ProFootballFocus released a 2024 NFL Draft primer for the linebacker position earlier this week. Wisconsin starting inside linebacker Maema Njongmeta was included as one of its ’10 draft-eligible linebackers to know’ entering 2023.
Njongmeta is included on the list with some of the biggest names in the country, including projected first-round pick Jeremiah Trotter Jr. from Clemson.
PFF writes the second-year starter “is the highest-graded returning Power Five linebacker, earning an 89.9 mark this past season” and “is a menace when coming downhill, as he was the only Power Five linebacker who earned 85.0-plus grades as both a pass rusher and run defender.”
Njongmeta returns this season after starting 13 games for the 2022 Badgers and recording 95 tackles, 12.5 tackles-for-loss, 3.5 sacks and one interception. He figures to slot in with Jordan Turner and Jake Chaney in the first year of Mike Tressel’s 3-3-5 hybrid defense at Wisconsin.
The highest-graded returning Power Five linebacker?
Wisconsin’s Maema Njongmeta (89.9).
One of my Top-🔟 linebackers heading into next season. pic.twitter.com/dIoT3CCCzG
— Max Chadwick (@MaxChadwickCFB) February 13, 2023
If history is any indication, Tressel’s 2022 unit was led by inside linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. with a whopping 136 tackles, 20.5 TFLs and 9 sacks. Njongmeta is a different player than Pace. But inside linebacker is a focal point of how Tressel runs his unit, and there aren’t many better equipped to fill that role this season than Njongmeta.
While Trotter Jr. is a projected first-round pick, off-ball linebackers rarely hear their names called toward the top of the draft. It is a position many teams prioritize after the first few rounds. A strong season from the Wisconsin senior can get him into that conversation, especially if he makes the jump many expect him to this season.