Jalen Reeves-Maybin adds depth to the unit after earning a 54.5 grade on 298 snaps last season. San Francisco 49ers 2020 NFL Draft Team Guide. This ranking involves some projection for Bush because his 62.9 PFF grade as a rookie ranked 36th out of 91 qualifiers in 2019, but there is reason to believe he is primed for a significant second-year jump. He has truly impressive movement and change-of-direction skills for how big he is, and by all accounts, he's the kind of leader you want on your defense. White missed 13.0% of his tackle attempts last season, ranking 56th out of 88 qualifiers. Kiko Alonso is slated to start next to Davis despite being limited to just 296 snaps a year ago. 2020 NFL Draft Prospect: Krys Barnes-ILB-UCLA Krys Barnes, ILB, UCLA Height: 6-1. He missed only four tackles all year and allowed fewer than seven yards per reception on passes that were deemed to be into his coverage. An edge rusher at Wisconsin, Baun has excellent agility and graded at 80.0-plus in coverage in each of the last two seasons, albeit on small samples. They drafted Germaine Pratt in the third round of the 2019 draft, but he struggled to a 51.0 overall grade as a rookie. With Luke Kuechly now out of the picture, Seattle Seahawks veteran Bobby Wagner takes the No. Kansas City had four players play at least 300 snaps, with, Kansas City has been searching for a good coverage linebacker for a few seasons, and they may have found one in second-round pick. Our exclusive database, featuring the most in-depth collection of NFL player performance data. Linebackers are your most consistent week-to-week scorers, defensive line comes next, and then defensive backs. Pros: Versatile is an understatement. 2020 NFL Draft Inside Linebacker Rankings. A thin linebacking corps is very dependent on Smith’s development and Trevathan returning to form. Log In | Sign Up ... stats; tools; nfl resources; forums; my fftoday Rankings/Projections > Player Rankings : Linebacker Rankings: 2020 : Regular Season, Updated: 9/7/2020: Want Custom Fantasy Scoring? Another high-end year from Kendricks makes this one of the top units in the league. One of the biggest surprises of the 2019 season was the emergence of Alexander Johnson, who finished with the top run-defense grade in the league (91.4) and the fourth-ranked overall grade (88.5). 2020 NFL Draft: Linebacker Rankings By Athlon Sports , 4/14/20, 11:30 AM EDT Isaiah Simmons is the clear-cut No. The NFL's best linebacking corps have both high-end players and depth, and that’s what we leaned on when putting together this ranking. Blake Martinez is the biggest offseason addition after he racked up the tackles over the last few years with the Packers. Jordan Hicks also had the worst overall grade of his career, at 61.0, but he has three-plus years of solid coverage grades under his belt and there’s a good chance he bounces back to pair with Simmons and solidify the middle of the defense for Arizona. His 72.6 coverage grade ranked 15th among 91 qualifying linebackers on the season. April 17th, 2020. Cunningham played more man-coverage snaps than any other linebacker last season (239), and players like Alvin Kamara, Christian McCaffrey and Mark Andrews were able to produce several big plays against Cunningham in man coverage. The only other linebacker on the roster with any experience is Joel Iyiegbuniwe, who has 27 career snaps in his two seasons. While his overall grade had hovered in the 60s from 2016 to 2018, it came in at 90.1 in 2019 (second at the position). Baltimore looks better in the long term at linebacker, and they may take a big step forward this season, as well. It may be a surprise to see Milano come in above his teammate — 2019 Pro Bowl linebacker Tremaine Edmunds — on this list, but the coverage ability he has shown over the past two seasons is hard to ignore. While he played on the edge in his time in Chicago, Leonard Floyd could take some snaps at linebacker. This group's success will be determined by which Martinez shows up in his first year as a Giant as well as Mayo’s development in his second year of extended action. The only other linebacker on the roster with any experience is, Annually one of the NFL's lowest-graded linebacker units, the Giants were no different last year and graded at 54.5, good for 23, The Giants added a pair of linebackers in the seventh round in, There are numerous options for Washington at linebacker this season, starting with the addition of veteran, The player we’d really like to see more of is, Only three linebacking units had a lower grade than the Chiefs last season. Craig Robertson also returns for his fifth year with the Saints to add depth, grading out at 60.0-plus in four of his six qualifying seasons. It's a number that highlights both his ability to limit the big play and his ability to make plays on the ball when the opportunity presents itself. Jatavis Brown is another new addition who did his best work as a rookie in 2016 when he graded at 77.6 overall. Dallas will be hoping both Smith and Vander Esch get back to 2018 form next season. Things got off to a pretty good start as a rookie in 2018 with Smith putting up a 70.0-plus grade in coverage and a 66.6 grade overall, but both of those numbers dipped into the 50s this past season. Fred Warner has emerged as one of the better coverage linebackers in the league