NFL Draft Preview-Linebackers

NFL Draft Preview - Linebackers

Have I mentioned before how incredibly stacked this draft class is? I expect a decent amount of players to be pulled from this linebacker class in the first few rounds, although there will probably be a significant drop-off from there. The versatile Clemson player Isaiah Simmons is the clear-cut head of this class. He's a projected top-three pick, and it's hard to imagine him going much further down the board due to lining up at four different positions over the course of his college career.

A few more potential first-round selections at linebacker could be Oklahoma's Kenneth Murray and LSU's Patrick Queen. Murray brings a certain athleticism to the table that should appeal to teams. He's also racked up at least 102 tackles in each of his previous two seasons with nine and a half sacks as well. I really like Queen coming off the board in the first round, and if you can find a prop of him being taken first round, I would bet the mortgage behind the yes. He's drawing a ton of praise from the Raiders, and I almost certainly expect them to snag him with the 19th pick that they possess.

Three names that pop off the board to me that should be drafted between the second and fourth rounds are Wisconsin's Zack Baun, Appalachian State's Akeem Davis-Gaither and Mississippi State's Willie Gay Jr. Baun is a high school quarterback turned linebacker who's extremely athletic and could even sneak into the first round. Davis-Gaither isn't drawing the attention he deserves, and this mostly comes from being an App State prospect. He had 96 tackles in 2018 before grabbing 101 tackles last season and he could potentially be one of the most NFL-ready linebackers. Willie Gay saw limited action last season due to suspension, but he's a raw specimen and teams will pick up on this from his limited film.

I normally like to look deep into the board and find the potential sleepers, but I don't see a ton of names popping off the late list. One player who could be worth a look though is Joe Bachie from Michigan State. He's a three-year starter with 100+ tackles in both 2017 and 2018. The downside to Bachie is that he saw his college career end abruptly after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. However, he's drawing a ton of attention from teams, especially the Bengals. Given the past record of how lenient the NFL can be with giving players a chance, Bachie could potentially become a superstar coming from the later rounds.