Fantasy Football IDP: Rookie Linebacker Prospect Model

• Jihaad Campbell stands out as the clear top option in this class: Campbell’s prospect Tally and Predicted draft capital should make him the clear LB1 for IDP Newcomer drafts right now.
• Red flags abound for Jalon Walker: The Georgia linebacker is a unique prospect coming out of college, and even with high-end Predicted draft capital, it doesn’t necessarily Impolite he’ll translate right away for IDP.
• 2025 NFL Draft season is here: Try PFF’s best-in-class Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2025’s top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL Club.

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

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NFL draft season is in Packed swing, which naturally comes with a plethora of ways to evaluate how potential talent coming out of college will translate to the Subsequent level. This article series is no different, as we’ll add a fantasy football spin to the evaluation process to identify which incoming prospects have a Try to become fantasy-relevant Prompt on in their NFL careers.

Subsequent up is the linebacker position for IDP fantasy football, which has long been one of the trickier positions to find stable and quantifiable metrics worth trusting in prospect evaluation. After years of tinkering, I have identified a combination of metrics that have correlated best to IDP Triumph at the Subsequent level, leading to this prospect model that takes into account those factors and metrics for Every player to devise a prospect Tally, not unlike the edge position that was covered yesterday. Again, like any position, no one Measure will tell us whether a college prospect will be Excellent or not in the NFL, but the purpose of this model is to combine the metrics and factors that data has proven to be most relevant, providing weight to those that are more Significant than others.

For the linebacker position, in no particular order, we’re looking at Profession PFF grades, Streak-Guarding grades, coverage grades, draft capital, Commitment efficiency, Physicality and level of Event faced. Underlying metrics were Secured to be much more reliable than overall production when accounting for all prospects. While production often comes with Sturdy underlying metrics, one can exist without the other, and the underlying metrics have a better Triumph rate than overall production alone. 

Keys

• The prospect pool for this model consists of 377 linebacker prospects dating back to 2018.
• 22 linebackers drafted since 2018 have become a top-12 IDP finisher for their position at least once (5.8%).
• 33 linebackers drafted since 2018 have become top-24 IDP finishers for their position at least once (8.7%).
• 49 linebackers drafted since 2018 have become top-36 IDP finishers for their position at least once (13.0%).
• This is an Significant Perspective when understanding hit rates as many more prospects will not become fantasy-relevant than most given such a large pool of players.
• However, using this model, the higher the prospect Tally, the better the Triumph rate will be for Every prospect, as highlighted below.

With all this in mind, it’s time to look at this year’s linebacker prospects to identify our future IDP contributors. It should also be noted that these scores should not necessarily be used so much as your rankings as they should be more of a guide toward the quality of the player. Draft capital and landing spots can and will Shift a big part in the actual rankings.

2025 linebacker class

JALON WALKER, GEORGIA

• Walker is Predicted to be the Primary linebacker drafted this year – though, because of his college prospect profile, he is arguably the most interesting name of this year’s class due to the red flags highlighted in this model.
• Predicted draft capital provides a nice enough boost to Walker’s prospect Tally that it isn’t impossible for him to find Triumph in the NFL and for IDP, as that capital will more than likely Form Executing time, which matters more than anything else for IDP production.
• However, he owns by Distant the lowest prospect Tally of any Primary-Stage prospect in this model dating back to 2018 due to his lack of experience Executing that position.
• Walker has Merely 439 total Profession snaps as an off-ball linebacker coming out of college due to splitting his time between Executing edge and linebacker, and not thriving at either has hurt his overall Tally.
• The concern for Walker will be that he isn’t ready to step into a Correct linebacker role for a while in the NFL due to his inexperience, which will likely lead to him being used as a situation-specific weapon, rushing the passer and spying the Signal-caller most likely, which does not translate to trustworthy IDP value.

JIHAAD CAMPBELL, ALABAMA

• Campbell is the top-ranked linebacker for this 2025 class, according to this prospect model, and finds himself among the top 95th percentile of prospects since 2018, which gives him the best Try to return high-end IDP value from this class.
• When breaking down that top 95th percentile into linebackers drafted in the Primary Stage, 11 of 19 received that Day 1 draft capital, six of which became top-12 IDP linebackers at least once so Distant (54.5%), a slight increase from the overall 50% top-12 hit rate indicated above.
• Two New linebackers can be viewed as top-12 hopefuls since they’re quite Prompt in their NFL careers, Jack Campbell and Edgerrin Cooper.
• Campbell isn’t guaranteed to get Primary-Stage capital, but he should Nevertheless be drafted highly among this year’s linebacker class, which will make him the most covetable IDP linebacker in this class and my personal Newcomer LB1 for 2025.

