The Fumblerooski Podcast - Titan Up the Coverage -Ep 27 the Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: June 9, 2021

Julio Jones has been traded to the Tenessee Titans and we debate how good the Titans are with Julio added to the mix. We commence week 2 of our player rankings as we were tasked with ranking the top ten Linebackers headed into the 2021 season. Tune in to Episode 27 of The Fumblerooski Podcast!

Good evening. You are listening to the Fumble Rooski podcast by Power 88 Dean Radio. I'm your host, Adam Wright, along with co-host Justin Tucker. Now, we have week two of our player rankings coming up right in a few minutes. We have linebackers coming up this week. We have a lot of, this was actually a fun one. We had a lot of different options. We picked some good players. We have a lot of – this was actually a fun one. We had a lot of different options. We have – we picked some good players.

But first we have some breaking news that we have to cover from a couple of days ago. Julio Jones has finally been traded to a new team. He went to the Tennessee Titans. Now we discussed this as an option, the Tennessee Titans, a couple of weeks ago when he was one of Julio Jones' top options to go to. Now, we've discussed how much of a fit this is. But, Justin, I've got to ask, how good are the Titans? How good do you think the Titans are are with julio jones added to the mix i think they're right back in the afc title contenders right now if you go from cory davis to julio jones you're doing something right here i mean this guy is a future hall of famer

even on a down year he had around 800 yards and still was a very productive guy, even hampered by injuries. And while being on the field with Calvin Ridley. So all in all, fair to say he's going to be fine in Nashville, Tennessee, with Ryan Tannehill as his quarterback, Derrick Henry as his running back, and a running mate with A.J. Brown right next to him. I believe he'll get plenty of one-on-one opportunities and be able to feast upon those things. And now, if he's able to do that, they can't leave the box as heavy as they want to with defenses now.

That'll open up the box for Derrick Henry to just run roughshod all over everyone. And that'll allow them to play ball control offense and not give opponents many opportunities to score. And then I could now see them in the AFC championship game. And it pains me to say they could actually contend for the Super Bowl. But they ain't being the rights. But overall, pretty good improvement for the Tennessee Titans. So you think your AFC championship is going to be Ravens-Titans?

I did not say that, but I do think they made a step in the right direction. I would love that as my AFC championship game. I would love that, but I don't think it's going to happen. You know, that would have meant that they would meet in all three rounds of the NFL playoffs besides the Super Bowl. Wild card round, divisional round, and AFC championship. It'd be two out of three at that point. So I think you guys are tied. The Titans won the first one in the divisional round a couple years ago.

Then your Ravens won the wild card round. So it would be winner takes all, the AFC championship game. Then one team's going to move to the NFC, and then it's going to be, oh, who's going to win the Super Bowl between those two? All right. So let me first start off on this by saying if it takes a second and a fourth round to get a future Hall of Famer in Julio Jones, why wasn't half the league in on this? I mean, there were a lot of teams who were in on it, but they were out once. They were out because it took a second-round pick. My New England Patriots were in on this, were in on the Julio Jones sweepstakes from the beginning.

And I'm sitting here questioning, why didn't they pull the trigger on a player like this? Who are they going to take in the second round who's better than Julio Jones? Even if you only get two, three good years out of him or maybe one year, you go for that guy for a couple of years. They did that with Randy Moss a few years ago, and you need to do it again with Julio Jones. They didn't. With that being said, when I talked about the Titans as a fit, at first I thought – when we were discussing it a couple of episodes ago, I believe it was episode 25, we were discussing the two teams that Julio Jones wanted to go to, and it was the Titans and the Patriots. That was the original report that said that. And I thought that didn't make much sense at the time. But over the past couple of weeks thinking about it, I've actually been thinking about it a little bit. It is a fit because they lost Corey Davis and they lost Jonu Smith as well. And that leaves them with really their big legitimate passing threat

