I agree to receive the "Pick Six Newsletter" and marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers), and other information from CBS Sports and the Paramount family of companies. Singleton has had quite the career path to this point, finally reaching unrestricted free agency ahead of the 2023 season after entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent of the, in 2015. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports. Davids 72.3 overall PFF grade is the lowest mark he has posted in a single season since 2016, and Wagners 71.8 was his lowest since 2015. Campbell recorded the second-highest PFF grade of any linebacker with an 85, and also was the second-highest graded linebacker in coverage with an 82.2. his sure hands also need to be highlighted," PFF's Zoltn Buday wrote. He is a truly freakish athlete and will be 25 years old throughout his entire sixth NFL season in 2023 after being selected No. . The league may be trending ever more toward the passing game, but there is still a place in the NFL for linebackers who are excellent run defenders first and foremost. Milano was a fifth-round draft pick back in 2017 but has dramatically outperformed his first-round teammate, Tremaine Edmunds, within the Buffalo defense. He put forth a monster rookie season in 2019 but hasnt quite attained the same highs in subsequent seasons. Here are the top free agents at linebacker, taken from PFF's free agency rankings. The best linebackers in todays league are elite coverage players, but they can also affect the game in other ways. 16 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft as the second-youngest player in the overall class. After looking like he might be the next great linebacker earlier in his career, Deion Jones play has fallen off a cliff. 6 defense in the league last year, and Smith was a big reason why. This ranking may be a surprise after the Seahawks lost future Hall of Famer. 88 selection in the 2019 NFL Draft. Hes not great in other facets, but stopping the run is still an important aspect of the position. Seahawks only have one player in PFF's top-40 graded edge defenders Teams AFC East Bills Dolphins Jets Patriots AFC North Bengals Browns Ravens Steelers AFC South Colts Jaguars Texans Titans AFC. His 89.0 run-defense grade in 2022 ranked fourth at the position, with his 13 tackles for loss or no gain tied for 12th. Minnesota Vikings players on both sides of the ball, including Kendricks, have already opened up about the culture change they have felt early on this offseason with Kevin O'Connell. PFF analyzes every player and every play of every game in the 2022 NFL season. Rounding out the top-tier of linebackers. Kendricks is one of the games best coverage linebackers, able to consistently squeeze throwing lanes and make plays on the ball once its in the air. Drue Tranquill. Vander Esch earned a 90.0-plus grade in three starts in 2021, including two such outings over the final five weeks. After looking like one of the worst linebackers in the NFL for a few years in Green Bay. Rankings&Projections |WR/CB Matchup Chart |NFL & NCAA Betting Dashboards | NFL Player Props Tool | NFL & NCAA Power Rankings Typically, David is the ideal linebacker for IDP. To create this list, we took into consideration basic statistics, Pro Football Reference/Stathead's Approximate Value, PFF grades and a guess on how the player will perform moving forward. His 62 run stops over the last two seasons ranks ninth among off-ball linebackers, and his 18 tackles for loss or no gain is tied for 14th. 4) Patrick Surtain II, Denver Broncos. The Georgia product was named second-team All-Pro in 2020 and 2021, and recorded a career-high 163 combined tackles last year -- which ranked fifth among all linebackers. The 30-year-old linebacker will be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career after a delayed start to his NFL career, and now hell be working his way back from a torn pectoral muscle injury. What a find he was for the Packers last year. The Titans ask a lot of their off-ball linebackers, and Long can do it all. section: | slug: ranking-nfls-top-10-linebackers-entering-2022-new-no-1-as-bobby-wagner-finally-dethroned | sport: football | route: article_single.us | Andersen is a converted running back and quarterback who, in his lone full season at linebacker, racked up an absurd 67 stops. He had a career year, helping turn around the Eagles' defense with the second-best grade among off-ball linebackers (84.4). Asamoah is undersized at 6-foot-1, 228 pounds, but he possesses sideline-to-sideline range. In May, Sam Monson of PFF ranked as the league's No.16 linebacker coming into the 2022 NFL season. Projected contract: Two years, $9.5 million ($4.75M per year), $5.25 million total guaranteed. He signed a monster five-year, $95 million extension last July, and is worth it considering he's just 25. Within 2021 and 2022's class, Detroit made use of the later rounds to nab names such as wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown, linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez and edge James Houston. 