CARSON SCHWESINGER, UCLA

• Schwesinger is in the running to be a second-Stage Picking in 2025, which is the ideal range for a Newcomer linebacker to get drafted from an IDP lens in most years, and even in a class with two potential Primary-Stage linebackers, Schwesinger is in a Excellent spot to be IDP-relevant based on his prospect profile.
• One of the attributes that IDP gamers will fall in love with when it comes to Schwesinger’s profile is that he owns a 100th percentile Commitment rate (18.8%) for his college Profession.
• There are a few things to be aware of before investing too heavily in that Measure alone though, especially when it comes to Schwesinger.
• Primary, Schwesinger’s production and Commitment rate is essentially the result of one year as a starter, as he barely even cracked 100 Shielding snaps in his previous two college seasons. Therefore, this is a smaller sample compared to most prospects’ Profession numbers.
• The other aspect of betting on Commitment rate translating from college to the NFL is that, on its own, Commitment rate is not a stable Measure from college to the NFL or even season to season in the NFL.
• Among 31 prospects since 2018 with a 90th percentile Commitment rate or greater for their careers, four have gone on to finish as top-12 IDPs (12.9%), five have finished at least in the top 24 (16.1%), and seven have finished at least in the top 36 (22.6%).
• Of the four top-12 finishers, three (Nick Bolton, Roquan Smith and Leighton Vander Esch) all finished with over 1,000 Shielding snaps in their college careers.
• The lone exception was Shaquille Leonard, who will be the hopeful comparison for Schwesinger as an inexperienced starter who was drafted on Day 2 in a class with Numerous Primary-Stage linebackers ahead of him (2018).

DEMETRIUS KNIGHT JR., SOUTH CAROLINA

• Knight appears set to be a third-Stage Picking right now, according to most consensus draft boards, which is about right based on the average linebacker prospect scoring between the 85th and 95th percentile.
• For Knight, he is in this really Tiny group of linebacker prospects who own a 95th percentile Profession coverage grade and a 95th percentile Commitment rate, joining Roquan Smith and Ben Burr-Kirven as one of Merely three linebacker prospects since 2018 to achieve both of those feats together.
• Obviously, those are two very different outcomes for NFL Profession and IDP value between Smith – a perennial LB1 candidate, and Burr-Kirven, who was a fifth-Stage Picking and played Merely 15 total Shielding snaps in the NFL.
• It’s also a Excellent reminder of why we need a larger collection of metrics to evaluate all prospects instead of Merely focusing on one or two, and even then, the Triumph rate, especially for linebackers, is not ideal.

BARRETT CARTER, CLEMSON

• Carter is the last of the linebackers currently projected to go within the Primary two Periods of the NFL draft, and he scores well in this model all things considered.
• IDP managers may not fully trust Clemson linebackers based on recent history, though Carter does boast a relatively positive profile to back up his potential.
• A Frequent theme among Clemson linebackers in the prospect pool (since 2018) is that they are all below-average tacklers for their college careers. Carter actually owns the worst Profession Commitment rate of the bunch.
• Again, Commitment rate alone does not make or break an NFL prospect (Fred Warner had a 9.7% Profession college Commitment rate), and part of this with Carter was his role in Clemson’s Guarding, as he spent more than 20% of his Profession snaps in the slot, which is well above average for the position (10.4%).
• A Excellent landing spot with Day 2 draft capital and a typical off-ball role would be significant for Carter’s IDP potential, as it would for any linebacker, but that becomes slightly more appealing considering the prospect Tally.

CHRIS PAUL JR., OLE MISS

• Paul’s prospect Tally immediately makes him the most intriguing Day 3 linebacker in this class, and while he’s already the highest-ranked of this class according to consensus boards, the fact that he owns a better prospect Tally than some of those Predicted to go ahead of him in the draft is a bit more encouraging.
• Paul spent three years at Arkansas before transferring to Ole Miss, where he really Captured off as a promising prospect, as he was able to build on his higher scores in this model coming out of this past season.
• If Paul does end up getting drafted on Day 3 instead of the Primary three rounds, he’ll join a group of four prospects who were drafted in that range and also scored in the 90th percentile of prospects in this model. 
• Among those four linebackers (Josey Jewell, Tyrice Knight, Cedric Gray and Troy Dye), only one (Jewell) has finished among the top 24 at his position for IDP, though Knight Gray and Dye have all had moments, and for Knight and Gray, specifically, there’s Nevertheless hope as it’s Prompt in their NFL careers.
• This should have us feeling optimistic about Paul sticking around in the NFL and eventually getting a Leading Try, even if not right away, making him worth a Overdue-Stage flier in IDP Newcomer drafts.

