Updated 2025 LB preview … The 2024 draft was not a particularly good year for the defence and it a particularly not good year for the linebackers. Indeed, no LBs were selected in this past April’s opening round and just one – Edgerrin Cooper of Texas A&M who was taken in the middle of the second round – was selected within the first two rounds. And it appears that trend might continue at the upcoming draft, although Barrett Carter of Clemson could conceivably get some late first-round consideration, while Danny Stutsman of Oklahoma and Georgia’s Smael Mondon both appear to have solid second-day credentials. It is probably also worth mentioning that in many ways the wild card at the position is Jamon Dumas-Johnson of Kentucky; he was considered a possible elite talent early in his career when he played at Georgia, but kind of dropped off the radar after some struggles both on and off the field, but the potential is still there.
However, while there may not be a ton of upfront potential at the position, it also appears there is plenty of depth among the 2025 LB class such that teams should have a chance to add a quality prospect at the position later in the second day or even early on the third. Players to keep an eye on in that context include veteran performers such as Jay Higgins of Iowa, who led the country in tackles last fall with 171, Deontae Lawson of Alabama, Jason Henderson of Old Dominion, another tackling machine who had 167 tackles of his own last season, Koby King of Penn State, Karene Reid of Utah, Jack Kiser of Notre Dame, Jeff Bassa and Jestin Jacobs of Oregon, Ben Bywater of BYU and Ohio State’s Cody Simon. Scouts are also intrigued to see Simon’s OSU partner Sonny Stiles, a 6-4, 235-pound former safety with excellent athletic skills who switched over to LB this spring. Meanwhile, the top returning LB at the FCS level is 6-2, 240-pound Micah Davey of McNeese State who had 150 tackles in just 10 games last fall. Here is our preliminary ranking for this year’s LB class. We should also note is that the LB position is complicated by the fact that some OLBs who are primarily edge rushers, such as Harold Perkins of LSU, bleed over into the DE/ER group.
