Scroll to the bottom for the final rankings!
Last time on ‘A Linebacker Learning Curve‘..
So this is the table I produced in the last post with a score for each rookie linebacker based on their college production and where they were picked. But I had a few questions.
- Was Troy Dye a steal for the Vikings? What about Evan Weaver for the Cards?
- Why was Patrick Queen not productive at LSU and why did the Ravens take him in the 1st?
- Was Willie Gay a reach by the Chiefs in the 2nd?
- Why was Cam Brown graded negatively?!
Lets start with Troy Dye then.
The draft profiles from the NFL site and The Draft Network can be quickly paraphrased as ‘fantastic prospect but too skinny and gangly‘ which puts his draft pick in perspective. He looks to be a developmental prospect with a good ceiling making him a solid taxi squad stash for dynasty. To completely miss-quote Voch Lombardi “put him in an NFL weight room, give him a peanut butter sandwich, and he’ll be alright“.
Patrick Queen has a different story.
The narrative apparent from NFL.com, The Draft Network and Ravenswire is that Queen’s numbers suffered at LSU due to him not being a full time starter until part way in to his 2019 season having sat behind Devin White for a couple of years – his 2019 stats give him a score of 8.88 which is a little better. Everyone has Queen pegged as an instant starter and there’s even buzz about him being a DROY candidate.. assuming we have a season. Seems like a great pick for the Ravens at 28 and should be targeted in IDP drafts up with the 10+ points guys.
Willie Gay hates chemistry.
A quick rummage on NFL.com and The Draft Network tells the tale of an academic misconduct suspension (also known as cheating on a chemistry test) which led Gay to missing a large chunk of his 2019 season. Due to this he’s still pretty raw as a prospect but he is decisive – a dangerous combination. From the sounds of things, Gay only had two outcomes to each play – he either obliterated whatever the offence was trying to do or he ended up in nomansland on his larry. I love him as a prospect but don’t envision him doing too much of note for the Chiefs this season – maybe a little towards the end but that may be enough to clinch another Super Bowl! I grabbed him in our draft at the 5.03 and he’ll be sitting in my taxi this year.
Poor old Cam Brown.
He looks to be a good rotational piece for the Giants but the 6th round draft capital torpedoes his score. For fantasy purposes however, this is probably correct. Few players will be worth a taxi slot with 6th or 7th round draft capital (Evan Weaver is an outlier here, pick him up!) and Cam Brown’s score is a reflection of this as opposed to his ability as a player.
But what about Evan Weaver?
The tackling machine out of Cal is looked down upon as an old school thumper who won’t fit the modern NFL. Watch as he puts up ridiculous tackling numbers at the Cards now!
So what are my final rankings?
I’m going to add some points to the score under ‘intangibles’ and then that will be my final rankings. 2 secs.
So there are my 2020 Dynasty Linebacker Rankings.
There’s still an edge player in there (Okwara) and a defensive back (Simmons, whose true value in dynasty is if he gets DB eligibility which I think he should) but they’re good for comparisons so I’ll leave them be. With more time I’d go through each player and add an ‘intangible’ value to each but I’m pretty happy with how the rankings look as is.
How you use these rankings is entirely up to you. I’d recommend using them as a basis to help you research players you like rather than treating it as a straight up top ..however many it is.. but it should suffice if that’s what you’re after!
Just defensive line and backs to go – by the time I’m done there won’t be any dynasty drafts left to do…
Never mind.
King Thrym
Head Coach of the Jotunheim Giants
@kingthrym
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