2022 (146 FBS TEs, minimum 20 targets) Yards per route run: 25th; PFF receiving grade: 12th; YAC: 7th; 2021 (133 FBS TEs, minimum 20 targets) Yards per route run: 94th; PFF receiving grade: 111th . A position of concern and potential weakness heading into last season has become a real strength for Kansas City. If you go back and watch him play throughout his rookie season, you'll not only see a talented pass-rusher, but a good linebacker that can read and react quickly. Leonard was a beast in stopping the run, as his 91.1 PFF run defense grade was second among all defenders in 2021 -- not just linebackers. Hightower opted out of the 2020 season, and after a bit of a slow start getting reacclimated to the speed of the NFL game, he was back to his old self for stretches of the 2021 season. is likely another surprise player based on where he tends to go in drafts, but dont let the age fool you. Age: 28. However, Georgia wide receiver Kearis Jackson is not ranked in Pro Football Focus' NFL draft big board rankings. He at least improved upon his 29.7 grade as a rookie with a 43.5 mark in Year 2. Edmunds made huge strides in coverage in 2022, a major weakness in his game through his first four seasons. He also has 30 quarterback pressures over 135 pass-rush snaps the past three seasons and took a quantum leap in coverage in 2022 en route to a 73.0 grade. Parsons took the NFL by storm in his rookie season, recording 84 combined tackles and a Dallas Cowboys rookie record 13 sacks. Devin Bush has not lived up to his draft status as a first-round pick, and 2022 might be his last chance to prove himself at the NFL level. 2022 NFL Linebacker Rankings and Tiers Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indianapolis Colts outside linebacker Darius Leonard (53) reacts to a play in the first half against the Las Vegas Raiders at Lucas Oil Stadium. This is likely a polarizing selection. He has yet to post a sub-70.0 grade, with three out of his four years coming in above 78.0. Since entering the league, Warner has 118 or more total tackles in every season and was named First-Team All-Pro in 2020. 16 at his position by PFF Teams AFC East Bills Dolphins Jets Patriots AFC North Bengals Browns Ravens Steelers AFC South Colts Jaguars Texans Titans AFC West. Lavonte David has been one of the best linebackers in the league for almost a decade, whereas teammate Devin White has not graded above the 51.9 mark he attained as a rookie. In 2022, he boasted a pass . Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Chicago Bears inside linebacker Roquan Smith (58) stares into the backfield during pre-game at Nissan Stadium. For IDP fantasy football leagues, there is a ton of variance in preseason player rankings, but utilizing tiers can help us properly value each group of players in 2023 fantasy football drafts. Let's have a look at them. Nevertheless, he is clearly an ascending young player contributing immensely to Tennessees defense that finished first in expected points added per rush allowed on the season. Leighton Vander Esch has not lived up to the hype he created for himself after a monstrous rookie season, and so we may see another linebacker eventually fill in for him. Still one of the more underrated players in the league, This is a precarious spot for the Packers to be in, even with 2021 All-Pro. Kendricks has long been one of the consistent middle linebackers in the league, and he stepped up his game in 2021 with a career-high 143 combined tackles, five sacks and two interceptions. Drafting Quay Walker out of Georgia in the first round also helps the Packers' cause. He's been an All-Pro each year, and a Pro Bowler for three straight seasons now. The grades for the Detroit Lions in their 9-8 campaign offer up an analytically-based glimpse of how the Lions performed. Its hard to overstate Fred Warners effect on the 49ers' defense in their run to the NFC championship in 2021. One of the most underrated linebackers of the past several years, Demario Davis' late-career emergence as an elite LB has been fun to watch. Walker had a career year for the Browns in 2021, and his 78.2 PFF coverage grade was the highest of his career. While Bobby Okerekes grade has fluctuated over the years, Darius Leonard the star of the Colts' defense has been rock solid since exploding onto the scene as a rookie. Denver let Alexander Johnson walk in free agency, which depleted this unit. 2021 PFF grade: 50.6 (51st of 89). 