Cincinnati Bengals free agent linebacker, Dhani Jones, recently spent some time on NFL Network where he shared his thoughts on the top-10 linebackers in the NFL.
Jones ranks Carolina Panthers linebacker Jon Beason in tenth place and Washington Redskins linebacker London Fletcher in ninth place. Jones says Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs belongs in eighth place. He then ranked himself as the seventh best linebacker in the NFL.
"No. 7, my favorite one, is Dhani Jones," Jones said. "Just thinking about what he's able to do time and time again."
He also mentioned his offseason travel and his patented great-play dance, the air guitar.
Jones finished off his top-10 linebackers list in the following order:
No. 6 - New England Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo
No. 5 - Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis
No. 4 - Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews
No. 3 - Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware
No. 2 - Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison
No. 1 - San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis
Of course Jones' list stirred up some controversy between the hosts. Jones was asked why he didn't put Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher on the list, to which Jones replied "When was the last time Urlacher got off a block?"
He was also criticized for leaving Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley off the list. Warren Sapp, an NFL Network host, sprayed Febreze on the piece of paper Jones had his list written on and said, " Now your list doesn't stink anymore."
Jones has led the Bengals in tackles for the last three seasons, but it's unclear as to whether or not the Bengals will re-sign him once the lockout finally comes to an end. Rey Maualuga seems to be primed to move to middle linebacker, where he belongs, to replace Jones this season, but that leaves question marks about who will play outside linebacker opposite of Keith Rivers.
If the Bengals decide to re-sign Jones, Maualuga will move back to outside linebacker, if not, they'll need to find a new outside linebacker, possibly Michael Johnson or Brandon Johnson, if they re-sign him.
If Jones truly is the seventh best linebacker in the NFL, maybe the Bengals should re-sign him.