Linebackers
The were 24 LBs selected in the 2021 draft, as follows:
Round 1 - 2
Round 2 - 1
Round 3 - 7
Round 4 - 1
Round 5 - 2
Round 6 - 6
Round 7 - 5
1) Trenton Simpson | 6'2 | 225 | LB | Clemson
2021 - 65 tackles, 41 solo, 6 sacks
9/24 - Wake Forest - Simpson had a strong day, really showed off his versatility. He was used in an off-ball and LOS LB capacity, often pressing the LOS in a pass-rush assignment. He did so well, brought levelled pressure. When playing in space, he showed off very good functional speed, played with plus range. He finished with 8 tackles on the day.
10/1 - NC State - Simpson was solid today, showing off good range with his 5 tackles.
10/8 - Boston College - Simpson paced his team with 5 tackles, was disciplined in his reads and in pursuit. His speed was noticeable.
2) Noah Sewell | 6'3 | 250 | LB | Oregon
2021 - 114 tackles, 53 solo, 4 sacks
9/1 - Georgia - Sewell had a solid, but not great game. His tackle count of 3 is underwhelming, given how many times the ball was in his range. When dialed in, he played with very good speed, closed in on plays fast. However, he was too slow to react at times, getting hemmed up by the TE.
9/17 - BYU - Sewell had a quiet game, posted just 2 tackles. BYU opted to attack through the air and with outside runs, taking the LB out of contention most snaps.
3) Henry To'oto'o | 6'2 | 225 | LB | Alabama
2021 - 111 tackles, 52 solo, 4 sacks
9/10 - Texas - To'oto'o had a very nice game. He was quick on his reads against the run, held down his run lane assignments well. He was also solid in space drawing coverage duties. He finished with 6 tackles.
10/1 - Arkansas - To'oto'o was solid overall, but he did have a few hiccups. He paced his team with 10 tackles, was active in the box. There were a few run plays though where he was late on his read, or waited too long to engage and was hemmed up by a blocker.
10/8 - Texas A&M - To'oto'o showed why he might be a 1st-round pick. He read plays very well, was quick to shoot the ball, and showed great range scraping across the LOS. He ended up with 6 tackles, was very reliable.
4) Drew Sanders | 6'5 | 232 | LB | Arkansas
2021 - 15 tackles, 12 solo, 1 sack
9/3 - Cincinnati - Sanders had a solid game, pitching in with 5 tackles and 1 sack. He moved quite well for a big guy, played with good intensity.
9/10 - South Carolina - Sanders had an excellent game. He constantly swarmed the LOS, made his impact felt in the opposing backfield often. He posted 11 tackles, 3 TFLs, 2 sacks
10/1 - Alabama - Sanders had a great game. He paced his team with 12 tackles, 1 sack. He read plays very well, wasted no time closing on the ball. He was the guy who knocked Young out of the game on a great hustle and chase tackle.
5) Jack Campbell | 6'5 | 246 | LB | Iowa
2021 - 140 tackles, 57 solo, 1 sack
9/3 - South Dakota State - Campbell had a great game, paced his squad with 11 tackles. Outside of a couple misreads, he diagnosed plays very well. He was a hammer against the run, also showed very well when dropping into space to cover his zone.
10/1 - Michigan - The Wolverines ran the ball well in this one, but Campbell played well despite as much. He finished with 11 tackles on the day. While he wasn't often the first man there, he cleaned up nicely.
6) Ivan Pace | 6'0 | 242 | LB | Cincinnati
2021 - 125 tackles, 60 solo, 4 sacks
9/3 - Arkansas - Pace was very polarizing in this contest. His stat sheet was insane, posting 12 tackles, 3.5 TFLs. What stood out the most was just how good of a blitzer he is, leveraging his amazing play speed. He played aggressive ball, was always in the mix.
9/24 - Indiana - Pace is quickly turning into one of my favorite prospects, agnostic of any position. His play speed and intensity really pops off the screen. He finished with a whopping 15 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, 2.5 sacks. He's not just a stat sheet dandy, but a guy who swarms the ball and is very quick on his assignment reads.
7) Isaiah Land | 6'4 | 225 | LB | Florida A&M
8) Owen Pappoe | 6'1 | 226 | LB | Auburn
2021 - 23 tackles, 14 solo, 0 sacks
9/17 - Penn State - Pappoe had a solid game. He showed off very good sideline to sideline range, coupled with the ability to strike hard as a run defender. He was a bit inconsistent in diagnosing plays, however, as there were a few runs where he was caught looking inside and the play went too wide for him to make a play on the ball.