2021 Snaps: 679 6 in the NFL in sacks and No. Unlock all tools and content including Player Grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Premium Stats, Greenline and DFS. Teams could do a lot worse than White if they are looking for a solid weakside linebacker who has the speed to stay with pass-catchers in coverage for the most part. Unlock all tools and content including Player Grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Premium Stats, Greenline and DFS. One of the best off-ball linebackers of his generation, David is still playing at an extremely high level and may benefit from, Okereke stepped up in a major way in the absence of fellow off-ball linebacker, The 2022 season was Tranquills first as a full-time starter following. Jewell also provides value on the occasional pass-rush snap and very rarely misses tackles. Despite what PFF says, I don't think there are that many more linebackers who are better in coverage than Kendricks. His 2021 campaign wasn't his best, but he seems like a player that's just going to get better, and someone who could end up becoming the next Lavonte David for the Bucs. Kansas City Chiefs linebacker group ranked as 9th-best in NFL by PFF Teams AFC East Bills Dolphins Jets Patriots AFC North Bengals Browns Ravens Steelers AFC South Colts Jaguars Texans Titans. He may be coming off one of his worst statistical seasons in recent memory, but he also missed five games with injury. 10 among linebackers last year. The rest of 1A should surprise no one, with this group almost filling out the consensus top-five linebackers in ADP terms,. Perryman was signed to a two-year, $6.085 million contract before the 2021 season and promptly traded to the Las Vegas Raiders before the first week of the campaign. The Georgia Bulldogs have a 12 players participating at the 2023 NFL combine. Going back to our introductory paragraph, versatility is needed at the linebacker position, and his versatility is the reason why Parsons comes in at No. Van Noy has now had stints in Detroit and Miami, but his good PFF grades are almost exclusively reserved for his time in the Patriots defense. There's no way he was going to get better, right? Now, Brown hits free agency coming off a career-low 421 snaps, though he still maintained a 60.0-plus coverage grade, which is where he derives a lot of his value as an off-ball linebacker. Still, the. This is bizarrely true even when he moves to a defense run by a former New England defensive coach. According to Stathead's AV tool, Leonard was tied in having the second-best season of any linebacker last year. Nevertheless, he may have to play on a one-year prove-it deal as he recovers. Chicago signed Nicholas Morrow from Las Vegas to fill the spot next to Smith for 2022. A quick thread on the most efficient coverage scheme for linebacker tackling since 2019, per @PFF: Cover-2 has allowed for >15% tackle efficiency for LBs since 2019 (average being 11-13%) acting as a true edge for #FFIDP leagues! "He posted a 1.5 percent drop rate in 2022, which . They spent a lot of money on Roquan Smith at the linebacker spot, [so] why not bring in another Georgia guy?" . Hes a high-upside player now playing with a future Hall of Famer. Devin Lloyd and Nakobe Dean will be the talk of the class and likely the only two first-round linebacker prospects in 2022, but there's still a lot of talent at the position on Days 2 and 3 of the draft. The six players in the 1A tier figure to be the favorites to post the highest tackle numbers in the league based on their expected role in their defenses. Maybe the most volatile position in football, linebackers have seen their worth in the NFL fluctuate over the years. PFF themselves had the Cowboys 2021 secondary in the top 10. Jordyn Brooks is an ascending star who will get more snaps this year. A position of concern and potential weakness heading into last season has become a real strength for Kansas City. Parsons is already one of the best defensive playmakers in the NFL as he enters just his second