (58.4) 2022 PFF Grade. Expect both young studs to push for 140-plus combined tackles, if healthy. In 10 seasons, he has been named an All-Pro eight times, made the Pro Bowl eight times and led the NFL in tackles twice. Jewell is actually more of an all-around linebacker, but run defense has been his best area in the NFL. Warner had a transformative effect on the 49ers defense when he became the starter. After looking like he might be the next great linebacker earlier in his career, Deion Jones play has fallen off a cliff. Now, Brown hits free agency coming off a career-low 421 snaps, though he still maintained a 60.0-plus coverage grade, which is where he derives a lot of his value as an off-ball linebacker. A new defensive coordinator and scheme will help him, though. Sam Monson of PFF recently ranked the top linebackers in the NFL and organized them in tiers. Teams are afraid to throw at Surtain, and he has one of the lowest target totals among . 2021 Snaps: 717 Campbell is a one-year wonder at the moment, but that year was All-Pro caliber and the most recent thing we have seen from him. This is a case of one elite linebacker pulling along another whose narrative hasnt really matched his production. With Oluokun one of the few young players available, a market could develop for him that exceeds expectations. Barr agreed to a pay cut before the 2021 season that also voided the 2022 and 2023 seasons on his five-year extension signed in 2019. White backed up his first season as a starter in 2021 with another solid campaign in 2022, earning grades of at least 62.0 against the run and in coverage. 2021 PFF grade: 80.1 (3rd of 89). The 2022 Atlantic Coast Conference football season, part of the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season, was the 70th season of college football played for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Since 2020, the Colts linebacker has twice the number of forced fumbles of any other off-ball linebacker, and he has four interceptions and eight pass breakups over that time. Fred Warner (San Francisco 49ers) earned the top spot and Darius Leonard (Indianapolis Colts). 1 as Bobby Wagner finally dethroned Ranking the top 10 linebackers for the upcoming NFL season By Jordan Dajani Jun 28, 2022 at. A position of weakness for the Eagles in 2021 might turn into a position of strength in 2022 with the additions of rookie Nakobe Dean and veteran Kyzir White to pair alongside T.J. Edwards, who had a breakout 2021 season. Ranking 10 best NFL landing spots for Richardson, 2023 NFL combine: WR/TE winners and losers, Takeaways from NFL combine measurements for WR, TE, Pete Prisco's top 100 NFL free agents of 2023, NFL combine: Grading top QBs, plus winners and losers, NFL combine 2023 tracker: Top performances, highlights, Ranking the NFL's top 10 linebackers entering 2022, NFL Combine: Grading top QBs; winners and losers, NFL Draft: Top landing spots for Richardson, Mock Draft: Panthers, Colts trade up for QBs, Colossal Richardson sets multiple QB combine records, Pascal robbed at gunpoint, assaulted; WR 'doing fine', Bryce Young measures similar to former No. Here's what PFF wrote about Wagner's season. Parsons is already one of the best defensive playmakers in the NFL as he enters just his second season in the league, but its difficult to rank him purely as an off-the-ball linebacker. In 2019 and 2021 with the Ravens, he graded out to 80.0 and 74.8, respectively. 2022 NFL Draft Position Rankings: Linebackers By Michael Renner Apr 22, 2022 Devin Lloyd and Nakobe Dean will be the talk of the class and likely the only two first-round linebacker prospects in 2022, but there's still a lot of talent at the position on Days 2 and 3 of the draft. Anzalone has always shown promise but is probably better coming off the bench, especially after finishing with a bottom-10 overall grade among 94 qualifying linebackers in 2021. He's been an All-Pro each year, and a Pro Bowler for three straight seasons now. Clemson junior Trenton Simpson Simpson had a solid role as a freshman in 2020, totaling 28 tackles with 6.5 tackles for loss and four sacks, in addition to a forced fumble. Parsons was the No. The Falcons defense has fallen apart around him, and he no longer has a free run to the football as often as he did when he was playing his best football. The Titans ask a lot of their off-ball linebackers, and Long can do it all. PFF's exclusive metrics provide matchup previews, position rankings, grades, and snap counts. Subscribe to Sign Up 1. He had been one of the more consistent players at the position in the NFL, and so theres a chance he regains his form. Though he's 