2015-16 NFL Pre-Season Position Rankings: 3-4 Inside Linebackers

We are about halfway through the NFL's off-season. OTA's have already started. Players are already getting injured. And the 2015-16 NFL season is getting so close, we can hear the footsteps coming up to the door and someone's just about ready to knock. With that said, it's time to look ahead at next season.

Now that NFL rosters are pretty much finalized (besides numerous upcoming cuts of course), it's time to start giving you guys an idea of how your team is shaping up for next season. What better way to do that than to start power ranking the starters at every position on each roster? It only makes sense.

Up next? The inside linebackers currently playing in a 3-4 defense......

Ultimate Football Blog's

2015-16 Pre-Season Position Rankings

3-4 Inside Linebackers

KEY NOTE: This is a POWER RANKINGS. That means it's a "what have you done for me lately?" list. This is not an ALL-TIME greatest list. If the NFL commissioner came up to me tomorrow and said:

"Hey, you can have any starting linebacker currently playing on a 3-4 defense....who do you want?"


It would (most likely) go in this order.......


(PS: PFF grade means "Pro Football Focus Grade". For those of you who don't know, ProFootballFocus.com is an football analytics website that grades players based on a certain criteria and it's a criteria that I've come to love. It's a pretty simple grading formula to figure out as well. The more negative score the player has, the least effective he was on-the-field last season. For example a "-24.8" grade would be absolutely awful, but a "24.8" grade means the player was outstanding. See, I told you it was easy to figure out)

*Please note that I'm also ranking guys as if I was building a franchise for the future. Therefore, I tend to favor age a lot in these rankings. It's why the Indianapolis Colts traded Peyton Manning when they drafted Andrew Luck. In the NFL, age is KING!

36. Donald Butler (San Diego Chargers)

Age: 26

Career Tackles: 330

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -9.1

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -10.0

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -23.2

35. D'Qwell Jackson (Indianapolis Colts)

Age: 31

Career Tackles: 964

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -8.4

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -2.3

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -14.0

34. Josh Mauga (Kansas City Chiefs)

Age: 28

Career Tackles: 147

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -1.5

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -11.4

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -14.0

33. Sean Weatherspoon (Arizona Cardinals)

Age: 27

Career Tackles: 290

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: Injured last season

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: Injured last season

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: Injured last season

32. David Hawthorne (New Orleans Saints)

Age: 30

Career Tackles: 562

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -5.3

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 1.6

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -2.3

31. Perry Riley (Washington Redskins)

Age: 27

Career Tackles: 411

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -7.5

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -0.5

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -9.8

30. Jerrell Freeman (Indianapolis Colts)

Age: 29

Career Tackles: 365

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 10.3

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -19.7

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -8.3

29. Michael Wilhoite (San Francisco 49ers)

Age: 28

Career Tackles: 327

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 2.1

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -7.0

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -5.6

28. Wesley Woodyard (Tennessee Titans)

Age: 28

Career Tackles: 528

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -1.7

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -7.4

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -7.8

27. Dannell Ellerbe (New Orleans Saints)

Age: 29

Career Tackles: 285

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -0.8

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -0.3

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -1.1 

26. Mason Foster (Chicago Bears)

Age: 26

Career Tackles: 343

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 0.3

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -8.6

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -8.2

25. David Harris (New York Jets)

Age: 31

Career Tackles: 885

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 1.8

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -3.1

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -1.2

24. Keenan Robinson (Washington Redskins)

Age: 25

Career Tackles: 120

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -2.7

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -8.4

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -8.3

23. Brian Cushing (Houston Texans)

Age: 28

Career Tackles: 474

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -0.6

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -7.1

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -6.3

22. Sam Barrington (Green Bay Packers)

Age: 24

Career Tackles: 54

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 0.7

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -9.7

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -8.8

21. Craig Robertson (Cleveland Browns)

Age: 27

Career Tackles: 277

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 2.3

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 0.1

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 2.2

20. Demario Davis (New York Jets)

Age: 26

Career Tackles: 259

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -1.6

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 6.5

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 2.7

19. Ryan Shazier (Pittsburgh Steelers)

Age: 22

Career Tackles: 36

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -1.8

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -1.0

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -2.9 

18. Manti Te'o (San Diego Chargers)

Age: 24

Career Tackles: 122

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 2.2

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -1.6

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 0.7

17. Danny Trevathan (Denver Broncos)

Age: 25

Career Tackles: 173

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -1.4

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 0.7

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -1.3

16. Kevin Minter (Arizona Cardinals)

Age: 24

Career Tackles: 48

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -5.2

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 5.1

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 1.5

15. Christian Jones (Chicago Bears)

Age: 24

Career Tackles: 68

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -1.5

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -1.9

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -4.3

14. Preston Brown (Buffalo Bills)

Age: 22

Career Tackles: 109

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 3.6

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 0.7

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 2.8 

13. Avery Williamson (Tennessee Titans)

Age: 23

Career Tackles: 79

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 0.4

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 4.6

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 2.3

12. Jake Ryan (Green Bay Packers)

Age: 23

Career Tackles: Rookie

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: Rookie

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: Rookie

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: Rookie

11. Benardrick McKinney (Houston Texans)

Age: 22

Career Tackles: Rookie

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: Rookie

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: Rookie

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: Rookie

10. Derrick Johnson (Kansas City Chiefs)

Age: 32

Career Tackles: 875

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 0.4

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 0.2

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 1.4

9. Lawrence Timmons (Pittsburgh Steelers)

Age: 29

Career Tackles: 748

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -7.4

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 11.7

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 7.0

8. Karlos Dansby (Cleveland Browns)

Age: 33

Career Tackles: 1102

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 10.4

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 3.2

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 13.9

7. Daryl Smith (Baltimore Ravens)

Age: 33

Career Tackles: 930

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 4.4

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 6.1

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 15.8

6. Nigel Bradham (Buffalo Bills)

Age: 25

Career Tackles: 212

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 0.7

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 3.5

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 5.7

5. Kiko Alonso (Philadelphia Eagles)

Age: 24

Career Tackles: 159

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: Injured last season

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: Injured last season

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: Injured last season

4. C.J. Mosley (Baltimore Ravens)

Age: 22

Career Tackles: 133

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -4.5

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 14.4

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 11.9

3. Mychal Kendricks (Philadelphia Eagles)

Age: 24

Career Tackles: 264

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 9.5

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 0.0

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 19.1

2. Brandon Marshall (Denver Broncos)

Age: 25

Career Tackles: 117

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 10.5

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 5.5

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 20.3

1. NaVorro Bowman (San Francisco 49ers)

Age: 27

Career Tackles: 482

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: Injured last year

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: Injured last year

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: Injured last year