Cincinnati Bengals Draft

Ranking the Draft's Best Linebackers

By Josh Kirkendall@Josh_Kirkendall Feb 19, 2007, 1:32pm EST

There's a lot of question at linebacker. Here's the obvious: Will Odell Thurman and David Pollack come back? If Pollack comes back, will they move him to defensive end to minimize the violent collisions at linebacker and protect his neck. Brian Simmons is getting older and dealt with a nagging neck injury. Will Ahmad Brooks show any semblance of being able to perform in the NFL? Rashad Jeanty and Caleb Miller played well, but are they the answers? We know that Landon Johnson will be here. Here's two lists of our current linebackers. The first is if both Pollack and Thurman return at linebacker for 2007 -- including restricted free agents.

1	Odell Thurman
2	David Pollack
3	Brian Simmons
4	Landon Johnson
5	Rashad Jeanty
6	Caleb Miller
7	Andre Frazier
8	A.J. Nicholson
9	Ahmad Brooks
10	Jason Berryman

Without Thurman and Pollack (or if he goes to DE).

1	Brian Simmons
2	Landon Johnson
3	Rashad Jeanty
4	Caleb Miller
5	Andre Frazier
6	A.J. Nicholson
7	Ahmad Brooks
8	Jason Berryman

There's definitely a downgrade, as we saw during 2006, at linebacker.

Now if the team decides to look past free agency, then likely they'll go after someone in the draft. Players like Cato June, London Fletcher-Baker and Adalius Thomas are unrestricted free agents. There's word that Takeo Spikes could be available. But realistically, the team won't go after any proven starting free agents. So let's rank the best linebackers in the draft by taking six draft sites and averaging them out based on their position rankings.

MIDDLE LINEBACKER