2026 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 I did overhaul the system a little bit. Basically I just moved all of my formulas over to using a z-score method. If you haven't read them, quick explanation, I use stats, athletic testing, past performances 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 (those are draft years that I've done this for, as well as ones that have been in the league for at least 3 years). And at the bottom you will see a small blurb I wrote up for each position.

Real quick additional note: I'm including a "My Top 5" section this year. You will notice with some positions that the top 5 doesn't line up with the top five on the actual draft board. There's a reason for that. When I grade out the pros to determine the "success rate" factor, I actually give them a grade (A = Superstar, B = High-end starter, C = Solid Starter, D = Rotational at best, and F = Fail). I hadn't considered using that in the past, but I realized I can use it to get a little more granular when it comes to ranking them. Sometimes a guy that is lower on my draft board than another guy, actually has a higher chance of being a high-end starter or better. So along side the name of the player and their school, I will include a B+ which is just the percent chance they have of being a high-end starter or better, and a C+ which will be the percent chance they have of being a solid starter or better.

This will be updated as pro day results become available.

High Score for LB: 81.56 (Troy Andersen - 2022)

My LB Draft Board

My Top 5:

1) Jacob Rodriguez (Texas Tech): B+ = 49.49, C+ = 54.04

2) Sonny Styles (Ohio State): B+ = 20.94, C+ = 19.98

3) Anthony Hill Jr. (Texas): B+ = 33.13, C+ = 32.17

4) Red Murdock (Buffalo): B+ = 33.13, C+ = 32.17

5) Kaleb Elarms-Orr (TCU): B+ = 20.94, C+ = 19.98

Things worth noting:

-By the B+/C+ numbers I'm going a little off-script listing Styles at 2, but that Combine performance was next level. I just couldn't bring myself to put him at 4. I did go back and forth on sticking him at 3 and putting Hill ahead of him though since Hill, unlike Murdock, actually tested at the Combine.

-Speaking of Murdock, if anyone reading this was tracking my weekly college football rankings, Murdock finished as the #1 Linebacker on the season, and that was even after the adjustment. Not only that, but he also finished as the #7 Linebacker in 2024. He was uber productive.

-I mentioned it for the Edge Rushers, but I'll also drop it here: Arvell Reese and Trey Moore made both draft boards. Moore is also a Day 3 for Edge, but Reese is a Day 2 and the top Edge Rusher on my board.

-Sleeper: Jack Kelly. He's second from the bottom among the players that received a Day 3 grade. However, that's mostly due to his lack of production at BYU. I flagged him as a sleeper because of his forty (4.57) and broad jump (10'5") at his size (240 pounds). The forty and broad are two of the athletic tests that weigh into the score formula more heavily at this position. If I were a GM, I'd likely give him a bump up my board on Day 3.

I've been tracking the success rate of each position individually based on my grades from 2020-2023, and I'm going to include that for each position. It might help shine a light on some of my "things worth noting."

LB Success Rate