9/24 - Missouri - Pappoe had a good game. There were several points during this game where Missouri struggled to run the ball, and this heady LB was one reason why that was. He read plays well and showed range in space. He posted 8 tackles on the day.
10/1 - LSU - Pappoe somewhat quietly had a solid game. While off and/or late on a few reads, he still was in on 8 stops. His play speed and abilityb to scrape was evident when his reads were good.
9) Ventrell Miller | 6'0 | 222 | LB | Florida
2021 - 8 tackles, 3 solo, 0 sacks
9/3 - Utah - Miller had a great game. He was in on 9 stops, constantly swarmed the ball. He showed off very good play speed, and dropped the hammer as a tackler. he played strong, was great taking on blocks at the 2nd level.
9/10 - Kentucky - Miller had another very good outing. While he had a couple mishaps on his reads and positioning, he was otherwise impressive. He finished with 6 tackles, 1 TFL.
9/24 - Tennessee - Miller had a good game. While he was off on one read that I took not of, he was solid otherwise. He played with great speed, overall range. He posted 6 tackles.
10/8 - Missouri - Miller was great today. Aside from some missteps on a read which allowed chunk yards, he was incredibly consistent. He ended up with 11 tackles, 10 of which were solo stops, 2 TFLs. He read plays very well and was fierce closing in one the ball. He was seldom out of the action.
10) DeMarvion Overshown | 6'3 | 221 | LB | Texas
2021 - 74 tackles, 38 solo, 2 sacks
9/10 - Alabama - Overshown had a decent game, posted 5 tackles. He looked to be more stout against the run compared to last season, and was typically good in space with rangy play.
10/8 - Oklahoma - Overshown showed good speed and overall range playing the run and chase game, but wasn't overly impressive as a whole. He seems to do far more laterally than north/south, doesn't take plays head on.
11) Dayain Henley | 6'3 | 232 | LB | Washington State
12) Dorian Williams | 6'2 | 225 | LB | Tulane
13) Jalen Graham | 6'3 | 220 | ILB | Purdue
2021 - 64 tackles, 45 solo, 1 sack
9/1 - Penn State - Graham had a solid night, coming in with 6 tackles. While he wasn't demonstrative in his play, he held tight to his assignments, generally covered his gap responsibilities.
14) Drake Thomas | 5'11 | 238 | LB | NC State
2021 - 99 tackles, 48 solo, 6 sacks
9/3 - East Carolina - Thomas had a solid game, turning in 7 tackles. While he wasn't dynamic in any one regard, he held down his assignments well.
10/1 - Clemson - Thomas missed some time in this game, but when in, he was decent. He read plays well and was tough against the run. He finished with 8 tackles.
15) SirVocea Dennis | 6'1 | 220 | LB | Pittsburgh
2021 - 82 tackles, 38 solo, 4 sacks
9/1 - West Virginia - Dennis finished the game with 7 tackles, 1 sack. He was solid overall, mostly showing his work as a middle-blitzer. While he did a make a couple tackles in the open field, he didn't show much sand in his pants when taking on 2nd level O-linemen.
9/10 - Tennessee - Dennis was a good field general, posted 5 tackles on the game. While solid, he never really wowed in any one regard.
16) Mohamoud Diabate | 6'3 | 230 | LB | Utah
2021 - 89 tackles, 34 solo, 0 sacks
9/3 - Florida - Diabate had a solid game. While not real stout in going head up to take on blockers or make 1:1 tackles, he was in on 9 stops. He moved well in space, showing plus coverage skills.
10/8 - UCLA - Diabate chipped in with 3 tackles, but was pretty quiet when looking at the balance of this game. UCLA ran at will, and he did little to prevent as much.
17) Cam Jones | 6'3 | 222 | ILB | Indiana
2021 - 63 tackles, 42 solo, 1 sack
9/3 - Illinois - Jones had a great game. He paced his squad with 12 tackles, also had 1 sack. He was excellent as a blitzer, showing great timing and closing speed. When playing off ball, he read plays very well and wasted no time shooting gaps.
9/24 - Cincinnati - Jones had a solid, but not great game. While he was in on 11 tackles, leading his squad, he only had 3 solo stops. He was flat-footed on a few reads, didn't shoot gaps fast enough to take on blocks at the LOS.
