NFL free agency 2021: Best linebackers available. Dont’a Hightower didn’t even play in 2020, electing to opt out of the season due to COVID-19 concerns. Found insideFew players better exemplified this than Ray Lewis in his prime. Along with being a very physical player, the Baltimore Ravens linebacker could track down backs sideline to sideline as well as any player in the NFL. The middle ... Bobby Wagner, Seattle Seahawks. He ended with 950 tackles, 20.5 sacks, 8 picks, and 16 forced fumbles. As his offseason virtual race showed, White still has blazing 4.3-second speed, and he flies to the ball carrier like few other players can. PFF's exclusive metrics provide matchup previews, position rankings, grades, and snap counts. Found inside – Page 5The 20-yard time might be a better indicator of linebacker speed, but after nearly 50 years I know what a 4.81 means as opposed to a 4.68 ... He went on to play many years in the NFL as an excellent blocking and pass-catching fullback. He endured the typical struggles in coverage but brought an obvious physical presence to the Chargers' defense, making three pass breakups. Rookie linebackers have struggled hugely to hit the ground running in the NFL over recent years, but Kenneth Murray did as good a job as any of the bunch a season ago. You have to love this guy's mentality. He is tenacious and embraces what it takes to be an elite off-ball linebacker. I usually compare linebackers to the running back position. Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell is top-three non-quarterback prospect in the 2021 NFL draft. A strong argument can be made that “L.T.” was the greatest defensive player in NFL history. These power rankings are adjusted based on coach, quarterback and the market each season. The Chuck Bednarik Award goes to the best defensive player in college football, but he was also one of the greatest NFL linebackers ever. He posted a 91.7 PFF coverage grade in 2017 and was above 80.0 again in 2019, but he surrendered four touchdowns in coverage in 2020 on his way to the worst season of his career. Next Gen Stats' top 10 coverage players in 2020. Fred Warner, linebacker, San Francisco 49ers. 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh thinks he's coaching the NFL's best middle linebacker. The talent is there to emerge as one of the top linebackers in the 2022 NFL Draft; he just needs to reveal it consistently. Ray Lewis. Absent, Jordan Hicks enjoyed years of impressive play in Philadelphia before landing in Arizona and struggling hugely over the past two seasons with PFF grades of 61 and then 50.4. Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen have set the league on fire early in their careers. In 2020 Smith moved to inside linebacker, and it allowed for Smith to go from a good fantasy linebacker to an elite one. Few positions in the NFL have suffered more in recent years than linebacker, the focal point of a lot of the evolution within pro offenses. 3h. 10. Found inside... the way linebackers play and the way offenses block linebackers.” — Hall of Fame NFL coach and TV analyst John Madden “All I can say about Lawrence Taylor is that he's the best defensive football player I've seen. His second NFL season saw him earn an 84.1 overall PFF grade and rank as the sixth-best linebacker in the league. Jack Lambert Do Not Sell my Personal Info. believe this is the best inside linebacker prospect in recent years, which would mean better than Roquan Smith in 2018 and Devin . Found inside – Page 56In Willis's second season with the 49ers, Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary became head coach. Willis reminded many of Singletary because of his focus and his ability to constantly be around the ball. One of Willis's greatest ... Last season, Smith averaged 14 combined tackles and neared the 100 solo tackle mark with 98. Found insideStarted 9-of-12 games — five at 3-4 outside linebacker, four at “Mike” linebacker — and led the Bruins with 93-2-1/2 ... Tied with Florida's Alex Anzalone for having the best 10-yard split (1.57 seconds) of any inside linebacker at the ... But with the arrival of first-round pick Zaven Collins after Isaiah Simmons joined the team in 2020, the Cardinals have given Hicks permission to seek a trade, and he seems primed for a bounceback campaign elsewhere in 2021. Tweet 0. The Colts just made Leonard the highest-paid linebacker in total value and average per year with a five-year, $99.25 million extension. Millsap . Mosley. Lawrence Taylor There is absolutely no debate - Lawrence Taylor is unequivocally the best linebacker in NFL history. Found insideSetting the Record Straight on the Top 50 NFL Coaches in History Steve Silverman ... The defense may have been even better, with stars like defensive end Buck Buchanan, middle linebacker Willie Lanier, outside linebacker Bobby Bell, ... Davis had an excellent 2020 season for the Wildcats, totaling 89 tackles with one sack, one forced fumble, two passes defended and two interceptions. Here are some of the key questions surrounding the linebacker . This ranking of the top 25 pro linebackers of all time features stories about their greatest games, toughest opponents, and larger-than-life personalities, from the "Monsters of the Midway" to Ray Lewis. Warner is a big, athletic linebacker who has a knack for being around the ball. Generations of linebackers have played in the NFL and defined the game. James Harrison. At times, he will also play man-to-man coverage on either the tight end or the number two or . Mike Klis 9 inside linebackers who could be in play for Broncos . ROUND 1. . "Originally published in hardcover in slightly different form in the United States by Crown Archetype, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York, in 2018"--Title page verso. Late last week, ESPN's Mike Clay released his rankings for every position group in the NFL this season. When the 2021 NFL Draft kicks off on April 29 at 8 p.m. He was drafted by the Rams in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft Today, we're looking at off-the-ball linebackers, which includes inside linebackers in 3-4 defenses (1984-96 and 2012-17) and all linebackers in 4-3 defenses. Leonard also has the most forced fumbles of any linebacker since he came into the league (10 including the playoffs). In Willis was voted the NFL Alumni NFL Linebacker of the Year in 2007 and 2009 and 2010. If Hicks was stuck in Arizona again, he might not make the list. Urlacher, who is eligible for Pro Football Hall of Fame induction in 2017, also was NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2005. Wagner has been asked to become a bigger part of the Seahawks' pass-rush strategy given their struggles in that area, and he subsequently notched 23 quarterback pressures and his fifth-straight season with an 80.0-plus PFF pass-rushing grade on the blitz in 2020. The famous image of Lambert displaying a mouth full of missing teeth while snarling under his helmet best embodied the toughness of the Steel Curtain defense he led in Pittsburgh. And there's one major reason for that: There's a scarce amount of true three-down LBs across the league. L. Somehow still available as a free agent, K.J. He remains a very scheme-dependent player, but he at least showed he can be an impressive force away from Bill Belichick. Linebacker Mike Curtis was as fierce as competitor as any player who has ever taken the field in the National Football League. Wright is a very good complement, as well, with the Seahawks having some depth pieces to go along with it.. We know Thompson is a better player than that, however, and it seems unlikely that he is a complete product of Kuechly’s aura. Found inside – Page 34Meanwhile, Chicago center Mike Pyle said, “I can say playing against Ray Nitschke shortened my career dramatically. I had great respect for Nitschke. I thought he was one of the greatest linebackers to play the game. We have yet to see everything Devin Bush is capable of at the NFL level. NFL free agency 2021: Best linebackers available. The browser you are using is no longer supported on this site. In advance of the season finale, Adam Rank provides a pecking order. Found inside – Page 136Keyon and I both thought we would move up a spot, but instead they moved over the second string SAM linebacker, Jim Nelson, to start at MIKE linebacker. This was our introduction to the first rule in the NFL—the best people always play ... We're heading into training camp and the preseason. Today's best linebackers are asked to cause turnovers, play physically against the run, master pass coverages, fly sideline to sideline for acrobatic . He's been putting up this type of production for years. He frequently flashes that talent, and was the best linebacker in the NFL for a three-game stretch to start the 2020 season, but the wheels always begin to wobble at some point. One of the league’s last two-way players, Bednarik died in March at the age of 89. Ranking the 16 greatest linebackers in NFL history. And they might be joined by Jack . Kudos to Pro Football Focus, and their Pro Day Schedule and Results Tracker, for this . Rated as the No. Found inside – Page 68BILL GEORGE AND THE INVENTION OF MIDDLE LINEBACKERS Bill George was the first in the line of linebackers who for more ... the 4-3 defensive formation that remains in vogue today . who has been listed among the 100 greatest NFL players . Help | Viewer Feedback | Press | Advertise With Us | Jobs | FOX Cincy | RSS | Site Map The ten best linebackers in NFL 2021. Players ranked 100-41 will be revealed Sunday over the course of six hours -- each one-hour episode unveiling a new set of 10 honorees -- beginning at 4 p.m. Eddie Johnson arrived in Cleveland at exactly the right time. Seau’s love of the game was evident every time he set foot on the field. NFL Network's "Top 100 Players of 2021" premieres Sunday, Aug. 15 and will air over three consecutive weekends. He remains inconsistent overall, however, offsetting much of those impact plays with negative ones, such as 57 missed tackles and nine touchdowns surrendered over the same time period. Found inside – Page 226Markus, “Better Than Dick Butkus?” 7. Mike Rathet, “The Case for Willie Lanier,” Pro Quarterback, December 1971. 8. Joe McGuff, “Willie Lanier: Best Linebacker in NFL?” Football Digest, May/June, 1972. 9. Bill Libby, “Willie Lanier: ... A s teams square off on the opening weekend of the new NFL season, one thing is certain: The players on defense for many teams will include Sam, Mike, and Will. He needs to provide strong run support and fill his gap on the run, but he also is required to drop in short zones in both cover 2 and cover 3. Head coach James Franklin told Micah Parsons, a top-five overall recruit at the defensive end, he would play middle linebacker. As offenses have become more efficient and accomplished at generating mismatches and exploiting them, linebackers have become players caught between a rock and a hard place on many plays, often leaving them with little chance for success. In a new ranking of the 32 best ILBs in the NFL ahead of the 2021 season, Johnson ranks 10th and Jewell comes in at 19th; they are the only linebacker tandem from the same team to each rank among the top 19. TAMPA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 07: Lavonte David #54 and Antoine Winfield Jr. #31 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrate during the third quarter . Like Wagner, Warner wasn't the earliest-drafted linebacker in a studly class, but he's quickly become the best one—and is likely the best linebacker in the NFL outright. But with the arrival of first-round pick. Singletary led the defensive revival of Chicago’s Monsters of the Midway in the 1980s. 28. Even with his struggles in the desert, Hicks has four picks and four pass breakups over the past two seasons. He earned an 84.0 PFF coverage grade last season, allowing a mere 75.8 passer rating into his coverage — some 20 points lower than the average pass and 30 points lower than the average pass targeting a linebacker. Including both the regular season and playoffs, White finished with an astounding 178 tackles, 16 QB hits and nine sacks in 2020, so the fact that he earned second-team All-Pro honors is a bit of a joke. Found inside – Page 106Did Mike Jones realIn six seasons with ly play running back in the Raiders , Jones had college ? always played weak - side The Rams have seen linebacker ... take your eyes off the linebacker in the NFL , even if you played it target . The highest paid linebacker in . One of the few Seahawks still around from those Super Bowl teams, Wagner has maintained his dominance thanks, in part, to his ability to read and identify formations and quickly diagnose plays, allowing him to always be in the right place. Even with his struggles in the desert, Hicks has four picks and four pass breakups over the past two seasons. Not as spectacular in 2020 as he was the season before, Demario Davis is coming off his second straight year in New Orleans in which he earned better-than-average PFF grades in every facet of play we measure. While Micah Parsons stands an excellent chance of becoming a top-10 pick in the 2021 NFL draft, a few other prospects also remain in the mix to get selected Thursday night.. Found inside – Page 42The Bears blitzed better than anybody. They collected 64 sacks that season. Defensive ends Richard Dent and Dan Hampton as well as middle linebacker Mike Singletary also were keys on the blitz. Chicago Bears linebacker Mike Singletary ... Three linebackers make an appearance on the list, which is voted on by the players themselves, between Nos. Mike Singletary. Found inside – Page 72The legacy of Jim Brown was carried forward in the '70s and '80s by two of the game s best running backs, ... In 1991, there were only two starting Black middle linebackers on the 28 NFL teams, Mike Sin- gletary of the Chicago Bears and ... 1. True story: in Butkus second year a Wisconsin paper wrote that he was the greatest defensive player in the NFL. 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