in his two seasons but needs to cut down on his 37 missed tackles, the sixth-highest total during that time. It’s an entirely new look for the Raiders at linebacker, as free agents Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski are slated to see most of the snaps this season. When Wright is back to form, he and Wagner make one of the league’s best duos. However, he has tackling issues of his own, missing 13 of his 46 attempts last year to form the worst rate in the league. Myles Jack disappointed with the lowest grade of his career at 45.9 overall and looked a step slow in coverage on his way to a 45.8 mark. Collins will be one of several former Patriots defenders looking for success in his first season in Detroit. Photo: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports. Few players have turned their careers around in recent years quite like, Just getting Alonso and Anzalone healthy should give the Saints a solid trio along with Davis, but New Orleans also has strong depth, starting with third-rounder, The Bills have revamped their linebacking corps over the past three years, with. PFF's exclusive metrics provide matchup previews, position rankings, grades, and snap counts. UFA: A player who has completed four or more accrued seasons and whose contract has expired. He starts with his tiered top 25 with 26-50 soon to follow. Visit ESPN to view the 2020 NFL Standings. They enter 2020 with one of the best units in the league as the corps remains intact, led by Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith. Ranking the outside linebacker prospects for the 2020 NFL Draft. No other Packers linebacker has any NFL experience, as 2019 seventh-rounder Ty Summers and 2019 undrafted free agent Curtis Bolton round out the depth chart. Deone Bucannon is also in the mix, though he has graded above 70.0 just once in his six-year career — and that was back in 2015. Bush’s athleticism has given Pittsburgh a different look, and he posted a solid 65.2 coverage grade; he’s primed to take a big step forward in Year 2. CBS Sports breaks the linebacker class into four tiers ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft. He’ll have competition in Ben Gedeon, who produced a 60.1 grade on 102 snaps last season, and fourth-round pick Troy Dye, one of the better coverage linebackers in the draft who has the length to be a weapon against tight ends. Kenny Young comes over from Baltimore where he’s graded in the 50s across two years and 480 snaps. It’s just a matter of improving his zone-coverage skills, which were just a step slow in college. Speed, a 2019 fifth-rounder, adds depth as an athletic backup, and Matthew Adams also returns after back-to-back years grading in the 50.0s on 332 total snaps. Subscribe to PFF's EDGE or ELITE subscriptions to get access to the following tools, charts, etc. His 45.9 PFF grade was easily the lowest of his career. February 15, 2020 3:22 pm. Collins is familiar with the defensive system, and he’s yet another versatile weapon who can play all over the defensive formation while providing one of the better blitz threats in the league. You've watched all the tape, you know the stats. Our Big Board is updated regularly leading up to the 2020 NFL Draft. He has recovered nicely from a knee injury that dropped him to the second round of the 2016 draft, and he’s now one of the league’s best all-around linebackers. The focus for Chargers linebackers this year is improving a coverage grade of 53.5 that ranked just 23rd in the league last season. He has recovered nicely from a knee injury that dropped him to the second round of the 2016 draft, and he’s now one of the league’s best all-around linebackers. Even with Bobby Wagner taking a step back last season, the Seahawks have the best linebacking corps in the league. Ranking the inside linebacker prospects for the 2020 NFL Draft. He'll look to show that 2019 was no one-year fluke as a key part of the Broncos defense in 2020. He brings athleticism, speed and playmaking ability to the linebacker position that Pittsburgh has missed since Ryan Shazier's injury. The Cardinals also add. October 2nd, 2020. He wasn't exactly a playmaker in coverage, with just one combined interception and pass breakup, but he was far from a liability. Warner's PFF grade this past season was brought down by a 46.8 run-defense grade and over 20 missed tackles, but he was better in both areas as a rookie in 2018 and is developing into one of the better coverage linebackers in the NFL. The Panthers have put a lot of coverage responsibility on Thompson, and he's held up reasonably well through 546 coverage snaps in the slot since 2015 (nearly 100 more than the next closest linebacker). Here we track how a given prospect has done in our positional rankings over the last 12 months or so. In his four-year career, Jones has 24 pass breakups and 10 interceptions, though he has graded in the 60.0s in the run game in his three full seasons. The group just needs to cut back on its missed tackles to take the next step in 2020. The Dolphins' linebacking corps looks like a bottom-tier unit, but a strong year of progression from McMillan and Baker could change that in a hurry. Kansas City had four players play at least 300 snaps, with Reggie Ragland leading the way with a 63.5 overall grade. Here are the best linebacking groups in the NFL heading into 2020. Top 25 linebackers in the NFL heading into the 2020 season 25. He picked up overall grades of 65.0 or higher in each of the first eight seasons of his career, but that streak came to an end this past season. Wilson has an old-school build; he can play the run and looked good in Wyoming’s simple coverage schemes. Anthony Walker is the other projected starter and is coming off his best year in coverage, posting a 73.3 grade. Having just turned 22 years old in May, this upcoming season could very well be the one where he does just that. For comparison, that is like … Director of Administration & Senior NFL Draft Analyst for The Draft Network. 