being A.J. Brown. So they needed to add somebody into that offense. And I mean, obviously, when you add in Julio Jones to replace Corey Davis, that's a huge upgrade. And now they have an electric offense on paper. They still haven't replaced Johnny Smith, but they do have that kid, Anthony Ferkser, Anthony Ferkser, is it? And who can fill that gap and be a serviceable tight end in that offense. But Ryan Tannehill should be, his play should elevate um derrick henry should see more room to run now and a.j brown is going to get more opportunities overall just an electric offense i still think this is a team that needed to focus more on defense especially since they lost a lot of players in that defense they lost malcolm butler um and i know i know he's not i know he in recent years since he left new england he hasn't been a

huge player for them but with the way that defense is that defense doesn't have much left they don't it's a good defense but in in some aspects but they're it's clearly a one-sided team. They're not quite balanced. They're going to be run on offense. So now, that being said, this team is going to score. This team is going to put a million points on the board, but they may wind up allowing a million points as well. So that leaves me with the question, good is this titans team with julio jones most absolutely a playoff team um they may go 11 and 7 or sorry 11 11 and 6 still misses with five the the 17 game schedule is screwing with my head. I'm telling you, they, I don't like this. Um, I don't, I'm uncomfortable. It makes me uncomfortable. The 17 game schedule, it's going to take a couple of

years to get used to, but, um, this is a team that, that is definitely going to be in the mix, but I just, I don't see them being, um, a legitimate threat to represent in the Superbowl. I just, I just don't see it. That defense isn't good enough. They should have addressed that. I know you can't really – sometimes you can't – beggars can't be choosers, and they certainly – as a beggar, they got Julio Jones, so that's great. But they're kind of in a similar spot to where they were last year,

a good team that was in the mix, but they just couldn't they just couldn't they just couldn't get it done. They couldn't get over the hump, and I don't think they'll get over the hump this year. Yeah, I mean, they have to come through Baltimore, so of course they weren't getting over the hump. I'm just saying,

A.J. Brown, Julio Jones are your number one and your number two receivers. Derrick Henry is your running back. Ryan Tannehill is your quarterback. You could do a lot worse with this arsenal here. You could do a lot worse. And as far as their defense is concerned, I think they've made improvements, even though they lost some people.

I believe their first-round pick, Caleb Caleb Farley will be a great player for them if he develops the right way. And hopefully they will take steps in the right direction to help better their defense over time. But right now I do see them as a playoff contender.

And it just makes it even tougher in the AFC. It is tough now that I think about it. The AFC is a tough conference. I'm not doubting that offense. Before they got Julio Jones, I didn't think this team was a playoff team after what they lost on defense. They lost Corey Davis and Johnnie Smith on offense

I thought this team isn't a playoff team now they're kind of back where they were before this is a good pickup this is a very it's a great pickup for them um but they they still don't address their need on defense which is which is which is key to win for them winning a Super Bowl where they need they kind of have to they need to get more balance on this team or else they're going to wind up scoring a lot of points and they're going to wind up giving away a lot of points. And there's going to be a lot of shootouts where they end up shooting themselves in the foot on defense and they lose some games. Well, there's still a lot of free agents out there, a surprising amount of free agents out there.

So maybe they will try to address that at some point in time when it comes to defense. I don't like defending these guys, but, yeah, I believe given the right circumstances, they could push the AFC title game. They ain't getting past us, don't get me wrong, but I could see 12-5, 13-4. Oh my God.

13-4. That's a bit of a stretch. I could see it. They're in the AFC South. Yeah, but 12-1. The Colts are good. The Colts are good. Then there's the Texans and Jacksonville. That's four wins. You think Jacksonville's going to be better? I think Jacksonville's going to be

respectable this year. I think they're going to be respectful, but again, I don't think they have anybody to stop like Derrick Henry, because he always does well against Jacksonville specifically. Like always. Yeah, well, they do have Trevor Lawrence. They have a better offense. It's going to be tough to.

