This is the 10th in a series previewing each position in the 2022 NFL draft. Today’s installment looks at linebacker.
The need to defend spread offenses in space can be seen in the speed of the linebackers entering the NFL draft in recent years.
In the six years between 2013 and 2018, four linebackers ran 40-yard dash times faster than 4.50 seconds at the NFL scouting combine.
In the past four years, 14 linebackers have cracked the 4.50 mark.
“Teams are obsessed with trying to find the longer, rangier, off-the-ball linebackers,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said.
The fastest linebackers in this year’s class are: Montana State’s Troy Andersen (4.42), Alabama’s Christian Harris (4.44) and Georgia’s Channing Tindall (4.47).
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There are plenty of fast NFL linebackers who don’t quite crack the 4.5 mark.
Bills outside linebacker Matt Milano is a fast sideline-to-sideline player. He ran the 40 in 4.67 seconds entering the 2017 draft. He also showed his explosiveness with a broad jump of 10 feet, 6 inches, which is among the best in any draft class. Colts All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard ran 4.70 ... and showed his explosiveness with a 10-8 broad jump.
The NFL will be looking for more of those kinds of athletes at linebacker in the 2022 draft.
Overall position ranking: 8 out of 10.
Bills view: Looking solely at the 2022 season, linebacker looms as a Day 3 need for Buffalo. However, middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds is entering the last year of his contract. He will be very expensive to retain in 2023 and beyond. If an ideal linebacker is on the board in the second or third round, the Bills could pounce and opt not to make Edmunds one of their "cornerstone" financial players. If no LB they love is on the board, they could hold off on a financial decision on Edmunds. Behind Edmunds and Milano, the Bills have Tyrel Dodson, Tyler Matakevich, Marquel Lee, special teams ace Andre Smith and Joe-Giles Harris.
With veteran A.J. Klein gone, Matakevich is the backup to Edmunds in the middle. Dodson is the incumbent backup to Milano. The Bills could use another speedy prospect.
Bills need ranking: 6 out of 10.
The best: Devin Lloyd, Utah. Lloyd showed he can do it all in 2021. He made 110 tackles, 22 tackles for loss, eight sacks, 10 passes defensed and four interceptions (two for touchdowns). A former high school safety, he is a three-down NFL linebacker who can play the run and cover sideline to sideline equally well.
Names to know: If the Bills are going to pounce on Day 2, a guy to watch is Wyoming's Chad Muma, a 239-pound converted safety who is super instinctive. He's a mid- to late second-rounder. Muma had a formal interview with the Bills at the combine.
There are a bunch of interesting Day 3 prospects. DeMarco Jackson of Appalachian State is a good one. He’s a squatty, long-armed, good athlete who was a high school state discus champ. He has more than 600 special-teams snaps in college, almost 300 tackles and is a two-time captain. North Carolina’s Jeremiah Gemmel is an instinctive three-year starter. Nebraska’s JoJo Domann is a box safety or nickel linebacker who’s great in coverage and might last to the fourth round. Indiana’s Micah McFadden is a two-time captain who had the most pressures in college football the last three years. Cincinnati’s 6-4, 237-pound Darrian Beavers is a hulking prospect who has the kind of big traits the Bills like and he had 700-plus special teams snaps. He’s really good and fighting through contact to make tackles.
Intriguing: Montana State’s Andersen turned heads with his workout numbers and has an amazing story. As a freshman, he starred at both running back and linebacker and was Big Sky Conference freshman of the year. As a sophomore, he was first-team All-Big Sky at quarterback. He returned to linebacker his last two years and was Football Championship Subdivision Defensive Player of the Year. He was Montana's 100 meters champ in high school. His 10-yard split (1.49 seconds) was one of the fastest ever for a linebacker. He has the traits the Bills like, but he’s probably a late second, early third-rounder.
Sleeper: Sterling Weatherford was a box safety at Miami, Ohio, who has length and coverage skills. He could be a priority undrafted signee.
TOP 10 LINEBACKERS
1. Devin Lloyd*, Utah 6-3, 237
2. Nakobe Dean*, Georgia 5-11, 229
3. Christian Harris*, Alabama 6-0, 226
4. Quay Walker, Georgia 6-4, 241
5. Chad Muma*, Wyoming 6-2, 239
6. Leo Chenal*, Wyoming 6-2, 250
7. Channing Tindall, Georgia 6-2, 230
8. Troy Anderson, Montana St. 6-3, 242
9. Brian Asamoah II*, Oklahoma 6-0, 222
10. Jesse Luketa, Penn State 6-2, 253
*-underclassman
