Projected contract: Two years, $15 million ($7.5M per year, $10M total guaranteed), PFF Free Agency Rank: 86 2021 Snaps: 323 As stated in the article, Galina only included true off-ball . Parsons was the No. 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. In two weeks, NFL GMs will begin negotiating with free . 2021 PFF grade: 50.6 (51st of 89). Ranking NFL's top 10 linebackers entering 2022: New No. 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. Gary Cosby Jr./USA TODAY Sports (Dean); Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports (Ojabo) 1. 2021 PFF grade: 80.1 (3rd of 89). The PFF grades aren't always right on point, but they do serve as a generally effective tool for comparisons . 2021 PFF grade: 43.7 (71st of 89). 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. Barr agreed to a pay cut before the 2021 season that also voided the 2022 and 2023 seasons on his five-year extension signed in 2019. Wagner's resume speaks for itself. may surprise some based on his age. Tindall is a true sideline-to-sideline linebacker. Unlock all tools and content including Player Grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Premium Stats, Greenline and DFS. at Los Angeles' overall defense is so good, at least on paper, that it might not matter who plays linebacker. Consequently, the list of consistently elite players is far shorter than for other positions, and there is much more volatility in this position group. His PFF grade of 77.9 ranked eighth last year among linebackers, and he once again showed he's a well-rounded linebacker that doesn't get the kind of credit he deserves. With the new league year just around the corner, it's time for all 32 NFL teams to turn their attention to NFL free agency in a bid to improve their rosters for a new campaign. 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. All Rights Reserved. Brown appeared to be on his way to a strong free agency in the 2021 offseason after three solid seasons as a starter, but he may have been an unfortunate victim of the salary cap drop, as he ultimately agreed to return to the Titans on a one-year, $4.5 million deal. 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. This is a precarious spot for the Packers to be in, even with 2021 All-Pro DeVondre Campbell back for another season in the same defense he broke out with. Subscribe to PFF+ to unlock An error occured while loading Position Grades. Rashaan Evans and Mykal Walker are solid players, though, and the team will hope that rookie Troy Andersen can make an early impact. Leonard is another example of how hard it is to earn those elite PFF grades each season, but he is a turnover machine when he is at his best. Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) runs the ball against Green Bay Packers inside linebacker De'Vondre Campbell (59) during the second half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. The former third-round pick still has room to grow as a coverage player, but at 6-foot-1 and 235 pounds, he moves well enough in space to not be a liability in coverage. 8:44 am ET. This is likely a polarizing selection. PFF's exclusive metrics provide matchup previews, position rankings, grades, and snap counts. The Super Bowl has come and gone in 2022 and we have started to turn our attention to the next football season. 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. With that in mind, some of these units have fewer members than others. Los Angeles' overall defense is so good, at least on paper, that it might not matter who plays linebacker. Hes expected to return for Dallas playoff run after a shoulder injury knocked him out down the stretch, which will provide a big boost to the ferocious Cowboys defense. Edwards was one of just four linebackers to earn grades above 75.0 in run defense and coverage, generating 11 quarterback pressures on just 26 pass-rush snaps, as well. Ranking 10 best NFL landing spots for Richardson, 2023 NFL combine: WR/TE winners and losers, Takeaways from NFL combine measurements for WR, TE, Pete Prisco's top 100 NFL free agents of 2023, NFL combine: Grading top QBs, plus winners and losers, NFL combine 2023 tracker: Top performances, highlights, Ranking the NFL's top 10 linebackers entering 2022, NFL Combine: Grading top QBs; winners and losers, NFL Draft: Top landing spots for Richardson, Mock Draft: Panthers, Colts trade up for QBs, Colossal Richardson sets multiple QB combine records, Pascal robbed at gunpoint, assaulted; WR 'doing fine', Bryce Young measures similar to former No. 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. Then, he was named All-Pro again in 2020 with an AV of 14 for the second straight season. A position of concern and potential weakness heading into last season has become a real strength for Kansas City. There is hope that Channing Tindall, Miami's rookie linebacker out of Georgia, can find his way on the field. 