I mean, think about it this way. Between the Colts and the Titans, that's going to be a good division battle, don't you think? Yeah, I believe both of them will get four to five wins in just that division alone. I think they'll split between each other. But it's going to be a heated matchup. And one of them is going to have a home playoff game, and the other one's going to be in the wildcard round as one of one of the seven teams or two of the seven teams yeah it'll just come down to which team wins the division which team just slides into the playoffs maybe one of them will beat them in the beat the other in the

playoffs honestly i want i want to know when do they play each other because if it came down to like a week 17 matchup on like Sunday night football, I'm watching that. That's going to be a great matchup. I want to see that. And I think you and I have talked a little bit off camera about through a fantasy football perspective. I mean, we were talking more about Devontae Adams if Aaron Rodgers gets traded.

There's some more drama with that that didn't make the episode because we have bigger news to cover. But Aaron Rodgers is going to be a holdout for minicamp. He's most likely going to – he's is going to be a holdout for minicamp he's most likely gonna he's not going to get traded this season he's he if anything if there's any movement for him it's going to be after this season but anyways um if you if you if you're a fantasy football enthusiast like me and justin for those of you who are listening, invest in this Titans offense and that Colts offense as well. There's going to be some numbers put up from those two offenses, and it's going to be electric.

Yep, I think Jonathan Taylor might be one of my reserve backs. I might have to insert. Absolutely. All right. Now, next, we are going to start our player rankings and go into our linebackers the same way we did it last week, where we're going to do the bottom five first, and then we'll go to the top five right after that. Stay tuned. You're not going to want to miss this. You're listening to the Fumble Rooski podcast. All right, let's get started. We have our bottom five linebackers in our top 10.

All right, Justin, do you want to lead off with your number 10 guy? I know people are going to say I'm biased about this one, but in all honesty, he's a top 10 guy for me. And that is Patrick Queen, linebacker for my Baltimore Ravens. Now you're saying, Justin, come on now. He's not top 10. His numbers may be big to them. As a rookie, had over 100 tackles, had a few sacks, a couple of forced fumbles, and a couple of fumble recoveries, and a touchdown and an interception to his resume. In watching him, he does have a lot to improve as far as pass coverage, but I think overall he'll take a step up and be better

because he didn't even have OTAs last year. So he had to do all that basically off instinct alone. And I believe now that he has a full, like, minicamp and OTAs to learn the defense under new coaching with Rob Ryan I Believe you he'll be even better and that's saying something. I think he'll do very well This is the Second week in a row where you've put a Baltimore Raven at number 10 in your top 10 just yes Yes, I understand the Deshaun Elliott was unjustified,

but I believe Patrick Quinn is a little more justifiable. You can see why I'm in the top 10. That being said, I put my Donta Hightower in. I love his leadership. He makes big plays in big-time moments. A textbook patriot when it comes to leadership and just mental toughness and being able to play through things. He opted out of this past season, which could be a little bit of an issue,

and he has a history of injuries, but I think getting a season to kind of sit back and kind of rest for this upcoming season. He'll be healthy, and I think he's due for it. Now, number nine, Justin. My number nine guy surprised Adam when I told him this, but my guy at number nine is Miles Jack out of Jacksonville. Now, was that Jacksonville defense good last year? No, it was not.

Were they average? Hell no, they were not. But all in all, the thing that somehow held them together was Miles Jett. 2017 still performed admirably in the position he was put in in a developmental phase in Jacksonville's future preparing for the inevitable Trevor Lawrence so I believe he'll continue to be productive for that team and he'll be there when they finally make it back to the playoffs within the next five years and be one of the best linebackers in the game see i love miles jack's athleticism he's one of the more athletic linebackers in the game he's probably he's he's a very good linebacker he's a relic of the past back when the saxonville jaguars were terrorizing the league in 2017 and just ripping teams apart. I remember when they just gashed Pittsburgh in that one playoff game. And they made some plays against New England, but it's hard to beat the man himself, Thomas Edward Patrick Brady.

