Consensus board vs. draft day: the full LB class, charted.
The Steal
Scooby Wright III was ranked LB11 on the consensus board (#128 overall) but lasted until pick 250, where the Cleveland Browns took him in Round 7. A 122-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any LB in the class. Behind him, Kentrell Brothers (+78) and Joshua Perry (+41) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The New York Giants took B.J. Goodson at pick 109, 94 spots ahead of his #203 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on Antonio Morrison (66 spots) and Nick Vigil (60 spots).
The Cliff
After Deion Jones went at pick 52, the next LB didn't come off the board for 35 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 31 picks on LB, 6 of them in the first two rounds. That's above the position's average of 24 since 2018.
The Bet
The Chicago Bears spent more draft capital on LB than any other club: picks 9 and 113, 39% of their total draft investment.
The One Who Slipped
Tyler Matakevich, ranked #136 on the consensus board, went undrafted through all 253 picks.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Leonard Floyd | LB4 | #21 | −12 | Georgia | Chicago |
| 20 | Darron Lee | LB2 | #14 | +6 | Ohio State | NY Jets |
| 34 | Jaylon Smith | LB5 | #31 | +3 | Notre Dame | Dallas |
| 36 | Myles Jack | LB1 | #4 | +32 | UCLA | Jacksonville |
| 41 | Reggie Ragland | LB3 | #15 | +26 | Alabama | Buffalo |
| 52 | Deion Jones | LB7 | #65 | −13 | LSU | Atlanta |
| 87 | Nick Vigil | LB15 | #147 | −60 | Utah State | Cincinnati |
| 88 | Kyler Fackrell | LB8 | #66 | +22 | Utah State | Green Bay |
| 99 | Joe Schobert | LB10 | #115 | −16 | Wisconsin | Cleveland |
| 102 | Joshua Perry | LB6 | #61 | +41 | Ohio State | San Diego |
| 109 | B.J. Goodson | LB24 | #203 | −94 | Clemson | NY Giants |
| 113 | Nick Kwiatkoski | LB13 | #134 | −21 | West Virginia | Chicago |
| 115 | De'Vondre Campbell | LB20 | #175 | −60 | Minnesota | Atlanta |
| 125 | Antonio Morrison | LB22 | #191 | −66 | Florida | Indianapolis |
| 131 | Blake Martinez | LB12 | #133 | −2 | Stanford | Green Bay |
| 160 | Kentrell Brothers | LB9 | #82 | +78 | Missouri | Minnesota |
| 169 | Antwione Williams | LB | — | — | Georgia Southern | Detroit |
| 175 | Jatavis Brown | LB18 | #163 | +12 | Akron | San Diego |
| 183 | Devante Bond | LB | — | — | Oklahoma | Tampa Bay |
| 190 | Josh Forrest | LB27 | #233 | −43 | Kentucky | LA Rams |
| 194 | Cory James | LB | — | — | Colorado State | Las Vegas |
| 203 | Dadi Lhomme Nicolas | LB19 | #170 | +33 | Virginia Tech | Kansas City |
| 214 | Elandon Roberts | LB | — | — | Houston | New England |
| 220 | Travis Feeney | LB21 | #179 | +41 | Washington | Pittsburgh |
| 222 | Aaron Wallace | LB28 | #234 | −12 | UCLA | Tennessee |
| 227 | Stephen Weatherly | LB26 | #212 | +15 | Vanderbilt | Minnesota |
| 232 | Steven Daniels | LB32 | #266 | −34 | Boston College | Washington |
| 239 | Trevor Bates | LB | — | — | Maine | Indianapolis |
| 246 | Tyler Matekevich | LB | — | — | Temple | Pittsburgh |
| 250 | Scooby Wright III | LB11 | #128 | +122 | Arizona | Cleveland |
| 251 | Joe Walker | LB | — | — | Oregon | Philadelphia |
| Undrafted (UDFA) | ||||||
| — | Tyler Matakevich | LB14 | #136 | — | Temple | — |
| — | Eric Striker | LB16 | #151 | — | Oklahoma | — |
| — | Dominique Alexander | LB17 | #161 | — | Oklahoma | — |
| — | Jared Norris | LB23 | #193 | — | Utah | — |
| — | Terrance Smith | LB25 | #209 | — | Florida State | — |
| — | Beniquez Brown | LB29 | #236 | — | Mississippi State | — |
| — | Curt Maggitt | LB30 | #243 | — | Tennessee | — |
| — | Cassanova McKinzy | LB31 | #255 | — | Auburn | — |
| — | Kris Frost | LB33 | #289 | — | Auburn | — |
| — | C.J. Johnson | LB | — | — | Mississippi | — |
| — | Darien Harris | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Gionni Paul | LB | — | — | Utah | — |
| — | James Burgess | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Montese Overton | LB | — | — | East Carolina | — |
| — | Perez Ford | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Raphael Kirby | LB | — | — | Miami | — |
| — | Steve Longa | LB | — | — | Rutgers | — |
| — | Travis Blanks | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Tyler Gray | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Tyler Roberts | LB | — | — | — | — |
Pre-draft projections are from the Wide Left Consensus Big Board compiled by Arif Hasan, an aggregation of published analyst boards.