1 linebacker according to PFF, with a grade of 89.7. It's like your very own digital cheat sheet. After sitting out in 2020, C.J. Edmunds 86.9 coverage grade in 2022 was the third-best mark among off-ball linebackers, and he forced an incompletion on 10.3% of targets into his coverage while allowing just four explosive receptions the entire season (0.9% of targets into his coverage, ninth among linebackers). Why drafting Dallas Cowboys LB Micah Parsons among the top-12 may not be the best decision. No linebacker recorded more coverage snaps than Warner in all of 2021. Lavonte David is still one of the best linebackers in the game . And Davis has been outstanding in all areas since moving to the New Orleans defense. 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 1B tier has just as much going for them, with zone-heavy defenses, expected positive tackle efficiency and an every-down roles. Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. Here are the best available players remaining heading into Day 2 of the 2022 NFL draft. Now that we're at the end of the 2021-22 NFL season, the free agency picture is coming into focus and teams are beginning to identify potential targets to improve their roster weaknesses. Click here for PFF's full list of top 100 free agents. By Marc. These athletes are called upon to be run-stuffing defensive linemen on some downs, and hybrid cornerbacks on others. . Bobby Wagner, Seattle Seahawks Seattle's defense may have deteriorated around him, but Bobby Wagner remains the class of the linebacker position, especially since Luke Kuechly 's retirement. There's no telling what he could be with more reps at the position. They spent a lot of money on Roquan Smith at the linebacker spot, [so] why not bring in another Georgia guy?" . After looking like he might be the next great linebacker earlier in his career, Deion Jones play has fallen off a cliff. His processing skills took massive steps forward in 2021, causing his grade to jump from 57.1 to 76.3. PFF's exclusive metrics provide matchup previews, position rankings, grades, and snap counts. 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. He has top-notch natural coverage skills for a linebacker his size, but everything else is a work in progress. Its a rebuilt Jaguars linebacking corps after losing Myles Jack to the Steelers. At 6-foot-3, 242 pounds, he has legit NFL size and athleticism. White landed with the Philadelphia Eagles on a one-year, $3 million flier last offseason after his market didnt pan out too well. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. 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. With Smith entering the final year of his rookie deal, Spotrac believes he's in line to sign a five-year, $88.18 million extension. Smith has recorded at least 101 combined tackles in each of his four NFL seasons, and his last two campaigns have been impressive. After missing most of the regular season. The Rank value requires a minimum number of snaps played. Some of it is because he's been a little bit dependent on good play from the defensive line in front of him, but a good deal of it has been his ability to more . The Georgia Bulldogs have a 12 players participating at the 2023 NFL combine. 2021 Snaps: 679 Foyesade Oluokun, JAC: New team, new official scorer. His All-Pro season in 2019 was special, but some might have thought it was just a one-year thing. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports. 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. He told us last week that 15 sacks are the "minimum" in 2022. Perhaps most importantly in todays NFL, Tranquill followed up his 74.6 coverage grade in 2021 with a career-high 75.4 mark, with his 18 stops in coverage a top-20 figure among off-ball linebackers. One can make the case that both Wagner and David are still as good as it gets at the linebacker position despite getting up there in age, but each player is coming off a relative down year by their standards, which always brings up the looming specter of decline. 3) Demario Davis, New Orleans Saints. One of the five highest-graded linebackers last season in his first year with Carolina, Luvu is another Demario Davis trajectory candidate. The Saints had been looking for someone to play the linebacker position opposite him for years and seem to have found one in Pete Werner, who was outstanding as a rookie in 2021. 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. Hes the complete package for a modern off-ball linebacker. Turn on this feature to cross off players during your draft. Our exclusive database, featuring the most in-depth collection of NFL player performance data. He also registered a fourth-best 79.4 PFF coverage grade among linebackers despite playing a whopping 680 coverage snaps. on Pro Football Focus' Top-100 players of 2022 rankings. 