Consensus board vs. draft day: the full LB class, charted.
The Steal
Elijah Lee was ranked LB17 on the consensus board (#182 overall) but lasted until pick 232, where the Minnesota Vikings took him in Round 7. A 50-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any LB in the class. Behind him, Anthony Walker Jr. (+39) and Tim Williams (+33) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The Minnesota Vikings took Ben Gedeon at pick 120, 79 spots ahead of his #199 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on Matt Milano (77 spots) and Jayon Brown (60 spots).
The Cliff
After Pita Taumoepenu went at pick 202, the next LB didn't come off the board for 30 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 26 picks on LB, 8 of them in the first two rounds. That's above the position's average of 24 since 2018.
The Bet
The Detroit Lions spent more draft capital on LB than any other club: picks 21 and 124, 38% of their total draft investment.
The One Who Slipped
Ben Boulware, ranked #222 on the consensus board, went undrafted through all 253 picks.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Haason Reddick | LB2 | #14 | −1 | Temple | Arizona |
| 21 | Jarrad Davis | LB3 | #35 | −14 | Florida | Detroit |
| 30 | T.J. Watt | LB5 | #38 | −8 | Wisconsin | Pittsburgh |
| 31 | Reuben Foster | LB1 | #7 | +24 | Alabama | San Francisco |
| 47 | Tyus Bowser | LB8 | #59 | −12 | Houston | Baltimore |
| 49 | Ryan Anderson | LB9 | #70 | −21 | Alabama | Washington |
| 54 | Raekwon McMillan | LB7 | #58 | −4 | Ohio State | Miami |
| 57 | Zach Cunningham | LB4 | #36 | +21 | Vanderbilt | Houston |
| 75 | Duke Riley | LB10 | #89 | −14 | LSU | Atlanta |
| 76 | Alex Anzalone | LB11 | #106 | −30 | Florida | New Orleans |
| 78 | Tim Williams | LB6 | #45 | +33 | Alabama | Baltimore |
| 107 | Kendell Beckwith | LB14 | #127 | −20 | LSU | Tampa Bay |
| 108 | Vince Biegel | LB12 | #119 | −11 | Wisconsin | Green Bay |
| 120 | Ben Gedeon | LB18 | #199 | −79 | Michigan | Minnesota |
| 124 | Jalen Reeves-Maybin | LB15 | #162 | −38 | Tennessee | Detroit |
| 148 | Blair Brown | LB16 | #163 | −15 | Ohio | Jacksonville |
| 155 | Jayon Brown | LB20 | #215 | −60 | UCLA | Tennessee |
| 161 | Anthony Walker Jr. | LB13 | #122 | +39 | Northwestern | Indianapolis |
| 163 | Matt Milano | LB22 | #240 | −77 | Boston College | Buffalo |
| 168 | Marquel Lee | LB19 | #207 | −39 | Wake Forest | Las Vegas |
| 183 | Ukeme Eligwe | LB | — | — | Georgia Southern | Kansas City |
| 193 | Jordan Evans | LB27 | #264 | −71 | Oklahoma | Cincinnati |
| 195 | Tanner Vallejo | LB25 | #257 | −62 | Boise State | Buffalo |
| 202 | Pita Taumoepenu | LB | — | — | Utah | San Francisco |
| 232 | Elijah Lee | LB17 | #182 | +50 | Kansas State | Minnesota |
| 248 | Keion Adams | LB | — | — | Western Michigan | Pittsburgh |
| Undrafted (UDFA) | ||||||
| — | Ben Boulware | LB21 | #222 | — | Clemson | — |
| — | Harvey Langi | LB23 | #243 | — | BYU | — |
| — | Connor Harris | LB24 | #247 | — | Lindenwood | — |
| — | Steven Taylor | LB26 | #262 | — | — | — |
| — | Paul Magloire | LB28 | #264 | — | — | — |
| — | Calvin Munson | LB29 | #272 | — | — | — |
| — | Hardy Nickerson | LB30 | #272 | — | Illinois | — |
| — | Riley Bullough | LB31 | #272 | — | Michigan State | — |
| — | Brooks Ellis | LB32 | #286 | — | Arkansas | — |
| — | Keith Kelsey | LB33 | #286 | — | Louisville | — |
| — | Marcus Oliver | LB34 | #295 | — | — | — |
| — | Aaron Cooper | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Alex Barrett | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Charmeachealle Moore | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Christian Tago | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Dylan Cole | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Eric Wilson | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Jabari Ruffin | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | James Onwualu | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Jermaine Grace | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Jimmy Gilbert | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Joshua Posley | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Keith Brown | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Kenneth Olugbode | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Kevin Davis | LB | — | — | Colorado State | — |
| — | Nyeem Wartman-White | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Richie Brown | LB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Tau Lotulelei | LB | — | — | — | — |
Pre-draft projections are from the Wide Left Consensus Big Board compiled by Arif Hasan, an aggregation of published analyst boards.