Especially when it comes to playoff time, the AFC championship game. You're not beating him in New England. What a game that was, though, wasn't it? Team Banks was different, but we'll get to that another day. And he was involved in a controversy in that game. Remember? If you remember, back in the fourth quarter of that game, there was a fumble.

The refs weren't sure whether or not it was a fumble so they just rolled him down and they said they keep on saying well he was untouched he was he was headed for the end zone if he didn't um if he didn't but it was a very close call you can see why they ruled him down at first because he actually if you looked um so it was Deion Jones who, sorry, Deion Lewis was tackled on the play. He fumbled the ball, but you could see that he had that ball trapped against his hit for a few minutes there. And they wound up ruling it a fumble, but it was very close. They were down about two possessions at the time, about ten points, and Miles Jack recovered the ball.

It didn't wind up amounting to anything. Jacksonville punted, and um new england went back down to score right after that but uh intense moment that's that's really what i when i think of miles jack i think of that and honestly good linebacker he's not in my top 10 but i do have um a linebacker who is number nine for me, who kind of fits your formula for Miles Jack. He was on a very bad defense, which was the Atlanta Falcons defense. Very good linebacker, and he was a bright spot on this team. And you feel uncomfortable putting an atlanta falcon

in your top 10 linebackers but deon jones does fit the molds for me um he's been putting up consistent numbers his entire time playing for atlanta and um i think people forget that that front seven this past year for the atlanta falcons was actually pretty good they were able to stop the run their front seven was good um it was their secondary that really screwed him over but deon jones was the embodiment of that he was a he was a force um and he is in my number nine spot for top linebackers in the league. But I get it. 28-3.

You don't want defensive players. 28-3. And then this year with their defense, oh, God. He's not a bad player, of course. I believe on a better defense, he'd show more of what he's good at. But, my God, it's hard to look good in Atlanta's defense. They basically let everybody through. But enough of that.

I digress. My number eight linebacker is. Number eight? Yep. Demario Davis, linebacker for the Saints. Leader in the locker room, leader on the team, leader on the defense, and leader in the trenches. He is the head honcho of that Saints front seven, which includes Cam Jordan, remind you, and formerly Ted Hendrickson. That means something to me when one guy is a double-digit sack guy and another guy is an all-pro pass rusher. And he's the one that makes that whole defense work.

He's the glue that makes the back end and the front end gel. And I believe he's the reason that that defense is very, very, very good. Well, not great, but very good nonetheless. Because when they play in the Dome, they're just very hard to beat. See, I have Demario Davis, too, at number eight. So a rare occurrence where we actually agree on something. That's why. Which might mean that either me or you said something dumb.

Or that we both actually said something smart for once. Mm-hmm. Could be. But I like Demario Davis. That Saints defense was electric this past year and the past few years, and Demario Davis was really in the middle of that. Such a great front seven for the Saints. And Demario Davis, he's constantly racking up tackles.

He can rush the passer. He can do just about everything, and he's a great leader on that team. That Saints defense is going to need leader on that team that Saints defense is going to need him with the way that that Saints offense is going because they're going to end up that's going to be a defensive that's that's going to be a defense centered team and they're going to need every bit of him and I think they're going to they're going to get every bit of this guy so he's my number eight guy going into this season. But a rare occurrence where you and I, Justin, we agree on something.

A rarity. Very. We'll enjoy that while that lasts. It's about to change because my number seven guy is Tremaine Edmonds. Tremaine Edmonds.

Yep, he's my number seven guy. I believe health when he's healthy, he's a Pro Bowl linebacker. I mean, the results speak for himself. And I don't think he's as maybe as impactful as Matt Milano is to that team. But at the same time, I don't think Tremaine Edmonds was healthy. and I think he was injured. I don't think he was fully healthy that entire season. So if Jermaine Edmonds can stay healthy, I believe he's one of the better linebackers in the league and rightfully deserving of it in the middle of Buffalo's front seven defense, which isn't bad within its own right, too.

