2012 NFL Draft: Top Ten Outside Linebackers

I'm sure many of you are looking at these lists and wondering if I have a man-crush on Melvin Ingram. After all, he's my number one prospect on the lists for defensive ends, 3-4 outside linebackers, and 4-3 outside linebackers. Well, I can assure you that I do not, but he really is one of the most versatile players in this draft. In my opinion, he can play almost every position in the front seven (he could also occasionally play tackle in pass rush situations).

I have no idea why he's probably going to go in the mid-teens, except the possibility that many general managers and coaches are not sure where they would play him. Or, they think he's a jack-of-all-trades, but master of none. Either way, any of the teams in the top ten that need a pass rusher and pass on him are making a huge mistake.

If your primary guide to evaluating players is the combine, you will not have Lavonte David ranked second on your list. His lateral movement and footwork looked slow and awkward, and his measurables were some of the worst in his group. However, if you watched him on Saturdays, you know that's not indicative of his talent. David is a sideline-to-sideline Tasmanian devil. He's explosive and his football IQ is at an elite level. He's a little light, without much room to add weight, but he'll be a great pro if he plays in a system that allows him to roam.

Here are the rest of the rankings:

Rank	Name	School	Height	Weight
1	Melvin Ingram	South Carolina	6014	264
2	Lavonte David	Nebraska	6005	233
3	Shea McClellin	Boise St.	6033	260
4	Whitney Mercilus	Illinois	6035	261
5	Bobby Wagner	Utah St.	6010	241
6	Bruce Irvin	West Virginia	6030	245
7	Ronnell Lewis	Oklahoma	6016	253
8	Zach Brown	North Carolina	6012	244
9	Nigel Bradham	Florida State	6017	241
10	Sean Spence	Miami-Fl.	5113	231

Everyone might be surprised to see Zach Brown check in at number eight, when so many other people have him ranked higher. There's no doubt that he's a fantastic athlete with world class speed, but when you get labeled and the film shows that you shy away from contact, that's a really big problem for a linebacker. You might think I'm contradicting myself in my comments about David, but there's a big difference: Brown appears to try and avoid contact, whereas David does not.

Bobby Wagner is another player in this group that could sneak up on the average football fan. A relative unknown, he has made a lot of scouts go back to the tape after his play at the Senior Bowl and his performance at his pro day. In addition to good workout numbers and statistics from college, he has a fantastic motor and ability to find the football. His movement skills are well above average as well. I look for him to go somewhere on the second day.