2021 Snaps:444 Projected contract: Two years, $10 million ($5M per year), $5.5 million total guaranteed, PFF Free Agency Rank: 163 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. PFF Free Agency Rank: 86 2021 Snaps: 783 2021 PFF grade: 64.2 (24th of 89) Barr agreed to a pay cut before the 2021 season that also voided the 2022 and 2023 seasons on his five-year extension signed in 2019. The following tiers reflect which players are in the best situations to produce they're ranked based on the likelihood of doing so every single week. Typically, David is the ideal linebacker for IDP. Over the past three seasons, his 19.8% pass-rush win rate and 23.8% pressure rate are both the second-best marks among off-ball linebackers with at least 100 pass-rush snaps over the span. Patrick Surtain II has been quite literally living up to his name as an elite cornerback and has helped the Denver Broncos maintain their position as a top-tier defense even after trading away their star edge rusher. Jack is now trying to reboot his career in Pittsburgh after suffering similar ill-fortune in Jacksonville. It's also noteworthy that David is good in coverage, something other linebackers can struggle with. That's still a very good grade, but there should be concerns about his age and a potential decline going forward. Even Micah Parsons a Defensive Player of the Year candidate as a rookie put up middling run-defense and tackling grades in his first year in Dallas. Better luck with his health led to a respectable 63.8 overall grade and 72.6 pass-rush grade in 2021. Luckily for the Philadelphia Eagles, he was still available in the third round. Okereke is a solid stand-in next to Leonard. According to Stathead's AV tool, Leonard was tied in having the second-best season of any linebacker last year. Philadelphia brought Edwards back in 2022 on a one-year, $2.15 million deal at a position they have all but refused to invest in with top draft capital or free-agent dollars in many years, but Edwards may put the Eagles positional value to the test this offseason if they want to keep him around. Research past fantasy performance with sortable player stats including PFF-exclusives like aDOT and fantasy points per opportunity. Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys The first-ever unanimous Defensive Rookie of the Year has quickly become the standard for linebacker play in the NFL. However, he earned an additional $500,000 in incentives along with a trip to the Super Bowl, so it couldve been worse, all things considered. He put forth a monster rookie season in 2019 but hasnt quite attained the same highs in subsequent seasons. Amid replacement-level cornerback and safety play at times, Warner's gravitas over the middle of the field allowed the team to play a high percentage of zone coverage to protect its outside cornerbacks. But in a vacuum, Drue Tranquill and Kenneth Murray are just not good enough players. David missed five games in 2021 due to injury, but he still had a solid season, recording 97 combined tackles. 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. He can chase down the fastest of running backs. He also frequently lines up at safety, defensive line and nickel corner, and if he had his way . He finished as the highest-graded linebacker in football, recording 140 tackles, two interceptions and a career-high six sacks. Perhaps most importantly in todays NFL, Tranquill followed up his 74.6 coverage grade in 2021 with a career-high 75.4 mark, with his 18 stops in coverage a top-20 figure among off-ball linebackers. Projected contract: Two years, $9.5 million ($4.75M per year), $5.25 million total guaranteed. This ranking may be a surprise after the Seahawks lost future Hall of Famer Bobby Wagner in free agency this offseason, but Wagner seemed to be on the downslope of his career. Davids 88.5 coverage grade this season ranked second among off-ball linebackers, and his elite 93.0 mark over the past four seasons is the top mark at the position. Rookie Devin Lloydand sophomore Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah both project to be every-down linebackers on ideal defenses for expected production. He missed just two tackles in coverage and allowed only four explosive receptions. Tremaine Edmunds has not quite lived up to expectations, but hes still young and can grow into a good player. Those traits have allowed him to make a lot of tackles, but tackles are not always good plays for linebackers if they come after a big gain on the ground or because they were out of position in coverage. PFF ranks 49ers Fred Warner as the top linebacker in the NFL According to PFF's Sam Monson, the 49ers have the best linebacker in the NFL and another top-20 player at the position. Long plays a downhill, attacking brand of football that helps him blow up a lot of plays but also makes him particularly susceptible to over-committing on play-action passes and missing tackles when he takes a poor pursuit angle. He was not as good a coverage or run-stopping linebacker as he was as a pass rusher, but his talent makes you think he will figure it out shortly.