As we continue on through the defensive side of the football, what follows are my 2025 NFL Draft linebacker rankings. I provide in-depth analysis for the top four, followed by bulleted rankings to round out the top 12 at the position.

For more positional draft rankings, see the end of this column.

2025 NFL Draft Linebacker Rankings

Read THE THOR 500 here — Thor Nystrom's full ranks of the 500 best players in the 2025 NFL Draft!

OverallPositionNameSchoolHTWTRASAgeComp
7LB1Jalon WalkerGeorgia6010243—21.16Haason Reddick
16LB2Jihaad CampbellAlabama60272359.8821.16Derrick Johnson
48LB3Carson SchwesingerUCLA6024242—22.16Paul Posluszny
67LB4Demetrius Knight Jr.South Carolina60152358.1725.3Bobby Okereke
86LB5Danny StutsmanOklahoma60322339.6222.12Logan Wilson
95LB6Smael Mondon Jr.Georgia60232249.4222.19Damone Clark
103LB7Jeffrey BassaOregon60122286.8322.59Kenny Young
113LB8Cody LindenbergMinnesota60232368.1723.27James Laurinaitis
125LB9Cody SimonOhio State60172328.3523.06Blake Martinez
130LB10Chris Paul Jr.Ole Miss60072226.1422.47Kwon Alexander
141LB11Jack KiserNotre Dame60152297.6824.62Ernest Jones
153LB12Teddye BuchananCalifornia60212339.4222.56Tank Cardner
162LB13Barrett CarterClemson60012327.4622.5Henry To'oTo'o
178LB14Kobe KingPenn State60062438.0322.24Micah McFadden
186LB15Jay HigginsIowa60012243.4623.19Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
194LB16Jamon Dumas-JohnsonKentucky60062368.9923.4Micah Kiser
203LB17Collin OliverOklahoma State60162409.7422.58Hamilcar Rashed Jr.
214LB18Kain MedranoUCLA60272229.8324.18Tony Fields
228LB19Shemar JamesFlorida60142225.6720.83Joe Giles-Harris
235LB20Eugene AsanteAuburn60072238.424.25Akeem Davis-Gaither
252LB21Shaun DolacBuffalo60022218.8423.61Baylon Spector
269LB22Francisco MauigoaMiami60212339.1322.11Akeem Dent
279LB23Jailin WalkerIndiana60032197.8122.2Brian Asamoah II
286LB24Nick MartinOklahoma State51142218.5622.53Duke Riley
292LB25Jalen McLeodAuburn6016241—22.89Quincy Roche
308LB26Jackson WoodardUNLV60212304.3922.81Cameron McGrone
310LB27Carson BruenerWashington60122278.8523.89D'Marco Jackson
315LB28Karene ReidUtah5116229—25.18Dat Nguyen
319LB29Tyreem PowellRutgers60442396.0323.32Kuony Deng
324LB30Power EcholsNorth Carolina51132342.1822.26K.J. Britt
329LB31Chandler MartinMemphis51172298.2122.37Malcolm Rodriguez
332LB32Bam Martin-ScottSouth Carolina60232317.524.81Ty'Ron Hopper
340LB33Aaron SmithSouth Carolina State60002346.17—Tegray Scales
346LB34Greg Penn IIILSU60062263.73—Quayshawn Nealy
353LB35Easton Mascarenas-ArnoldUSC51112276.92—Elandon Roberts
362LB36Deshawn PaceUCF60072126.05—Cory Gilliard
367LB37David GbendaTexas51142366.31—Brian Iwuh
373LB38Ruben Hyppolite IIMaryland5115236——Jatavis Brown
390LB39Justin BarronSyracuse60362257.1623.5E.J. Speed
400LB40Brandon GeorgePittsburgh60322469.98—Jasper Brinkley
410LB41Branson CombsWake Forest60302318.79—Markus Steele
433LB42Austin KeysAuburn60222297.5523.06Dallas Gant
467LB43De’Rickey WrightVanderbilt60362085.9723.21Marcus Cotton
474LB44Nick JacksonIowa60062284.54—Steele Chambers
497LB45Jordan TurnerMichigan State60072357.07—D.D. Lewis
—LB46Stone BlantonMississippi State60172274.71—David Woodward
—LB47Marlowe WaxSyracuse60002277.03—Kendyll Pope
—LB48Michael MooreUAB60432285.35—Rocky Calmus
—LB49K.C. OssaiLouisiana60112378.23—Ty Summers
—LB50Noah MartinSamford51132418.22—Joe Andreessen
—LB51Jacob DobbsJames Madison51102308.3—Leon Joe
—LB52Jaden DolphinNorthern Illinois60222286.07—Dylan Moses
—LB53Luke GundersonNorthern State60172419.29——
—LB54Matt JonesBaylor60262367.86——
—LB55Alex HowardDuke60102288.86——
—LB56Ty FrenchWest Virginia60102247.26——
—LB57Jestin JacobsOregon60342298.24——
—LB58Connor ShayWyoming60142279.19——
—LB59Kam ArnoldBoston College60052279.31——
—LB60Joseph VaughnUCLA60232349.49——
—LB61Wesley SteinerWashington State51172359.38——
—LB62Ty WiseMiami (OH)60142234.38——

