NFL Top 10 Series: 4-3 Outside Linebacker Honorable Mentions

With the 2012 NFL season steadfast approaching, it’s time to continue an original Garden State Sports Guy production: The NFL Top 10 Series. As the Top 10 countdown approaches for each position, we’ll be looking at honorable mentions for each position as those steadfastly approach. This is the second to last honorable mentions post before we get to the good stuff. Today we’re going to be looking at a position that has thinned out a BIT of sorts, but not all that much if you really think about it. The 4-3 OLB may not have as much prowess anymore with the evolution of 3-4 defenses (and well, just about everybody in the league using one) but if you have a great one, it can surely help you out a ton. The teams that run this type of defense know that, and while this post only has two worthy in my opinion of honorable mentions, the eventual Top 10 list features a lot of great ones.

Honorable Mentions for the 4-3 Outside Linebacker Position 

Rob Ninkovich: For a better part of his career, Rob Ninkovich was nothing more than a journeyman linebacker who played at different positions. He arrived in New England in 2010 and did well at the LOLB position, and last year added the 4-3 OLB position to his arsenal. His versatility is incredibly impressive and recently was named as the New England Patriots’ “Secret Superstar” by ProFootballFocus. To cite them for something that stood out to them, as well as me: 

“Ninkovich had played sparingly in coverage, and with less than stellar results. On this night, Head Coach Bill Belichick needed him to drop back more often, and Ninkovich came through in a big way. He picked off a tipped pass in the third quarter, but it was his play in the fourth that put the finishing touches on a huge division win for the Patriots.” 

They go on to talk about similar performances against the Chiefs and the Eagles. Ninkovich is a solid contributor for the New England Patriots and has really come into his own. But what player hasn’t found success under Bill Belichick? Andre Carter and Mark Anderson who both looked to be lost products had sensational years last year, so Ninkovich’s success is hardly a surprise.

Erin Henderson: While his brother E.J. might not be having as much success finding a team right now, still being a free agent, Erin Henderson has done quite well for himself in 2011 that was worthy of recognition. Henderson picked up 44 taclkes and 26 assists, totaling 70 tackles in his first season playing more than ten games on the field, while not having any starts at the position he did pretty well on what I think is an underrated linebacker corp. Thanks in part to that, he looks like he can be a very exceptional player given the fact that he was not always on the field with those numbers. He looked his best against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4, where he had five tackles and one assist, and not only that, but he played on every defensive snap of the game, for the very first time in his career. He has great instincts in coverage and was excellent in run stopping, having the best run stop percentage in the NFL according to ProFootballFocus.