Top 5 linebackers in college football
As the 2020 college football season winds down, 2021 NFL Draft talk will heat up. Here are the top five linebackers in college football, a group of future NFL Draft prospects.
Just missed the cut: Cameron McGrone (Michigan), Nick Bolton (Missouri), Jabril Cox (LSU), Chazz Surratt (North Carolina) & Nate Landman (Colorado)
1. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (Notre Dame)
Owusu-Koramoah came in as a three-star safety recruit and he stills has that slim buld at 6’1”, 215 pounds, as well as that kind of skill-set with freakish athletic ability. When I watched those those Notre Dame edge rushers and safeties for the 2020, this guy flashed time and time again. This joker for the Notre Dame defense plays the ROVER spot primarily, where he can cover slot receivers one-on-one and shows no discomfort playing in space, plus he looks like a cannonball when coming on blitzes off the edge. While he is certainly undersized for an in-between-the-tackles role, he does not shy away from slipping gaps and chooses excellent angles when chasing things down towards the sideline. He is one of those guys who shows up around the ball constantly and that’s how he came up with a huge fumble return TD against Clemson earlier this season, as a pitch went off the hands of Travis Etienne. With that being said, you see him get shielded by slot receivers even on plenty of occasions (see USC’s Amon-Ra St. Brown in 2019) and he leaves his feet too much as a tackler for my list – in part because his play-strength isn’t at the level of those 250-pound inside backers.
2. Zaven Collins (Tulsa)
One of the biggest risers from this 2020 season has been this 6’4”, 260 pound-listed linebacker that is the heart of a Hurricanes’ 21st-ranked scoring defense. Collins fills those pads out nicely and he is a beast as Tulsa’s stack WILL backer. Collins IDs run schemes quickly and lets pullers lead him to the ball. Unlike a lot of college LBs nowadays, he can still take on and shed blockers coming right at him, thanks to his robust base. He meets ball-carriers head-on in the hole and even when he doesn’t get that clear shot, he has strong arms to still bring those guys to the ground, making him a very reliable tackler. In coverage, he is primarily responsible for shallow zones, but I think he has become much more light on his feet in 2020, in terms of the ground he can cover, which has led to four INTs in seven games (including a pair of pick-sixes), but it also allows him to be more aggressive with shooting gaps, putting him at 7.5 TFLs already, including one for a safety against UCF. Unfortunately he is overshoots his run fits at times, creating cutback opportunities, and while they bring him off the edge quite a bit, he doesn’t bring a whole lot as a pass-rusher, while aiming at the wrong hip of the QB at times.