32 years old, David hasn't taken a major step backwards just yet. He is a truly freakish athlete and will be 25 years old throughout his entire sixth NFL season in 2023 after being selected No. The rest of 1A should surprise no one, with this group almost filling out the consensus top-five linebackers in ADP terms,. Kendricks' grade did falter in 2021 a 59.9 mark that was down from 82.6 and 90.1 the past two years, respectively. Despite the inconsistent offense, the Chicago Bears had the No. You dont want to line him up against an opposing receiving weapon in a one-on-one, but he demonstrated better recognition of route patterns and improved as a zone coverage backer. The 2022 season was Tranquills first as a full-time starter following Kyzir Whites departure, and his 105 tackles were more than his first three seasons combined. Parsons lined up as an edge rusher on 40.6% of his snaps as a rookie, and thats where he did the bulk of his damage. The Steelers brought in former Jaguar Myles Jack to play alongside him. Jerome Baker, MIA: I love Baker this season as a Top 15-20 sleeper. Hes expected to return for Dallas playoff run after a shoulder injury knocked him out down the stretch, which will provide a big boost to the ferocious Cowboys defense. Edmunds made huge strides in coverage in 2022, a major weakness in his game through his first four seasons. All Rights Reserved. His 94.1 run defense grade wasn't too far behindMicah Parsons (94.8) PFF college record. NFL 2022 Draft Positional Rankings: Linebackers By Jacob Wayne | Mar 30, 2022, 1:34pm #1: Devin Lloyd - Utah #2: Nakobe Dean - Georgia #3: Chad Muma - Wyoming #4: Leo Chenal - Wisconsin #5: Christian Harris - Alabama #6: Brian Asamoah - Oklahoma #7: Brandon Smith - Penn State #8: Channing Tindall - Georgia #9: Damone Clark - LSU Jewell also provides value on the occasional pass-rush snap and very rarely misses tackles. Hes the complete package for a modern off-ball linebacker. In May, Sam Monson of PFF ranked as the league's No.16 linebacker coming into the 2022 NFL season. Zach Cunningham, if nothing else, stops the run. Projected contract: Two years, $10 million ($5M per year), $5.5 million total guaranteed, PFF Free Agency Rank: 163 His past two years against the run have been horrid, with him posting 39.8 and 30.0 run-defense grades. Potentially losing a step or two with age can be negated by elite play recognition and instincts, both of which David has in spades. Perhaps no player better sums up the volatility of linebacker play than the newly minted All-Pro, De'Vondre Campbell. "Latest Update" refers to when we last checked for . No. Click here for PFF's full list of top 100 free agents. Here's why that is important: PFF's Fantasy Football Expected Points tool is primarily used for identifying potential over and undervalued players. Kendricks is one of the games best coverage linebackers, able to consistently squeeze throwing lanes and make plays on the ball once its in the air. Typically, David is the ideal linebacker for IDP. He has yet to post a sub-70.0 grade, with three out of his four years coming in above 78.0. That hypothetical AAV of $17.6 million would make Smith the third highest-paid linebacker in the NFL. Meanwhile, TJ Watt led the league in sacks (22.5) and was the Defensive Player of the Year. You must be logged in and create a league profile to apply custom fantasy scoring to the stats, projections and rankings pages. Davids 72.3 overall PFF grade is the lowest mark he has posted in a single season since 2016, and Wagners 71.8 was his lowest since 2015. Linebackers with the most INT's in both man and zone coverage last season Man: Bobby Okereke (2) Zone: Darius Leonard (4) pic.twitter.com/RJ4JbjcbYx Offensive Line | Quarterback | Backfield | Pass-Catcher | Secondary | Linebackers | Special Teams) 2022 NFL Defensive Line Rankings Below is every team ranked 1-32 by how their defensive line shapes up for 2022. Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Chicago Bears inside linebacker Roquan Smith (58) stares into the backfield during pre-game at Nissan Stadium. The main contributors to a linebackers IDP success are the volume of defensive snaps combined with playing in zone-heavy defenses, which rack up tackles more efficiently. For IDP fantasy football leagues, there is a ton of variance in preseason player rankings, but utilizing tiers can help us properly value each group of players in 2023 fantasy football drafts. A pair of Seahawks came in at No. His first season in Green Bay produced an overall PFF grade of 85.0 and earned him a $50 million extension, but before that, Campbells PFF grades fell between 49.0 