See, I have Roquan Smith, a guy who is—so you mentioned you got a guy who hasn't been healthy, and you say, well, if he's healthy, he's going to be good. I have Roquan Smith, who has been healthy for most of his time. Early on in the early going of his career, this is a young career for him. He's only been in the league for three seasons, and this was really the first year where he really started to emerge, and I think this was his breakout year. He's only going to get better from here. And Roquan Smith, watch out for Roquan Smith on that elite Bears defense. Another great front seven that they have going on there,

especially with, what's his name, Mr. I'm blanking on his name, Khalil Mack. And Jordan, Aaron Hicks, that whole team, that whole front seven, and Roquan Smith being part of that team, it's going to be great. Yeah, not a bad pick. A solid one. He barely missed the cut, but not there yet. My number six guy. My number six guy is Devin White. Too low. Too low. Too low.

Six? He's six. He is not too low. He is right where he needs to be. He is a top ten linebacker, and he will stay at six for right now because he's phenomenal as a blitzer he's fast as all hell he can get from point to point just like that he's reliable in coverage and if you need him to make an open field play he's got

it like that this guy's good he's just a little inexperienced so so when he plays, you can tell the little tendencies he does. But overall, he's pretty good. But he's not better than the five guys in front of him. I'm not sure about that. It is what it is. With the raw talent that he has, that guy is going to explode in these upcoming years, especially this year. He's young, and he can rush the passer. He got nine sacks this past year.

Nine for a linebacker. That's impressive. And he racks up solo tackles. The tackles for loss are there. The only thing that he needs to fix is the missed tackles. He had 19 this past season, 19 missed tackles. That's a big number that he needs to cut down. But with more experience, he's going to get better.

Anyways, I have Eric Hendricks for my guy. For at number six, yes. Okay. Well, you had Devin White too low, so you know what? I'm going to have Eric Hendricks as number six. He's not low. That's not low. Six?

Explain. Explain yourself. All right. number six he's not low that's not low six explain explain yourself all right now eric kendricks he has racked up he has racked up tackles for most of his career but just not as much as many as the five guys in front of him and he he's good he's very very good he's a he's a very good linebacker one of the best in the league. But I just don't like – just like how you said Devin White isn't as good as the guys in front of him, Eric Hendricks isn't as good as the guys that I have in front of him. You're telling me he's not as good as Devin White. That's what you're telling me. I have Devin White over Eric Hendricks, yes.

Oh, my God. Okay. Okay. You must really love speed then because, oh, my God. I really like speed, yes. Wow. He can rush the passer very well. How many sacks did Eric Kendricks have?

Let me look up how many sacks Eric Kendr kendricks have let me let me look up let me look at how many sacks eric kendricks had for this season i'll look it up on uh pro football reference yeah eric kendricks here we go so we have he got zero sacks for the 2020 season nine in his career. You know how many Devin White had just this past season alone? Nine. So as many as he has had solo tackles in the 2020 season, 69, and he's never gone over 72. Yeah, whatever, we get it. And another thing to add on to that is he's he only has one full season under his belt now he has seasons of going two seasons of going 15 games he has a couple going 14 this past season 11 so health is a concern as well and health really hasn't been a concern of the five guys i have in front of him i'm sorry i have him as at number six that he's one of the one of the premier linebackers in the league.

But he just doesn't quite fit the bill of being a top five linebacker going into the 2021 season for me. Tis, tis. Eric Kendricks is out of your top five. I have. Yeah, that's right. We're going to go into our top five coming up next. This is the best of the best linebackers. We actually have very different guys in our rankings coming up in our top five. We're absolutely going to butt heads on this. Stay tuned. You're listening to the Fumble Rooski podcast.

