NFL Top 10 Series: Inside Linebackers

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The NFL has changed over the years and the linebacker position has been a bit devalued. Despite that though, an incredible amount of great inside linebackers remain playing to this day. The funny thing is that most of the good ones are also very youthful with many years of mileage still left in their tanks. We are seeing some great talent, some fringe HOF talent, and bonafide HOF players play in the league right now. It's really something to behold, and something we'll delve into right now.

1. Patrick Willis, San Francisco 49ers: The torch has been passed from one #52 to another, as Patrick Willis is the best inside linebacker in football going into the 2012 season. In case you are just hearing about him, it should be noted that Willis has been playing at an elite level since his first season in the league back in 2007. He won the DROTY award that season, and since then has been the measuring stick for inside linebackers. He’s amassed 17 sacks, five interceptions, 12 forced fumbles (four recoveries) and 699 tackles. Willis is well on his way, in my opinion, to becoming one of the best inside linebackers of this era and possibly of all time.

2. Brian Urlacher, Chicago Bears: The best 4-3 middle linebacker in the league has been the best 4-3 middle linebacker in the league without much competition for the last decade or so. Urlacher has been a fringe Hall of Fame player for the last few seasons with how good he has been, and the way he has played since breaking his wrist in 2009 is remarkable. Since 2010, Urlacher has had 225 tackles, 16 passes defended, one forced fumble, four interceptions and four sacks. If somehow Urlacher and the Bears can win a Super Bowl in the next few seasons as Urlacher hits the tail end of his career, I believe we may see him have a bust in Canton not too long after he retires.

3. Derrick Johnson, Kansas City Chiefs: This may seem surprising, but after the tremendous 2011 season that Derrick Johnson had with the Kansas City Chiefs, (a year that Ben Stockwell of Pro Football Focus nominated as a DPOTY quality year) I think Johnson has asserted himself as one of the elite inside linebackers in the league. Johnson is an excellent run stuffer and is very good in coverage as well. He had a run stop percentage last year of 10.5% and only let up 68.9% of the passes thrown his way to be completed. Looking at the visible numbers, Johnson had 131 tackles, nine passes defended, one forced fumble (and recovery), two interceptions and two sacks. Very, very good numbers for a very good player.

4. Brian Cushing, Houston Texans: The 2009 Defensive Rookie of the Year once again proved why he is an elite talent in 2011. With a year featuring 125 tackles, six passes defended, two forced fumbles, two interceptions and four sacks, and now with Mario Williams gone, Brian Cushing has established himself as the best player on Houston’s defense. (I don’t think J.J. Watt or Johnathan Joseph are too far behind though) He makes a lot of good plays in coverage, is solid in run stopping (as evident by 13.94 run stop percentage, third best in the league among linebackers), and also is a spectacular pass rusher for a 3-4 inside linebacker. Cushing has more pressures than any linebacker over the last three years (83) and also is the third most productive pass rusher since 2009 (14.07 PRP according to PFF). While he does have that four-game suspension hanging over his head from 2010, Cushing is still one of the best players in the game.

5. London Fletcher, Washington Redskins: There are few players that have gone under the radar as much as London Fletcher has for his career. But, sadly for his sake, he has gone unnoticed even though he deserves just about every ounce of credit that he could possibly get. He’s been a tackling machine for almost his entire career, with 12 straight 100-plus-tackle seasons, including last year when he had 166 tackles. Over the last three seasons, no linebacker has amassed more tackles than Fletcher (389). Last year he was very good in run stopping, pass coverage and rushing the passer, with 17 QB disruptions and had four pass breakups and two interceptions. More over, he only allowed 60% of passes thrown his way to be completed. He’s just an exceptional player that deserves more respect for an incredibly good career.

6. Ray Lewis, Baltimore Ravens: Once the undisputed best middle linebacker in football, Ray Lewis’ game has taken a hit over the last two or three seasons. However that doesn’t detract from how good he has been, and how good he still remains. He isn’t special in pass coverage anymore but he’s still a sure tackler, a vocal leader, and still invokes fear in the hearts of offensive coordinators, quarterbacks and anybody who dares to come over the middle with him standing there, ready to blow anybody up. Last year Ray amounted 107 tackles, the lowest amount he has had since 2006, but still came away with two forced fumbles, seven passes defended, an interception and two sacks. One day we’ll see him in Canton, and we’ll probably get an incredible speech too.

7. Paul Posluszny, Jacksonville Jaguars: In spite of the fact that Penn State has taken a bit of a hit, “Linebacker U” still has a great product playing the game today and his name is Paul Posluszny. Since entering the league in 2007, Posluszny has been one of the best tacklers in the game, and had his fourth straight 100+ tackle season in 2011. He ranks 7th in tackles made over the last three seasons (337) and only has missed 15 tackles in the last three seasons, ranking up with the lowest among linebackers. He’s also proven his worth in pass rushing, with 28 pressures on 179 pass rushing snaps. He is tailor made for the 4-3 MIKE LB position and despite the fact that he plays in Jacksonville where he may not get the coverage some others do, he remains a top-tier player.

8. Jon Beason, Carolina Panthers: The Carolina Panthers’ middle linebacker Jon Beason has been very good since he was drafted in the year 2007. Beason has amounted 539 tackles in four full seasons of play (discounting last year when he only played one game of the season). He’s racked up eight interceptions, 29 passes defended, three forced fumbles (four recovered) and four sacks. Beason however does have a bit of a problem with missing tackles and that’s why he only finds himself at eighth on this list. Going into the 2011 season he had a miss rate of one missed tackle for every 11.4 attempts (according to PFF). At the MLB position you cannot be missing that many tackles but his workload definitely gives him a nod on this list. He, along with Luke Kuechly and James Anderson are a very strong LB corp that the Panthers will be happy to have. 

9. Lawrence Timmons, Pittsburgh Steelers: The Pittsburgh Steelers have one of the best LB corps in football and Lawrence Timmons is one of the reasons why. Although he is a bit inconsistent, Timmons has put together some solid, under-the-radar type seasons with the fact of course that he plays along with LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison. Timmons last year had a down year from his great 2010, with 94 tackles, five passes defended, one forced fumble, one interception and two sacks. In 2010 he had 134 tackles, 10 passes defended, two forced fumbles (and recovered two fumbles), two interceptions, and three sacks. What will we get out of Timmons in 2012? For his sake, hopefully what we saw in 2010.

10. David Harris, New York Jets: Rounding out the Top 10 is a player I picked out of personal preference. Harris is a linebacker who I think is one of the best players on a loaded New York Jets defense. The former Wolverine is great in pass rushing situations, with Rex Ryan’s exotic blitz packages, and is pretty good in pass coverage as well. Harris has 52 pressures in the last three seasons on 450 pass rush snaps. From those numbers, Harris has gotten sacks from them, picking up 13.5 sacks since 2009 including a career best 5.5 sacks in 2009 also. With 513 tackles in five seasons, Harris is also one of the better tacklers that the NFL has to offer.