Preliminary 2024 LB preview … LB – and we’re referring here almost exclusively to players that project to middle and ILBs as opposed to OLBs who tend to get included with the edge rushers – has never necessarily been a prime position early in the draft. The last time an inside LB was selected with a top 10 pick, for example, was 2020. In fact, in the past decade, a total of only 4 ILBs were taken with top 10 selections. That was certainly the case last year when Iowa’s Jack Campbell was, very surprisingly, the only LB chosen in the opening round when he was picked by Detroit with 18th pick overall. And surprisingly was the operative word as Campbell had barely ever been mentioned as a possible opening round selection prior to the draft. Maybe even more surprisingly, the two LBs who were prominently mentioned as strong first-round candidates – Drew Sanders of Arkansas and Clemson’s Trenton Simpson – weren’t selected until the third round. In fact, Simpson who was largely considered to be the consensus top ILB by analysts prior to the draft, ended up being only the 4th one selected.
If the 2023 draft could be described as ‘interesting’ for the ILBs, there could be more of the same in 2024 with as many as four players currently listed as very possible first rounders, although again it does not look at this time as if any are likely to be selected much before the middle of the opening round. The headliner of the group in Jeremiah Trotter of Clemson. And if that name sounds familiar, he is indeed the son of the long-time NFL Pro Bowl LB of the same name who spent the better part of his career in Philadelphia. Trotter is a good all-around LB who can make plays all over the field; last year, for example, he had 89 tackles including 6.5 sacks and 2 picks. As good as he is, though, Trotter may not even be the best LB prospect on his own team as Barrett Carter, another very athletic 3rd year junior, also looks at times like a heat-seeking tackling machine. Then there’s Jamon Dumas-Johnson, who anchored that great defence that led Georgia to its second straight national championship last fall. He’s a little bigger than the two Clemson players and very physical and aggressive. Like the Dawgs’ Jalen Carter, who saw his draft stock impacted this past April because of reckless driving charges stemming from an accident in which a couple of people died, Dumas-Johnson also faces charges of reckless driving/street racing from an unrelated incident. And while he doesn’t get the same national pub as the other three, it is entirely possible when all is said and done that Cedric Gray of North Carolina, who had 145 tackles last fall, as well a couple of picks, ends up with the top grade at the position.
There also should be several really solid veteran college LBs available next April, who likely won’ go quite as highly as the first group, but could be attractive to a team looking for some experienced depth at the position including Tommy Eisenberg of Ohio State, North Carolina State’s Payton Wilson, Ben Bywater of BYU and Oregon State’s Omar Speights. For now, here is the preliminary ranking of the top ILBs for the upcoming draft.