Top Four Linebackers In The NFL Draft

1. Jalon Walker | Georgia | 6010/243 | RAS: N/A | Comp: Haason Reddick

Sleek, high-octane athlete. Hybrid LB/EDGE defender. Comes to the NFL at the perfect time—a modern defensive answer to the continued spread-and-space evolution of offensive football. Walker has shown an exceptional prowess for getting after quarterbacks—the past two seasons, he was 96th percentile in PFF pass-rushing grade. He’s dangerous with his hand in the dirt as a DE, and also when sent as an off-ball blitzer. Last year, Walker logged over 40% of his snaps on the EDGE, shifting down more and more on obvious passing downs.

As a pass-rusher, I didn’t see Walker’s “lack of size” hinder him much. In fact, his size, in conjunction with his rush style, sometimes played to his benefit—multiple times, I saw Walker get skinny as a sheet of paper to squeeze through double-teams when sent on the blitz from an off-ball alignment. He’s bendy and flexible, dipping low and using his shoulder pad as a shield to absorb the offensive linemen’s blow before turning the corner.

Walker is extremely sudden side-to-side and has proven to be an effective second-level spy, forcing dual-threat quarterbacks to think twice before running. Walker does take false steps in run defense, but often gets back on schedule and then some with a sharp veer and instant acceleration the other way. Walker is taking fewer false steps as time goes on, but his instincts are still improving. Blink-fast closing speed when he gets into the backfield. Blew up numerous plays he wasn’t credited for in the box score by forcing the quarterback to flee, or forcing the running back to steer away from the flow of his blocking.

Prior to 2024, Walker didn’t appear to know what he was doing in coverage—this zapped him of his athleticism. But in 2024, he started to show a better understanding of zone coverage responsibilities. I’m not going to harp on that area of his game much. Because, on passing downs, let’s be honest—Walker’s value is harassing quarterbacks, and that’s what you’re employing him to do.

2. Jihaad Campbell | Alabama | 6027/235 | RAS: 9.87 | Comp: Derrick Johnson

The SEC had two destructive LB/EDGE hybrid defenders who wore #11 last year. In the case of Campbell, he’s a former five-star 3-4 OLB recruit who wound up starting the past two years at off-ball. Campbell logged a tick over 10% of his career snaps off the EDGE. It’s entirely possible that Campbell’s drafting team will see him as an edge-defender first, with additional off-ball utility. In a sound business decision, Campbell spent the pre-draft process training exclusively as an EDGE defender at Exos.

Here’s the simplest way I can explain the difference between Walker and Campbell … Walker is more versatile and is the clearly superior pass-rusher, while Campbell is more reliable in run defense (95th-percentile missed tackle rate the past two years) and far better in coverage (83rd percentile in PFF coverage grade last two seasons).

