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Message: [QUOTE="BillSU, post: 4181798, member: 6809"] I was reading the thread, “2022 spring practice”, last night about the players identified who were doing a carry a weight sled drill among others, (nice to see football drills happening), and thought I would start a discussion, if there are those who want to participate, about our LB room and who were rated the top 10 the best NFL linebackers were in 2021. and see how we stand vs them and whether we have anyone who looks like they are ready for the NFL or will be, based on their play so far or projected play at the position. I begin with Ray Lewis as the standard who was IMO one of the best to play the position ever besides Lawrence Taylor. Lewis played for Miami where he was an All American as a freshman, first team All- American as sophomore and junior. After the 1995 season, he chose to give up his senior year to enter the NFL draft and was chosen as the #26 pick of the Baltimore Ravens. I want to get into measurables here: NFL playing physical stats - Ray Lewis [B]HT 6’1”, WT, 235, 4.59 40[/B] Lewis was the top-rated inside linebacker heading into the 1996 NFL Draft in which Kevin Hardy was considered the draft's only outstanding linebacker prospect. Taken as the fifth linebacker in the draft, Lewis was seen by scouts as possessing [B]speed, tackling ability[/B], and [B]intensity[/B], as well as being praised for his ability to go into pass coverage. But many considered his lack of size a potential liability. In his first career game, a Week 1 19-14 victory over the Oakland Raiders, Lewis earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his seven-tackle performance, along with an unusual interception. Lewis earned USA Today’s All-Rookie team honors after his 15 tackles for loss led the NFL and 110 tackles led the Ravens in the 1996 season. He finished his rookie season with two and a half sacks, six pass deflections, and an interception on the season. From 1996 to 2012 Lewis had a remarkable 17 year career and was selected for the Hall of fame in 2018 his first year of eligibility. Moving on to our LB room there are 12 rostered players. They are in no particular order: Marlowe Wax, So, 6’ 0” 235 Mikel Jones, Jr, 6’ -1” 220 Stefon Thompson, So, 6’ 1” 235 Leon Lowery, RFr, 6’ 4” 220 Anwar Sparrow, RFr, 6’ 1” 225 Malik Matthew, RFr, 6’ 3” 210 Ryan Dolan, So, RFr 6’ 0” 225 John O’Connor RFr, 6’ 1” 210 Erik Slater, R Sr, 6’ 2” 230 Austin Roon, So, 6’ 3” 215 Meki Mason, Fr, 6' 1" 220 Kadin Bailey Fr, 6' 1" 210 Unfortunately I have no reference to 40 speed to the above which is very important if you are a LB dropping into pass coverage and covering the field side to side I can’t list any other physical abilities as HT & WT are the only measurable available. But to compare the above players to the NFL top 10 would be of interest to see how at this stage they stack up physically. [B]>The average prototypical LB size of the list below is[/B] [B]6’ 1”, 235, 4.59, 40.<[/B] Bobby Wagner – Seahawks 6’ 241, 4.46 Fred Warner - 49ers 6’ 3” 236, 4.64 Eric Hendricks – Vikings 6’ 0”, 232, 4.61 Lavonte David - Bucs 6’ 1”, 233, 4.65 Demario Davis – Saints 6’ 2” 248, 4.49 Darius Leonard – Colts 6’ 2” 234, 4.7 Deion Jones – Falcons 6’ 1” 227, 4.59 Roquan Smith – Bears 6’ 1” 225, 4.51 Donta Hightower – Pats 6’ 3”, 260, 4.62 Alex Johnson – Den 6’ 0”, 223, 4.67 Some of our players are not that far from the top ten especially since they have just begun building their bodies and are only sophomores. If anyone knows some of our LB’s 40 times that would be a good addition. The other tangibles scouts are looking for are intensity and tackling ability. [/QUOTE]

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