season in the league, but its difficult to rank him purely as an off-the-ball linebacker. Much of this unit's potential lies with third-round rookie Christian Harris, who managed 34 run stops at Alabama in 2021 (tied for 36th among 374 qualifying FBS linebackers). White backed up his first season as a starter in 2021 with another solid campaign in 2022, earning grades of at least 62.0 against the run and in coverage. heading into 2022, here's how each team's linebacking corps stacks up. s departure, and his 105 tackles were more than his first three seasons combined. Shaq Thompson is a bona fide star, and he may be playing alongside a diamond-in-the-rough partner in Frankie Luvu. Some of the players in this group have been All-Pro caliber linebackers in the past, but Jones is coming off a PFF grade in the 30s after once looking like the next great young linebacker in the league. Leonard burst onto the scene with 163 combined tackles, seven sacks, four forced fumbles and two interceptions in his rookie season back in 2018. The Falcons defense has fallen apart around him, and he no longer has a free run to the football as often as he did when he was playing his best football. Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys The first-ever unanimous Defensive Rookie of the Year has quickly become the standard for linebacker play in the NFL. Both players posted the highest grades of their career, helping the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance. Like the Chiefs, the Bengals also went into last season with a lot of unknowns surrounding the linebacker position but found a really good pair in, A position of weakness for the Eagles in 2021 might turn into a position of strength in 2022 with the additions of rookie, The Ravens are still looking for that breakout year from. That hypothetical AAV of $17.6 million would make Smith the third highest-paid linebacker in the NFL. Lloyd can take on blocks, blitz and cover tight ends at a high level, which is why he earned a 90.2 grade this year with above-average grades in every facet. Teams are afraid to throw at Surtain, and he has one of the lowest target totals among . Unfortunately for Vander Esch, he once again finds himself in the middle of the pack of a deep free-agent group at linebacker, but he should do a bit better this time around. All of this culminates with the 2022 NFL Draft from Las Vegas, Nevada on Thursday, April 28th. 2021 PFF grade: 83.5 (N/A). His PFF run-defense grade over the last two seasons has been in the 30s, and last seasons 47.1 overall grade was the worst of his NFL career. While Chicago lost Akiem Hicks and Khalil Mackin the offseason, this unit could be rather strong again with some of the additions made in the secondary, and with the defensive-minded Matt Eberflus taking over as head coach. He, perhaps critically, chose to stay in the defense that helped produce that phenomenal season, but we are all too aware of the folly of using just one season of play to determine everything we know about a player. The Packers long searching for a reliable off-ball linebacker brought Campbell aboard on a one-year, $2 million contract, and his 86.7 overall grade was second among linebackers through Week 8 while his 90.7 run-defense grade ranked first, leading to a Pro Bowl nod. Singleton has had quite the career path to this point, finally reaching unrestricted free agency ahead of the 2023 season after entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent of the Seattle Seahawks in 2015. February 24, 2023 7:45 am CT. A couple of New Orleans Saints standouts were recognized on the list of the top 101 NFL players of the 2022 season from Pro Football Focus analyst Sam Monson. For all the young players' struggles, there are a lot of promising linebackers who have the talent to become elite players at this level. There's no telling what he could be with more reps at the position. The Penn State product ranked No. Unlock all tools and content including Player Grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Premium Stats, Greenline and DFS. New: Draft Mode! At 6-foot-3, 242 pounds, he has legit NFL size and athleticism. His 33 run stops in 2020 were a top-10 mark at the position. 2021 PFF grade: 65.1 (22nd of 89). for the folks who say Micah Parsons is an edgethere were four games where he played basically edge only because of injuries, and the rest of the games he was predominantly an off-ball linebackerMicah Parsons is a linebacker who can play edge defender pic.twitter.com/rcjJlM00MS.