2023 NFL DRAFT: TOP 6 LINEBACKERS

BY ADAM GREENE

As with our running backs (and upcoming safety) lists, it’s important to talk about how undervalued the linebacker position is coming into the NFL Draft. What causes it? Mainly the size and athleticism involved in being a solid linebacker is something a lot of college athletes possess these days.

There are simply too many talented linebackers coming out of the NCAA every year to make the position tough to fill. Still, I’ve taken what could be 30 NFL caliber guys and pared them down to just six here.

So, feast your eyes upon my Top 6 Linebackers heading into the 2023 NFL Amateur Player Selection Meeting.

1. DREW SANDERS, ARKANSAS

Age: 22

Size: 6-4, 235 pounds

2022: 103 tackles, 13.5 for a loss, 9.5 sacks, one interception, five passes defended, one fumble recovery

PFF Grade: 79.2

Odds to be 1^st linebacker selected: +150

Drew Sanders entered the transfer portal after appearing in just 15 games over two years for the University of Alabama and it paid off in a big way. He went from a guy that could barely get onto the field, to a potential first, and at worst, second round draft pick. In his two seasons with the Crimson Tide, he recorded a total of 33 tackles. In one season starting for Arkansas in that same SEC West Division, he notched 103. Sanders was an Associated Press first team All-American and recorded the second most sacks in the SEC in 2022 behind only Will Anderson, Jr. He’s probably not the next Micah Parsons, but if he’s Micah Parsons Lite, any team that takes him will be more than happy with that.

NFL Mock Draft 2.0 Prediction: No. 22 overall to the Baltimore Ravens

2. JACK CAMPBELL, IOWA

Age: 22

Size: 6-5, 249 pounds

2022: 125 tackles, 5.5 for a loss, one sack, two interceptions, one pass defended, one fumble recovery, one forced fumble

PFF Grade: 91.9

Odds to 1^st linebacker selected: -110

While Sanders might be a linebacker and edge rusher hybrid, Jack Campbell is your classic linebacker and maybe the best pure linebacker of this bunch. His production, since sliding into the starting role for Iowa, has been off the charts. He recorded 140 tackles, 3.5 for a loss, a sack, two picks, one touchdown, six passes defended, two fumble recoveries, a defensive touchdown and one forced fumble in 2021. And this was a guy that Cincinnati wanted to convert to a tight end back in 2020? Campbell nabbed the Dick Butkis award last season as the nation’s best linebacker. He’s the 13^th player in Iowa’s history to earn unanimous All-American nods.

NFL Mock Draft 2.0 Prediction: N/A Projected to be a round two selection

3. DAIYAN HENLEY, WASHINGTON STATE

Age: 23

Size: 6-2, 225 pounds

2022: 106 tackles, 12 for a loss, four sacks, one interception, one pass defended, two fumble recoveries, three forced fumbles

PFF Grade: 73.3

Odds to 1^st linebacker selected: +2200

Daiyan Henley did himself a huge favor entering the transfer portal and moving from Nevada, in the FCS, to Washington State in the Pac-12. You always have to factor in high production at a lower level when you’re evaluating a prospect, simply because the players an FCS or NCAA Division II guy is lining up across any given week, are usually not NFL talents. A guy that will be the best realtor in Phoenix in two years? Sure, but not a guy that’s landing on an NFL team. In the Pac-12, Henley ran into those future NFL players, literally, and put up the best stats of his entire collegiate career. He was named an All-Pac-12 first teamer and was a Butkis award finalist.

NFL Mock Draft 2.0 Prediction: N/A Projected to go in the second or third round

4. HENRY TO’O TO’O, ALABAMA

Age: 22

Size: 6-1, 227 pounds

2022: 94 tackles, eight for a loss, 2.5 sacks

PFF Grade: 70.4

Henry To’o To’o was one of the few bright spots of the Jeremy Priutt era at the University of Tennessee. He started both his freshman and sophomore seasons and recording 140 tackles, 12.5 for a loss, a sack, a pick, a defensive touchdown and two passes defended, all for one of the worst college football coaches of all time. In 2021, To’o To’o took his talents to Tuscaloosa, and under professional coaching instruction, spent the next two seasons chewing up the SEC. As great as his stats were last season, they were even better in 2021 when he posted 111 tackles, 7.5 for a loss, four sacks, one pass defended and a forced fumble.

NFL Mock Draft 2.0 Prediction: N/A projected to go in the third or fourth round

5. TRENTON SIMPSON CLEMSON

Age: 21

Size: 6-2, 235 pounds

2022: 72 tackles, four for a loss, 2.5 sacks, three passes defended, two forced fumbles

PFF Grade: 69.7

Odds to 1^st linebacker selected: +300

Simpson took over as a full-time starter for Clemson as a sophomore and instantly produced. In 2021, he finished with 65 tackles, a ridiculous 12.5 for a loss and 6.5 sacks. He was used as a more traditional linebacker last season, but can still be a hybrid edge rusher if called upon. He was a Butkis award finalist and a third team All-ACC selection in 2022. He combines all that production with top-line 4.43 speed, a mark many of the running backs in this draft didn’t hit.

NFL Mock Draft 2.0 Prediction: N/A Projected to go in the second or third round

6. DORIAN WILLIAMS, TULANE

Age: 21

Size: 6-1, 228 pounds

2022: 132 tackles, 8.5 for a loss, five sacks, two interceptions, seven passes defended, two forced fumble

PFF Grade: 83.3

When you’re an NFL talent at a smaller school, you need to jump off the stat sheet and video reel as a man among buys. Williams did that for three consecutive seasons for the Green Wave. Last year’s numbers were off the chart and he proved he can play in space as well as rush the passer. But he did plenty in the years’ previous to show it was no fluke, recording 97 tackles, 15.5 for a loss and 3.5 sacks in 2020 and 73 tackles, three for a loss and a sack in 2021.

NFL Mock Draft 2.0 Prediction: N/A Projected to go in the third or fourth round

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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