2024 Draft Board: Linebackers
The below information I included in the QB draft board earlier in the week, I'm going to include it for every board, but it will be identical on each.
If you've ever read one of my draft board articles before then you have an idea of what you'll see below, but there is a slight change. If you haven't read them, quick explanation, I use stats, athletic testing, past performance from current pro players, and formulas to try and determine the chances a prospect in the current draft has at succeeding as a pro. In the past I used a "PSR", and an "A Met" and "S Met" to give every player a round grade. Now, it all comes down to a Score. The scores differ by position, so before each draft board I will put what the high score was between the 2020-2023 drafts at that position. And at the bottom you will see a small blurb I wrote up for each position.
High Score: 88.61
My Draft Board
| Players | College | Score | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payton Wilson | North Carolina State | 60.50 | Day 2 |
| Cedric Gray | North Carolina | 60.19 | Day 2 |
| Jaylan Ford | Texas | 57.18 | Day 2 |
| Edefuan Ulofoshio | Washington | 56.39 | Day 2 |
| Edgerrin Cooper | Texas A&M | 55.40 | Day 2 |
| Darius Muasau | UCLA | 54.74 | Day 2 |
| Jeremiah Trotter Jr. | Clemson | 54.34 | Day 2 |
| Trevin Wallace | Kentucky | 53.67 | Day 2 |
| Michael Barrett | Michigan | 50.75 | Day 3 |
| Tatum Bethune | Florida State | 50.15 | Day 3 |
| Steele Chambers | Ohio State | 48.43 | Day 3 |
| Aaron Casey | Indiana | 48.04 | Day 3 |
| Tyrice Knight | UTEP | 46.63 | Day 3 |
| Nathaniel Watson | Mississippi State | 45.78 | Undrafted |
| Jordan Magee | Temple | 45.17 | Undrafted |
| Kalen DeLoach | Florida State | 44.44 | Undrafted |
| Curtis Jacobs | Penn State | 44.13 | Undrafted |
| Marist Liufau | Notre Dame | 43.37 | Undrafted |
| Ty'ron Hopper | Missouri | 43.22 | Undrafted |
| Tommy Eichenberg | Ohio State | 42.80 | Undrafted |
| Easton Gibbs | Wyoming | 40.46 | Undrafted |
| Junior Colson | Michigan | 37.28 | Undrafted |
| JD Bertrand | Notre Dame | 37.16 | Undrafted |
| Jontrey Hunter | Georgia State | 0.00 | Undrafted |
| Maema Njongmeta | Wisconsin | 0.00 | Undrafted |
Things worth noting:
-This position is almost always good for a couple of mid-round picks becoming reliable starters . Based on where I believe they're being projected to be drafted and how they graded out for me, I would say Gray and Ulofoshio could be those guys.
-There isn't a ton of hype for this position, so finding an "overhyped" player is difficult. Eichenberg would've been that guy had the hype kept up, but it has fallen off. Colson would probably be the closest player to that mark currently. But I feel like the most commonly talked about Linebackers right now are Wilson, Cooper, Wallace and Trotter, which lines up pretty well.
-I like Tyrice Knight as a sleeper. I know he's the lowest Day 3 player on my board, but he has decent athleticism and he performed well at UTEP.