10/8 - Michigan - DNP
18) Jeremy Banks | 6'1 | 224 | LB | Tennessee
2021 - 128 tackles, 59 solo, 5.5 sacks
9/10 - Pittsburgh - Despite only posting 3 tackles, Banks held down his assignments well, showing off good instincts and play speed.
9/24 - Florida - Banks had a very respectable game, paced his team with 7 tackles. He read plays well, wasted no time shooting through gaps and closing.
10/8 - LSU - Banks flew around out there, but his biggest play was a facemask call he suffered. He was in on just 2 tackles, looked average overall aside from one flash play in the 3rd quarter.
19) Luke Reimer | 6'0 | 225 | LB | Nebraska
2021 - 90 tackles, 51 solo, 1 sack
9/17 - Oklahoma - Reimer played gritty ball today, paced his team with 8 tackles. He generally read plays well and was good closing in on the run.
10/8 - Rutgers - Reimer had an impressive outing. He diagnosed plays very well, was very good in pass coverage. He tallied 5 tackles on the night, played his post quite well.
20) Yasir Abdullah | 6'1 | 235 | LB | Louisville
2021 - 61 tackles, 43 solo, 10 sacks
9/3 - Syracuse - Abdullah had a very solid game. While credited with just 2 tackles, 1 TFL, he was around the ball often. He read plays well when in an off-ball capacity, and showed off his ability to blitz whether it was inside or outside schemed. He played with good range and speed, was tough.
9/16 - Florida State - Abdullah had a good game. He paced his squad with 8 tackles, also had 2 TFLs. He played with very good quickness and range in space. He got the better of FSU blockers a few times of note.
21) Kam Arnold | 6'1 | 228 | ILB | Boston College
2021 - 61 tackles, 35 solo, 1 sack
9/24 - Florida State - Arnold chipped in with 5 tackles, but he was a non-factor in this game. FSU moved the ball at will, and it was hard to see Arnold nor anyone else doing anything against the vaunted attack.
10/8 - Clemson - Arnold got little help from others, but he still played heady football with no quit. He paced his team with 8 tackles, 1 sack, swarmed the LOS well.
22) Troy Brown | 6'1 | 220 | LB | Ole Miss
2021 - 65 tackles, 42 solo, 1 sack
10/1 - Kentucky - Brown had a very meh game in my book. While he chipped in on 9 tackles, only 3 were solo stops. While he looked the part at times, he was often flat-footed, too slow to take blocks on at the hole, allowed a lot of extra yardage. His lack of size stood out, was exploited.
23) Mike Jones | 6'2 | 234 | LB | LSU
2021 - 34 tackles, 14 solo, 1 sacks
9/4 - Florida State - Jones saw limited snaps, but still posted 2 tackles, 1 sack. He operated well in a blitzing capacity.
9/17 - Mississippi State - Jones chipped in with 3 tackles, looked solid but didn't stand out.
10/1 - Auburn - See above, looked on par with what we've seen prior.
10/8 - Tennessee - Jones was in on 3 tackles, looked average again.
24) Bumper Pool | 6'2 | 232 | LB | Arkansas
2021 - 125 tackles, 45 solo, 0 sacks
9/3 - Cincinnati - Pool paced his team with 13 tackles, 4 of which were solo. He didn't flash much, but was around the ball often.
9/10 - South Carolina - Pool had a solid game. He read plays well and was active as a tackler. He posted 7 stops, 1 sack.
10/1 - Alabama - Pool was solid today. While he did get hemmed up throughout this game, he made some plays as well. He finished with 10 tackles, 1.5 TFLs. He played with levelled intensity, a heady player.
999) Tommy Eichenberg | 6'2 | 235 | LB | Ohio State
999) Justin Flowe | 6'2 | 246 | LB | Oregon
999) Steele Chambers | 6'1 | 232 | LB | Ohio State
999) Tatum Bethune | 6'1 | 230 | LB | Florida State
999) Adam Bock | 6'1 | 215 | LB | South Dakota State
999) Payton Wilson | 6'4 | 240 | LB | NC State
999) Jestin Jacobs | 6'4 | 236 | LB | Iowa
999) Max Tooley | 6'2 | 215 | LB | BYU
999) Jacoby Windmon | 6'2 | 230 | LB | Michigan State