Campbell is a bursty, sideline-to-sideline athlete who arrives with violent intentions. I appreciate his dichotomy of physical football while adhering to technique. Campbell is a wrap-up tackler who keeps a base under him into contact. I was surprised by how natural Campbell looked in zone coverage. He’s smooth and efficient backpedaling to appropriate depth, and he has a clear understanding of his responsibilities on each concept.

I appreciated examples on his tape of carrying a target to the outer rings of his area before passing off the assignment to deep help in order to peel off to an intermediate target threatening to enter his space. Campbell reads the quarterback's eyes and has the acceleration and length to close distance with the ball in the air and contest. The next evolution of Campbell’s overall game is simply improving his snap-bang post-snap instincts.

On Walker’s tape, the eagerness to crash downhill sometimes had his foot tapping the gas before he knew for sure what color the traffic light was. On Campbell’s tape, I noted a delayed beat before triggering—to extend our car metaphor, Campbell wanted to confirm the light was green before moving instead of hitting the gas right when he saw the first flicker of a color change. The quicker that Polaroid starts developing in Campbell’s mind, the more plays he’s ultimately going to be involved in. 

3. Carson Schwesinger | UCLA | 6024/242 | RAS: N/A | Comp: Paul Posluszny

A case study in perseverance, Schwesinger arrived at UCLA in 2021 as a walk-on. He redshirted that season, and then spent the next two as a rotational reserve and core special-teamer. That work earned him a crack at the starting lineup in 2024, and Schwesinger went ballistic, earning First-team All-American honors while finishing as a Butkus finalist.

Whereas Walker and Campbell are each in their own ways new-age hybrid defenders, Schwesinger is a throwback. Schwesinger is not the caliber of athlete that Walker or Campbell are, but he processes information quicker and thus tends to threaten the blocking scheme earlier. Schwesinger has a bag of tricks to breach the moat and storm the gates, timing his entry into the gap and contorting through cramped quarters to free himself into daylight. He’s not an upper-echelon athlete, but Schwesinger is a very fluid one, an economy-of-movement type whose appendages are connected to his eyes and processor.

Schwesinger was used differently than Campbell and Walker, logging more snaps in coverage than as a pass-rusher and in run defense combined. Out in coverage, Schwesinger’s fluidity and brains stood out. He doesn’t get baited. Like Campbell, Schwesinger has the light feet, short-area quickness, and mental fluidity to protect the seam to the depth of his responsibility and peel off downhill to deal with new threats to his area. In instances where the offense gets him isolated in space, Schwesinger typically stomps out brush fires with a swift tackle. Over 33 receptions allowed in 2024, Schwesinger had 14 PFF-charted “stops”— constituted as a loss for the offense based on down and distance— against only four missed tackles.

4. Demetrius Knight | South Carolina | 6015/235 | RAS: 8.17 | Comp: Junior Colson

Big, experienced, well-built linebacker. Knight, a four-year starting quarterback in high school, sees the field well. The cousin of former NFL CB DeAngelo Hall, Knight took some time to develop while transitioning to full-time LB at Georgia Tech.

He was a reserve and special-teamer his four seasons with the Yellow Jackets. Knight broke out in 2023 at Charlotte (First-Team All-AAC) before his true coming-out party in 2024 for South Carolina. Knight has the grit and body armor for dirty work between the tackles—he’s fearless coming downhill and is happy to scrap with offensive linemen. He’s an explosive, violent finisher, accelerating to the doorstep and kicking down the door with a firm base under him while uncoiling through the target. Last season, Knight finished 87th percentile in PFF run-defense grade.

He’s also strong in coverage due to his combination of athleticism and football IQ. Over his two full seasons as a starter—and across nearly 600 coverage snaps—Knight picked off four balls while allowing only one TD and surrendered a QB rating against on targets lower than 66.0 in both campaigns.

Of my top-15 ranked LBs, Knight allowed the lowest QB rating against on targets in 2024, and was No. 2 in that department in 2023. Knight scares the analytics community due to his late breakout and older age. However, Knight’s size, athleticism, instincts, and level of play in the SEC last season strongly suggest he’s going to be an effective NFL player.

More 2025 NFL Draft Positional Rankings