All right, here we go. We have our top five linebackers. Justin, you want to lead us off right here with our top five linebackers going into the 2021 season? Yes, I do. My number five guy is Devin White's teammate, Levante David. Leader of that defense, Super Bowl champion, helped Devin White to get where he's at right now. Those two as a duo, the best linebacking duo in the league by far. I believe his intelligence and while his speed may not be Devin White's, it's pretty fast in his own right to be able to diagnose plays and be able to make the play. But just like that. Yeah, he's top five in my eyes still to this day.

I think he's now getting the recognition he deserves. Yeah. Well, right. That's mainly because he was on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and we all know what happens to Buccaneers

when they're, well, when they're on the Buccaneers. Apparently won Super Bowl. Well, they won a Super Bowl once Tom Brady got there. But that franchise, other than when Tom Brady was there, for the most part has been pretty irrelevant. You don't think of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when you think of the NFL. You think of the Steelers. You think of the Patriots. You think of the 49ers.

You think of the Green Bay Packers. You don't think of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers unless Tom Brady is on the team. But anyways, my number five guy who I have over Eric Kendricks is Devin White, another linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This guy, he has the speed, he has strength, and he has just the raw talent that he has and the promise that he showed in the early going of his career. He had a great season this past season, and he's only getting better. This guy is primed for another elite season.

And on a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team, as a unit this year, they brought everybody back. That team is ready to win. Momentum is on their side, and this is a guy who is up and coming, and he is looking to be one of the best linebackers in the league going into the 2021 season. That's nice. He's still not better than Eric Kendricks. I will say that right now. He is not better than Eric Kendricks. But I digress. Give me your number four guy. My number four guy is Eric Kendricks.

Now, he is my number four guy. He's not top six. He's top five, and he's probably top three. But I'm being objective here. He's top four. Over Devin White? Yes, he's – I think I just made it clear he's better than Devin White. But let me explain.

Stats don't take into the full picture of what Eric Hendricks does for his team. The impact he has on the game is numerous because of how multiple that defense is. He can rush the passer even though he's not asked to do it. He's more asked to be a decoy in those things while Anthony Barr actually gets the chance to. He can play coverage pretty dang well. He's actually one of the better passing coverage linebackers in the league. He's asked to cover running backs in one-on-one coverage, which he can do pretty well. One of the best at it. And fine ball, see ball, get ball, one of the best. He is obviously one of the better linebackers in the league and doesn't get enough credit for it because he plays in minnesota and minnesota barely makes the playoffs

every other year mainly because of kirk cousins but yeah but that defense is a1 and he plays a big part in that right except. Except how great was, how good was that Minnesota defense this past year or the year before that? Solid. The year before that, they made the playoffs because of that defense. And the year after that, they barely missed.

Barely? Yeah. They missed it either way. Whether an inch or a mile, they missed. That offense didn't click like it either way. Whether an inch or a mile, they missed that offensively clip like it should have. That Minnesota defense has been shaky the past couple of years. I haven't liked it. They didn't do that.

I haven't liked it one bit. And it's mainly because Xavier Rhodes in the secondary has kind of fallen off. And I know he's in Indianapolis now, and he's actually been, he's had a little bit of a career renaissance. But in recent years when he was with Minnesota, he hasn't been good. And they've kind of struggled to replace his production in the secondary. And their run defense isn't all that good either. The front seven isn't all that good. that the front seven isn't that isn't all that

good i know they have daniel hunter as well so they have a they they have some players on that team they just don't put up the results um but anyways my number four guy i have fred warner this guy in the early going of his career, he has been elite, and I expect it to continue. And that entire defense is on the up and up. They also have Nick Bosa leading the charge on that team, and Fred Warner is looking like a real star and a future best running back in the – sorry, keep on saying running back. Future best linebacker in the league. He's up and coming.