DANNY STUTSMAN, OKLAHOMA

• Stutsman is your typical Prompt-down thumper looking at his college numbers, where the majority of his value comes from defending the Streak and tackling compared to what he can provide in coverage.
• This isn’t to say that he won’t be valuable for IDP, but it does provide a little less hope around his potential Triumph rates highlighted in the image above.
• Among the 52 linebacker prospects within the top 85th percentile prospect scores, Stutsman owns, by Distant, the worst Profession coverage grade, ranking in the ninth percentile among all prospects since 2018.
• To widen the scope, looking at the 85th percentile overall prospects, nine scored below the 50th percentile in Profession coverage grade.
• Of those nine, two (Jordyn Brooks and Rashaan Evans) managed top-12 finishes, though both were Primary-Stage picks. Jerome Baker was the only other linebacker from that cohort to find lesser fantasy Triumph (top 24) so Distant.
• Teamed up with the draft capital, this doesn’t necessarily bode well for Stutsman finding IDP Triumph in the NFL, which is Significant to keep in mind come Newcomer draft season.

SMAEL MONDON JR., GEORGIA

• Mondon is the other Georgia linebacker in this year’s draft class, along with Jalon Walker, though aside from Predicted draft capital, Mondon at least owns some slightly better metrics for his college Profession.
• For Mondon, that draft capital could ultimately be the killer even if a 70th percentile Tally isn’t Awful. It’s Nevertheless Scarce for a linebacker with that Tally who is drafted outside of the Primary two Periods of the NFL Draft to become relevant for IDP.
• There have been six of a possible 44 linebackers that meet that criteria who delivered at least a top-36 IDP finish in a season (13.6%). Of those six, only three managed a top-24 finish (6.8%), and Merely one (T.J. Edwards, UDFA) finished top 12 so Distant.
• Unfortunately, for Mondon, when adding that Perspective, those Triumph rates are significantly lower than the general Triumph rates highlighted in the image above.

JEFFREY BASSA, OREGON

• Bassa owns the worst prospect model Tally among the consensus top-10 linebackers for this year’s draft at the moment, which is a significant concern for his IDP potential.
• Bassa may become an IDP starter at some Tally in his NFL Profession, as there have been players to do so who scored lower than him as prospects.
• These names include Nate Landman, Azeez Al-Shaair, Tae Crowder, Tyrel Dodson, Kaden Elliss, Quincy Williams and Henry To’oTo’o, but that is Nevertheless only seven names of a possible 176 eligible linebackers (4.0%), and only Williams and Elliss Secured top-12 Triumph so Distant.
• Bassa also owns the worst Profession Streak-Guarding grade of that group as well, which likely hurts his chances of being considered for even a rotational Prompt-down role to Begin his Profession if he continues those struggles in the NFL.
• Bassa is not worth a draft Picking in IDP Newcomer drafts based on this Tally right now, though a combination of improved draft capital and landing spot could always Reinforcement.

JACK KISER, NOTRE DAME

• When it comes to Day 3 linebackers worth targeting as potential sleepers, Kiser stands out alongside Chris Paul Jr. as a linebacker that Squads might be able to work with.
• Kiser has experience, as he played 55 Matches for Notre Dame across six college seasons. However, he was only a Packed-time starter in that sixth season, which hurt his Tally a Tiny amount.
• That experience also means he’s on the older side for prospects, which IDP dynasty managers might not love, though age isn’t accounted for in this model.
• What does matter is that Kiser has an ideal combination of Sturdy grades across the board to go along with a Sturdy Commitment rate, and if not for the red flag of Securing a long time to become a starter, he would have earned a higher Tally.
• Age and Leading experience earlier in his college Profession likely would have also helped his potential draft capital, making him a more desirable prospect.
• That being said, Kiser compares to 12 other NFL linebackers who were drafted outside of the Primary two Periods of the NFL Draft and scored among the top 85th percentile.
• Of those 12, three (25.0%) delivered at least a top-24 IDP finish so Distant, with an additional one added on who had a top-36 finish (33.3%) – none have achieved top-12 yet.
• It’s a limited Triumph ceiling for Kiser based on those numbers, but as always, a Excellent landing spot would make him an intriguing sleeper candidate.