Linebacker LB
Tackle + PBU production combined with speed + agility. The most consensus-driven of the front-seven positions.
Likeliest career, by the outcome model.
How many linebackers land in each career bucket as the model's single most likely finish. This is a different question from the board grades below — a prospect can be a Day 3 grade and still have “starter” as his likeliest outcome. The tails (elite, bust) are where the model separates; the middle two buckets sit close to a coin flip.
The board.
All 14 linebackers with a draftable grade on Draftanomics's 2018 board, tier by tier.
The top shelf is bare: no linebacker in the 2018 class earns a blue-chip grade.
Nobody here. The class simply skips the first-round tier at linebacker.
Only Shaquille Leonard carries a Day 2 grade at linebacker — the South Carolina St. product projects No. 67 overall. The drop behind Leonard is the story — Genard Avery does not come off the board for another 40 picks. Inside the tier, the model's fight is Shaquille Leonard: it says No. 67, the room says No. 131.
Genard Avery leads a 13-deep Day 3 group — the meat of the LB board — starting at a projected No. 107 overall. The room is higher on Shaun Dion Hamilton than we are: consensus No. 62 to our No. 131.