He's young, but coming into this season, I see him being a real force for the 49ers this season. It's funny you should mention that because number three is Fred Warner for me. As a rookie, he showed you he can compete at this level. In his second year, he was able to show you that he can lead a team to the Super Bowl on the back of his

defense. And in the third year, he can show you he can be healthy while everybody else is getting injured. Nick Bosa, gone for the year. Jim Garoppolo, in and out of the lineup. George Kittle, in and out of the lineup. But Fred Warner, manning that defense, stayed pretty healthy this entire season and was able to help that defense to the average middle of the league, minus all the people they have lost, like DeForest Buckner to the Colts, Nick Bosa to injuries, so on and so forth. With all that said, he's pretty good.

He's great in coverage. He's good at the line. I'm not excited about him blitzing, but he can get to the quarterback just fine. Not like Devin White, but still pretty good and makes all the calls for that defense. Oh no, he's my top three and pretty solid all around. So my number three who I have is Bobby Wagner. So Bobby Wagner has been one of the best, if not the best, linebacker in the game for the past, ever since he's entered the league. However, he's getting up there in age, and he couldn't stop that Seattle defense from being one of the worst defenses we have seen from Seattle in recent memory. Let's not forget how great that defense has been, being called the Legion of Boom. I know they've lost a lot of guys, but you would expect to play a defense that defense that's as co as well coached as they are to fall off so um

so far and you know you you see you talk about the the leadership of bobby wagner if he's such a great leader i expect him to i do expect him to lead them to more to better performances than they have but it was it was a really bad overall performance by them other than that i i mean it sounds like i'm going i'm really trashing on him and i know it and i i mean i kind of am but however um he is my number three linebacker in the entire league going into the 2021 season. So he's a great player and I expect him to continue to do that. I just don't see him being any higher than that. Tragedy. Tragedy. He's number three. He should be number one. He should be number one. should be number one but we're

we're gonna get to that i've seen your list and i'm he's number three and i and i've seen your number two you do see my number two i've seen your number five too i've seen your number six and we're not even getting into this. Let's get to number two here. My number two guy is Darius Leonard. The Colts are very good on defense. You have DeForest Buckner as your defensive tackle. Dominant player, especially when he was with the 49ers and he brought that over to the Colts to make that front formidable. Darius Leonard makes all of that work.

Oh, my, oh, my. First off, he was an undrafted rookie, and he's able to play like this. That's the impressive part. He just showed up on the scene out of nowhere, and now all of a sudden, he's legitimately one of the best linebackers in the league. He's either top two or three, depending on how you rank him. And every time I just watch that Coles defense, he's always making a play. It's ridiculous. And he's athletic as hell. Can rush the passer.

Can force the ball out of somebody's hands just like that. It'll happen out of nowhere. I didn't like it when it happened to us. But, well, I digress. Run sideline to sideline with the best of them. Can run down a running back. Can make a play in an open field. And can rush the passer.

He's my number two, and I'm very solid in him being my number two. All right. Now, you wanted my number two. You got him. The man himself, the legend himself, Levante David, who was your number five guy. You had four guys taken ahead of Levante David. Yes. I'll tell you why he's number two. Not only can he rack up solo tackles, and it's not just the fact that he's been healthy just about his entire career through being a linebacker since 2012, just staying healthy.

But have you seen the amount of tackles for loss that he racks up year after year? It's incredible. And I'll pull up the statistics. I'll give you the statistics now. This season, he had 12 tackles for loss. In 2019 he had 10. 18, 13. 2017 he had 8. 2016 he had 17. In 2015 he had 10. 2014, 17 tackles for loss. 2013 he had 21.

