The skinny: The best at the position and a sure top 15 pick. He's aggressive, quick and closes on the ball well. A sure and hard tackler. He also has the quickness to run with backs and tight ends in the short passing game. Tough and physical, he played through an ankle injury last season. In short, he's what you want at this position.
The skinny: He has excellent size and quickness and is above average in pass coverage. With teammate Vince Hall hurt part of last season Adibi had the best year of his career, with a team-high 115 tackles -- including 12 for losses. Never looked better than in the ACC championship game against Boston College when he retuned an interception for a TD.
The skinny: He was nothing more than pretty good until moving to middle linebacker as a senior -- and then he led the team with a career-best 100 tackles, including 60 solos. He played all three positions at a school known for producing standout linebackers, so he's versatile. He has outstanding speed but can be slow to react to plays.
The skinny: He's a defensive end in a 4-3 and an outside linebacker in a 3-4. He's not a natural athlete, but he's versatile with experience at linebacker and defensive end -- playing the latter position the last two years. He has outstanding speed, a good burst toward the ball and plays the run well.
The skinny: The brother of E.J., a star linebacker with Minnesota, he projects outside in a 4-3 or inside in a 3-4. He has the size you want, is physical and has nice range, but there is a history of injuries that must be a consideration. He sometimes has trouble taking on blockers, but he should be an NFL starter if he can avoid injuries.
Player on the rise:
I know this doesn't sound right when he's the top guy here, but USC's Rivers took the space shuttle north with his Pro Day workout. He was lights out in every category, especially the vertical jump where he out-leaped all other outside linebackers by five-and-a-half inches.
Player on the decline:
Ali Highsmith, LSU. He redeemed himself some with an OK workout at LSU's Pro Day last month, but it's hard to get over those numbers from the NFL scouting combine. He was slower than rush-hour traffic and couldn't jump.
Sleeper
Bryan Kehl, BYU. A first team All-Mountain West choice, he is instinctive, productive, has good range and is a reliable tackler. He helped himself with a good workout at his Pro Day last month and should be nothing worse than a fourth or fifth-round draft pick.
Overrated
Geno Hayes, Florida State. FSU produced some first-round linebackers the past two years, but Hayes won't continue the trend. He has decent speed but is slow to get off blocks and relies too much on his agility to avoid blockers. Plus, he had a 26-1/2-inch vertical at the combine, the second worst performance of the linebackers there. Good for him there are Pro Days. He improved by five inches.
Position analysis:
It's thin at the top, with Rivers the only legitimate first-round choice. There were two outside linebackers taken in the first round of the 2007 draft, and one of them -- Carolina's Jon Beason -- made an immediate impact ... as a middle linebacker. Rivers is the real thing, but there is more depth down the line than there is talent at the top.