and 69.1 for two different teams. That 42.0 mark was his first time dropping below 70.0 since 2015. Those traits have allowed him to make a lot of tackles, but tackles are not always good plays for linebackers if they come after a big gain on the ground or because they were out of position in coverage. While Bobby Okerekes grade has fluctuated over the years, Darius Leonard the star of the Colts' defense has been rock solid since exploding onto the scene as a rookie. Luckily for the Philadelphia Eagles, he was still available in the third round. No linebacker corps gets its collective noses dirtier than the Patriots' unit. His 18 quarterback pressures ranked fourth among off-ball linebackers, as Patriots head coach Bill Belichick continued to deploy the 6-foot-3, 260-pounder all over the place in his constantly evolving defense. at Al-Shaair missed a lot of time in 2022 but earned a career-best 67.8 overall grade and 79.7 run-defense grade. Nakobe Dean was widely considered to be a potential first-round pick before the 2022 NFL Draft. Milano was a fifth-round draft pick back in 2017 but has dramatically outperformed his first-round teammate, Tremaine Edmunds, within the Buffalo defense. The six players in the 1A tier figure to be the favorites to post the highest tackle numbers in the league based on their expected role in their defenses. Rankings&Projections |WR/CB Matchup Chart |NFL & NCAA Betting Dashboards | NFL Player Props Tool | NFL & NCAA Power Rankings He put forth a monster rookie season in 2019 but hasnt quite attained the same highs in subsequent seasons. There's no telling what he could be with more reps at the position. AVG. San Francisco 49ers . They spent a lot of money on Roquan Smith at the linebacker spot, [so] why not bring in another Georgia guy?" . 2021 PFF grade: 64.2 (24th of 89). The Rams attacked the linebacker position this offseason, adding. Final Season Stats. PFF's top linebackers in the 2023 NFL Draft 1. His 89.0 run-defense grade in 2022 ranked fourth at the position, with his 13 tackles for loss or no gain tied for 12th. his sure hands also need to be highlighted," PFF's Zoltn Buday wrote. Bobby Wagner, Seattle Seahawks Seattle's defense may have deteriorated around him, but Bobby Wagner remains the class of the linebacker position, especially since Luke Kuechly 's retirement. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports. 4. The Saints had been looking for someone to play the linebacker position opposite him for years and seem to have found one in Pete Werner, who was outstanding as a rookie in 2021. Leonard was a beast in stopping the run, as his 91.1 PFF run defense grade was second among all defenders in 2021 -- not just linebackers. Lavonte David is still one of the best linebackers in the game . Okereke stepped up in a major way in the absence of fellow off-ball linebacker Shaquille Leonard, with his 72.9 grade ranking 23rd at the position. Vander Esch has had an up and down first four years in the NFL, but the talent that made him a first-round pick in 2018 still flashes on occasion and will certainly draw attention. Our exclusive database, featuring the most in-depth collection of NFL player performance data. Better luck with his health led to a respectable 63.8 overall grade and 72.6 pass-rush grade in 2021. Parsons actually finished No. Hes aggressive, has a quick trigger and finds the ball carrier. Projected contract: Two years, $14 million ($7M per year, $9 million total guaranteed), PFF Free Agency Rank: 61 The following tiers reflect which players are in the best situations to produce they're ranked based on the likelihood of doing so every single week. Jewell is the other Denver off-ball linebacker who missed the majority of the 2021 season with a torn pectoral muscle, but hes three years younger than Johnson. Still, its an interesting group because of Ernest Jones, especially after his very good Super Bowl performance as he came back from an injury-plagued season. PFF's exclusive metrics provide matchup previews, position rankings, grades, and snap counts. Drafting Quay Walker out of Georgia in the first round also helps the Packers' cause. Minnesota Vikings players on both sides of the ball, including Kendricks, have already opened up about the culture change they have felt early on this offseason with Kevin O'Connell. 8:44 am ET. They also signed linebacker Myles Jack and D-lineman Larry Ogunjobi. Maybe the most volatile position in football, linebackers have seen their worth in the NFL fluctuate over the years. joe lombardi son,
Byron Leftwich Left Handed, How To Visit Pearl Harbor On Your Own, Mountaire Chicken Sale, Articles P