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 18 linebackers with a draftable grade on Draftanomics's 2017 board, tier by tier.
No blue-chip linebacker this cycle — Reuben Foster is the class's best, and he carries the next grade down.
Only Reuben Foster carries a first-round grade at linebacker — the Alabama product projects No. 10 overall. Mind the gap after Foster: Raekwon McMillan is next, and he is 29 picks away.
The Day 2 tier runs 8 deep, opening with Raekwon McMillan out of Ohio St. at No. 39 and closing with Matt Milano at No. 75. Mind the gap after Milano: Duke Riley is next, and he is 33 picks away. Inside the tier, the model's fight is Blair Brown: it says No. 61, the room says No. 157.
This is where the class lives: 9 linebackers carry a Day 3 grade, with Duke Riley out of LSU at the front of the line at No. 108 overall. Duke Riley is the argument in this tier — No. 108 on our board against a consensus No. 150.