As we roll on here at Touchdown Wire with our draft rankings, we have arrived at the off-ball linebacker portion of the proceedings. Once a highly-regarded position, these types of players are seeing their stock take a bit of a hit over recent years, as coverage players or pass rusher tend to be valued more in the modern NFL where passing is king.
That has, perhaps, led to a bit of an evolution at the position, Some of the top players this cycle are known more for what they might do in space or in the slot than what they offer between the tackles. If the “two-down thumper” is going the way of the Dodo, in its place are linebackers who can match tight ends, running backs and even slot receivers depending on scheme and alignment. Some may get scared off by the position designation but some of these players are more LINO’s than anything else:
Linebackers in name only.
Here are the top 11 linebackers in the 2021 draft class.
Note: The percentiles in parentheses listed next to pro day data are compared to all historical athletic testing (combine and pro day) at the respective position of the player. Kudos to Pro Football Focus, and their Pro Day Schedule and Results Tracker, for this. As there was no scouting combine in 2021, and pro day schedules vary, we may not have all testing information for all prospects at publication time. For offensive tackles whose positional specificity is in question, we will include percentiles for both positions per PFF’s data.