The NFL draft is just about to unfold, and the linebacker spot contains a lot of high-motor players who know how to cover all the real estate on a field, making them indispensable parts of a good NFL defense. Here are the top five linebackers on the board, with the note being that they are distinct from rush linebackers who might be assigned the responsibilities of a linebacker but are more primarily edge rushers who will focus on getting after the quarterback. These are the \u201cpure\u201d linebackers on the board:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1 \u2013 Devin Lloyd, Utah<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The heart and soul of Utah\u2019s 2021 defense was Devin Lloyd. That might not seem like too much of a compliment or a recommendation, but here\u2019s the thing: Utah won the Pac-12 championship and reached the Rose Bowl for the first time in school history. Devin Lloyd was the guy who made that happen on the defensive side of the ball for coach Kyle Whittingham and his Utes. Moreover, in the Rose Bowl against Ohio State, while it is true that OSU scored 48 points and defeated Utah, that reality was due to the fact that Utah was missing multiple starters in its secondary. Ohio State was able to throw all the time and enjoy great matchups on the perimeter with its receivers going against inexperienced corners and safeties. When Ohio State tried to run the ball against Utah in the Rose Bowl, the Buckeyes usually got stuffed. Lloyd is going to be a terrific run stopper in the NFL. He does well in pass coverage, but he is especially good at filling gaps and making big hits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 \u2013 Nakobe Dean, Georgia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Georgia defense was phenomenal last season, and Dean was a leader in that group, making countless big plays and being in the right place at the right time without fail. Georgia would not have won the national championship without Nakobe Dean. He was that good, and he made himself that important to coach Kirby Smart\u2019s defense. That\u2019s a commentary in itself. Physical, fast, and smart, Dean offers a complete package of traits which should make him a very attractive pick in the first round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3 \u2013 Christian Harris, Alabama<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Crimson Tide played Nakobe Dean\u2019s Georgia team in the national championship game in Indianapolis this past January, with Christian Harris playing a lead role in getting Alabama to that point. Keep in mind that Alabama defeated Georgia earlier in the 2021 season in the SEC Championship Game in early December. Harris and Bama showed they could physically stand up to Georgia, which had a strong offensive line and a proven ball-control formula. Harris takes a back seat to no one in his physical prowess. That will help him on draft night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4 \u2013 Troy Andersen, Montana State<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The off-the-radar pick among the top linebackers is Andersen, who has superb instincts and a natural feel for the game and also uses great footwork to get off blocks and gain leverage against offensive linemen who are trying to block him and rub him out of a play. Andersen\u2019s lateral movement will be a huge asset in the NFL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5 \u2013 Chad Muma, Wyoming<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The regularity with which Chad Muma found the ball and the ball-carrier at Wyoming, racking up tackles and keeping the Cowboys competitive in the Mountain West Conference, will be noticed by scouts and evaluators on film. He is a no-nonsense linebacker an NFL team will be lucky to have.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The NFL draft is just about to unfold, and the linebacker spot contains a lot of high-motor players who know…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":6213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22243"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22251,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22243\/revisions\/22251"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}