Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
TOP FIVE LINEBACKER PROSPECTS
1 NAKOBE DEAN GEORGIA
Questions about his size and coverage ability have some merit, but it hasn’t mattered in college, where he was all over the field and so adept at reading plays that he appears to play faster than he actually runs. Dean is also the kind of leader many teams look for in a linebacker, though he won’t have the benefit of playing behind such a dominant defensive line as he did in college.
2 DEVIN LLOYD UTAH
He projects as a middle linebacker at the next level and does pretty much everything the NFL asks of middle linebackers at a fairly high level. He is long and rangy with an ideal frame. He ran a decent enough time in the 40 to answer questions about his speed, so if he can cut down on some of the missed tackles he should back up his first-round status.
3 LEO CHENAL WISCONSIN
He probably isn’t right for every system and is a bit of a throwback. He’s a traditional middle linebacker who blows up blockers and ball carriers with delight. While he has very good speed and size, he doesn’t look fully comfortable in pass coverage just yet and will need to improve in that area.
4 TROY ANDERSEN MONTANA STATE
He is built like a prototypical NFL linebacker but doesn’t always play like one. There could be a good reason for that. Andersen was a quarterback and a running back for the Bobcats before switching to defense and truly taking off as an NFL prospect. The Senior Bowl was big for him in showing he can play with the big boys. His ceiling could be very high as he continues to learn how to play on this side of the ball.
5 CHRISTIAN HARRIS ALABAMA
A study of Harris is a frustrating endeavor. He is more than capable of doing everything a linebacker has to do to succeed, and there is evidence of him actually doing it in games, just not often enough. He looked like a surefire future first-rounder as a freshman but never really got much better.