The Lions have their potential Alex Anzalone replacement with Michigan’s Jimmy Rolder – The risk, rewards, and scouting report

The Lions get a linebacker with a ton of upside, but limited experience and some injury history

The Detroit Lions must really love the Michigan Wolverines because they are double-dipping on them this year. With the 50th pick, they took edge rusher Derrick Moore, with the 118th pick, they’re taking linebacker Jimmy Rolder.

The rewards for the Lions with Jimmy Rolder

Rolder is coming off a big season with a team-leading 73 tackles, nine tackles for loss, three pass breakups, an interception, and two sacks. The two things that might really draw the Lions to Rolder are that he is one of the surest tacklers in the draft.

In 2025, Pro Football Focus gave him an 88.8 tackle grade. That was seventh in the nation among linebackers who played a minimum of 400 snaps. He missed just four tackles all season. The other thing is that he’s a strong run defender. PFF graded him out at 80.0 in the department.

The Risks for the Lions with Jimmy Rolder

The chief concern here is that Rolder has only been a starter for one year at Michigan. Previous to that, he was mostly a special teams player. But in that one year, he put up some really impressive numbers. But you have to wonder if the Lions see him as someone they have to work with over time to get ready, or if they can throw him into the fire.

The other thing is that Rolder has a bit of a lengthy injury history, which is one of the reasons he didn’t get to start as much as you’d like to see for a fourth-round pick. So there are going to be some concerns about that going forward.

AtoZ Sports Scouting Report on Jimmy Rolder

• Player: Jimmy Rolder
• Position: Linebacker
• Career Projection: Good backup and starter potential
• Birthdate: 2/9/2004
• Age: 22

“Jimmy Rolder is a highly instinctive linebacker prospect with great awareness and physicality. I thought he was a better athlete than given credit for, with good pursuit speed and the ability to handle manning up tight ends down the seam. Rolder fills the run well with good play strength and block deconstruction ability. Michigan did not ask him to handle a lot of coverage duties, but he can sit in hook/curl and keep his eyes on the quarterback. He has the upside to be a starting-caliber MIKE linebacker in year two while handling a large caliber special teams body of work early on.”

AJ Schulte