250+ three-page scouting profiles - advanced stats, 3-year grades, player comps, combine data and Senior Bowl grades - for the 2021 draft class. last season (14.2%). Walker was more of an edge/linebacker ‘tweener with the Bulldogs. With Cory Littleton moving on in free agency, the Rams have a big hole to fill in the back seven. The big move this offseason is the addition of Christian Kirksey to replace departed Blake Martinez. Member of the FWAA. There’s little experience beyond those two, as 2019 sixth-rounder, Arizona addressed a major weakness when they selected. Davis has done his best work as a blitzer, grading in the 70s in all three years and amassing 58 total pressures. Vander Esch has said this offseason that the injury is behind him and that he's better now than he was before the injury last season, and if taken at his word, that's great news for Dallas. Here we track how a given prospect has done in our positional rankings over the last 12 months or so. Rashaan Evans and Jayon Brown took most of the Titans’ snaps at linebacker last season, and they both return this year. The Titans have a solid unit, and a smoother year in coverage from Evans could vault them into the top 10. L.J. 2020 NFL Draft Inside Linebacker Rankings. He has his limitations when left in single coverage, but McKinney handles short-zone responsibility well enough and has posted 70.0-plus coverage grades in three out of his five NFL seasons. Todd Davis, the starter alongside Johnson, is one of the most consistent linebackers in the league, grading between 65.0 and 71.0 in all six years of his career. Zack Lambert 7 months ago 5 min read. No linebacker who has seen at least 50 targets in coverage since 2018 has allowed a lower yards-per-target mark than Brown's 5.6. out of 112 linebackers. This means that a 0.0 z-score and 50.0 percentile would represent a player who rates as a league-average NFL athlete at the position. He’s done his best work against the run, grading at 70.0 or better in all but one year of his eight-year career. Fort returns after a solid 270 snaps in which he graded at 73.5 last season, but Josh Bynes and Patrick Onwuasor both move on, leaving about 900 snaps of playing time for the rookies and Fort to fill. When healthy, Williamson is another good run defender who has never graded above 60.7 in coverage, so there are limits to his game. It's what slots him into the top 20 on this list. Is your team in need of a center fielding, wide receiver clamping, defense operating pass rusher? It may be too much to expect another three-phase career year from Kendricks, but he’ll likely be among the league’s best in 2020. Like several players later on this list, Smith is someone who we know has the tools to be a top-flight NFL linebacker. The Saints have one of the best mixes of production and depth, so a healthy unit in 2020 should rank among the best in the league. On Thursday, we rank the best linebacker corps in the NFL. NFL Stat Leaders 2020 ... Miami linebacker Jerome Baker's sack of Mahomes sets up a punt as the Dolphins' defense dominates early. October 2nd, 2020. Cunningham is the playmaker of the group, leading the league in. Johnson was on precisely no one's radar heading into last season. Jack is a good candidate to bounce back next season with Schobert coming in to take middle linebacker duties next to him. Wright brings a long presence to the Seahawks’ zone-heavy scheme and like Wagner, he can play the run and blitz at a level among the league’s best. Johnson was a 28-year old rookie who battled legal issues and made the most of his first opportunity in the league. Jack's 2019 season was not what Jaguars' fans were expecting, and you can say that for a lot of Jacksonville's defense. Edwards is below average athletically, and there may be some coverage limitations, but he’s been a productive player since his freshman year at Wisconsin. By: Kyle Crabbs. Listed at 6-foot-4, Wright is a longer linebacker who can cause problems in coverage for opposing offenses in Seattle's zone defense. The 49ers have revamped their linebacking corps over the past three years and now boast a solid unit that fits their defensive scheme. He has the length to be disruptive in Indianapolis' zone-heavy defense and has shown himself to be well-rounded through his first two NFL seasons. The rest of the five players on the depth chart have combined for four career snaps, so the pressure is on Bush and Williams to produce at a high level. Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Linebacker Rankings 2020 By Athlon Sports , 7/23/20, 11:45 AM EDT Darius Leonard's ability to do it all makes him one of the top fantasy linebackers Hitchens is a few years removed from looking like one of the good, young coverage linebackers, but he has not performed well in his two years with the Chiefs. Kwiatkoski is not as dynamic as Littleton in coverage, but he plays his role well and broke up three passes on just 34 targets a year ago. The Bills have a solid linebacker unit capable of matching up with running backs and flying around the field. The Eagles added more athleticism in the draft with. We're in the heart of rankings season here at PFF. The Cardinals also add De’Vondre Campbell to the mix after four years in Atlanta where he posted subpar coverage grades but missed only 23 of his 291 tackle attempts. The Bears didn’t have a linebacker play more than 12 games last year as the position was ravaged by injuries, though a stellar performance by Nick Kwiatkoski helped the unit post the eighth-best grade in the league. Davis should be an anchor in the middle of the Saints' defense once again in 2020. 2020 NFL Draft: Final linebacker rankings. That's why the Raiders signed him this offseason. Mock Drafts you're on the clock. When you look at his resume, the fact that his last Pro Bowl appearance came in 2015 is astounding. On paper, this should be one of the better linebacker units in the league, but that’s dependent on Jack bouncing back and Schobert improving his game against the run. It will be interesting to see how he fares without the Hall of Fame-bound Kuechly in the middle of that defense. Now, it’s just a matter of Tampa Bay harnessing that athleticism within its defensive scheme. In addition to Kendricks’ playmaking in coverage, he also had the third-best run-defense grade (90.1) while tying for 10th with 17 pressures. Floyd hasn’t topped a 61.4 pass-rush grade over the last three years, but he's been solid against the run and in coverage over his four-year career. Throughout the 2020 NFL season, we will compile a consensus NFL Power Rankings that averages the rankings of all 32 NFL teams. Tahir Whitehead takes the first crack at replacing Kuechly after two years in Oakland in which he graded in the 50s. Login Be The Expert. You are not logged in. The other name to watch is third-rounder Tanner Muse, who played safety at Clemson. He’s now four seasons removed from his peak 90.0 overall grade in 2015 — his best mark since then has been just 70.5. As a 27-year-old undrafted free agent who hadn't yet taken an NFL snap on defense, why would he have been? His 92.1 coverage grade since getting drafted in 2016 trails only Kuechly and David among qualifying linebackers, and despite missing much of the 2018 season, Jones' 26 forced incompletions are tied for second-most at the position over that four-year stretch. Skip to navigation. In each of his four full seasons with the Patriots (2013, 2014, 2015 and 2019), Collins has delivered PFF coverage grades of 69.0 or higher and PFF pass-rushing grades of 75.0 or higher as one of the better blitzing linebackers in the league. June 10, 2020 9:30 am Luke Kuechly was the best linebacker of his generation. There are a handful of teams that are in dire need of an inside linebacker presence but landing spot will be very key on who to select in rookie drafts. However, Evans had his struggles in coverage, where he left far too many routes open behind him in zone coverage and surrendered 13.1 yards per reception into his coverage. NESN.com is breaking down the NFL’s best positional groupings on both sides of the football, ranking teams in order of worst to first. At 6-foot-2 and 245 pounds, Covington was a sixth-round pick with the Dallas Cowboys in the 2018 NFL draft. 2020 NFL Draft Linebacker Rankings – Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak. He brings excellent athleticism to the middle of the field — he ran a 4.52 40-yard dash and showed excellent explosion on his jumps — and he can be a weapon when covering running backs. Jack was a rangy playmaker in his first three years in the league, so he needs to bounce back to get this unit moving in the right direction. McMillan is living up to his college projection as a strong run defender who had work to do in coverage, and that’s still prevalent; his 43.4 coverage grade ranked just 86th at the position. Littleton does do two things at an elite level, though — cover and tackle. Seattle Seahawks (Unranked) Dec 13, 2020; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks strong safety Jamal Adams (33) talks with New York Jets players and staff following a 40-3 Seattle victory at Lumen Field. Kwon Alexander returns for his second season in San Francisco after being limited to just 423 snaps last year. He starts with his tiered top 25 with 26-50 soon to follow. Like Milano, Schobert is going to produce more against the pass than he is against the run. The official source for NFL news, video highlights, fantasy football, game-day coverage, schedules, stats, scores and more. They enter 2020 with one of the best units in the league as the corps remains intact, led by, Smith ranked right behind Vander Esch with an 84.0 overall grade, sixth-best in 2018, but he regressed last season with a 70.2 grade that ranked 19, . Greenlaw's play as a rookie came as a pleasant surprise for San Francisco, particularly with him needing to take on a larger role as Kwon Alexander missed time due to injury. From 2012 to 2016 — Davis' first five seasons in the NFL — his highest single-season PFF grade came at just 62.6 in 2014 with the New York Jets. Though their position may be listed as “outside linebacker,” they don't play close to the same position as someone like Lavonte David. Then there is 2019 fourth-rounder Drue Tranquill, who posted a solid 66.6 grade on 382 snaps as a rookie, the same exact grade as 2018 fourth-rounder Kyzir White, who played 372 snaps. Kirksey is an athletic linebacker with coverage skills, but he has just one year with a coverage grade above 60.0 — it came in 2015 when he posted an impressive 80.0 that ranked 11th in the league. Warner was a big part of that. Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine was the head coach of the Browns during that time, and the hope is that he can get the best out of Kirksey, who has played just 586 snaps over the last two seasons. If Gay is ready to go, the Chiefs have a place for him in sub-packages immediately. Warner’s 74.5 coverage grade ranked 11th last year, and he has 14 pass breakups and two interceptions in his young career. Kuechly excelled in all areas, but his instincts and range were at a different level —  he just added a special dynamic to the defense. Login or Register: He is coming off a “down” year by his standards, but even then, his 76.4 PFF grade ranked 11th at the position. Davis is another strong run defender who helped Broncos linebackers post an 88.4 grade against the run, by far the best mark in the league among teams last season. Smith must do a better job of taking on blocks in the run game, but more importantly, the Bears need him to show off the playmaking ability in coverage that made him a top-10 pick. Next to Bush is Vince Williams, more of a traditional run-stopping thumper who has been one of the league’s best blitzing linebackers over the past three years. A large part of that grade was that Greenlaw simply didn't allow big plays on his watch. The official source for NFL news, video highlights, fantasy football, game-day coverage, schedules, stats, scores and more. Find out where your favorite Linebackers stacks up against the 2021 class and view expert mock drafts. Collins rejuvenated his career in his return to New England, grading above 70.0 for the first time since 2015. Zack Lambert 5 months ago 5 min read. Martinez is a solid player — though the tackle stats are misleading — and he’s yet to put together a high-end season in all facets. Coming into the NFL in the same 2012 draft class as Kuechly and Wagner has left David as the forgotten man at the position. With Kuechly out of the picture, the pressure is on Thompson and Whitehead while the team will be hoping someone emerges from the bottom of the depth chart to take the pressure off the top two. Director of Administration. Historical Rankings for Paddy Fisher-OLB-Northwestern as a ILB. Many analysts tried to figure out where Simmons' best fit at the next level, but the Cardinals have him at linebacker, where they had the third-worst coverage grade in the league last season (32.0). Edmunds is an outstanding athlete who continues to improve, ranking 14th in run stop percentage last year. 1) Isaiah Simmons, Clemson; Ht: 6-4 Wt: 230. Johnson is a bigger linebacker by today's NFL standards at nearly 250 pounds, and he used that size to his advantage in the run game where he posted a 91.4 run-defense grade for the season. It hasn't taken long for Leonard to become a focal point of the Colts defense under defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. Weissman's 2021 NFL Mock Draft 3.2. Now that Kuechly has retired, it's Wagner's crown to take. Houston has one of the best linebacker duos in the league heading into 2020. April 20, 2020 Jack Brentnall College and Draft. Kamu Grugier-Hill adds depth, though he’s played more special teams snaps (1,092) than defensive snaps (737) in his four-year career. If you're expecting Littleton to come down and make a difference in the run game, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. However, Evans had his struggles in coverage, where he left far too many routes open behind him in zone coverage and surrendered 13.1 yards per reception into his coverage. The wild cards are Reuben Foster and Kevin Pierre-Louis. By: The Draft Network. He’ll be yet another case to see if on-field production can overcome physical limitations. NFL 2021 Draft: Top 10 prospects who opted out of 2020 due to Covid-19 . He led all off-ball linebackers with 277 pass rushes and 33 pressures, including seven sacks. Kendricks is coming off the best season in his five-year NFL career. Recording grades of 80.0 or higher as both a run defender and in coverage, as Vander Esch did in 2018, is impressive stuff. To a lesser extent, both Kwon Alexander and Dre Greenlaw give the 49ers above-average play in coverage from the linebacker position, as well. Over that same two-year stretch, the 37.9 coverage grade for Raiders' linebackers collectively came out ahead of only the Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants. Kendricks had produced grades in the 60.0s in his previous three seasons, so last year was one in which he finally put it all together in each phase. A smoother year in coverage from Evans could vault them into the top units in the league across defenses... 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