2. You get a linebacker! You get a linebacker! Everyone gets a linebacker!
In a draft where we just got done talking about how important these versatile, overhang defenders are, we shouldn’t be surprised at how essential the league finds ultra-athlete linebackers, aka the original overhang defender.
If every team had linebackers who could run and cover, they wouldn’t need to start playing safeties in the box and in the slot, but that’s not a thing.
Both McShay and Kiper have four off-ball linebackers—that is, non-primary pass rushers—in the first round, which feels like a throwback. But Roquan Smith, Tremaine Edmunds, Rashaan Evans, and Leighton Vander Esch are all special athletes who can play in coverage, run sideline-to-sideline and also be impactful as pass rushers. Some teams even view Edmunds and LVE as possible SAM linebackers who do consistently rush the passer, while Evans is a former edge rusher.
These players are the future and this class is loaded with them. Between the versatile safeties and linebackers, they account for nearly a fourth of the entire first round.