In 2012 he had 21. In 2012, he had 20. He's just consistently racking them up. He racks up the quarterback hits. He's always getting in the backfield, and he is getting to all of the pass catchers and the ball carriers. It's incredible. This guy, with the speed that he has his sideline his ability to get from sideline to sideline he's a perfect complement to devin white those two guys complement each other

and um greatly and levante david is my number two running back. I keep saying that. Number two linebacker in the entire league going into the 2021 season. This guy is a stud, and the Buccaneers were right to bring him back. Yeah, they were right to bring him back, but he's not number two. He is not over Bobby Wagner, and he's not over Fred Warner. I keep telling you this, but you're like, hey, Levante David liked that. And he is like that, but he ain't better than those two. But enough about griping about that number two. My number one guy is Bobby Wagner and he will remain that for this season. When they were healthy, they got drastically better than what they were in the beginning of the year.

Now, I can take into account Blitz Boy didn't help things because he was playing like burnt toast in coverage at some parts. But when they got better health reasons, they played pretty good on defense. I'm not going to say they woed everybody, but they played a lot better than what they were playing early on in the season. I believe Bobby Wagner was a big part of that. As a leader, to be able to turn around that defense from where it was, to be able to be somewhat competent, I think is a testament to his leadership and his playmaking ability. And basically, he's the perfect linebacker all rolled up into one. And he was always the best slash second best linebacker in the league,

aside from Luke Kuechly, who's now retired. And that was just him holding that sole place on the throne. He is my number one guy. All right. Now you have Bobby Wagner. Also, just to point out, looking at tackles for loss for Bobby Wagner, going up against Levante David, it's night and day. Levante David buries him alive and that he eats his lunch um and that that being said bobby wagner's been just as healthy as levante david he's actually

missed one game in the past five seasons so um hats off to bobby wagner for that he's certainly one of the better best linebackers in the league we can both agree on that however my number one is darius leonard darius leonard uh a leader in that defense he transformed that defense overnight really if you think about it that defense before the before darius leonard was horrendous you look at you i mean back before darius leonard you would think of the colts defense and you think they are you think of the worst defenses in the league. One of the first defenses to come up in your head would be the Colts defense. It was just that bad early on, and Darius Leonard has really turned that around, and they're one of the best defenses in the league now, top five easily.

And a lot of that has to do with darius leonard he's a leader on that team he has the speed and he can really do it all and i think he's mr reliable you can you can rely on this guy to carry that that colts defense going into the 2021 season. He's the best linebacker in the league, end of story. He does have an argument for it. I will give you credit for that. He's been playing phenomenal as of late, and only time will tell. I still think it's Bobby Wagner, but I could be wrong because Darius Leonard is that special level football player.

And to think this guy went undrafted as a rookie. Scouts need to do their homework better if this guy is going undrafted. Really? He's just the raw talent that he has. And, I mean, we've seen a lot of unlikely stories from undrafted guys but i mean this guy this guy is a leader on this team and he's just electric you can feel his presence as a linebacker on in in games and it really just It really is incredible. This is my top five.

You have your top five. We do have very different picks for linebackers. Throughout our entire top ten, the only guy we have is at number eight to Mario Davis. Yeah. The only thing we agreed on. Other than that, it was pretty close. Fred Warner was close. I had him at number four. You had him at number three. Yeah. and Kendrick's we were as much as you are ripping me to shreds that I put him at number six you only had him in number four so it's only two spots difference so it wasn't that different

but it was it was pretty different and you had Miles Jack in there in our top five at our top 10 that is just mind-boggling. But any other thoughts on this list, Justin? What do you think of the list? I think it's a pretty good list all around. I think we did a pretty good job with it. I think my list is better as usual. You think yours is better?

Let's call it a day. Yeah, it's better. It's better. It's a little better. No, no. Mine is good. But, yeah, that's what we have for our top ten linebackers in the league. We gave you our update on Julio Jones today.

We gave you our analysis on the team that he was traded to, the Tennessee Titans. Overall, pretty good fit. I think we both agree. It was a need for them. Not their biggest need, but it was certainly a very big need for them. But anyways, next week we're going to go on to our top ten cornerbacks. And we'll give you updates around the league as usual to start off. But anyways, that'll do it for us tonight.

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