Despite losing veteran stalwart Anthony Walker Jr. to the Cleveland Browns in free agency, the Indianapolis Colts' linebackers placed inside the top 5 of Pro Football Focus's LB unit rankings Tuesday.
The Colts come in at No. 5 in PFF's linebacker units ranking, placing behind the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver Broncos in the top 5 despite having just one linebacker ranked inside PFF's individual linebacker rankings.
Darius Leonard was the lone Colt to get any kind of respect from PFF this off-season, ranking sixth in the analytics-based site's LB rankings in late May. Knowing that, it was a bit of a surprise to see the Colts' group ranked so highly in PFF's overall positional rankings.
Here's what Pro Football Focus's Sam Monson had to say about the Colts in his linebacker units ranking:
The Colts' unit is another that feeds off the star power of an individual. Darius Leonard has been one of the best linebackers in the game since he came into the league, and while 2020 wasn’t his finest season, he still finished the year with good PFF grades of at least 67.0 in every facet of play we measure. Bobby Okereke was significantly better as a rookie than in Year 2, but if he can steady the ship after an ugly sophomore campaign, the Colts will justify this spot.
Leonard is certainly the engine that drives the machine that is the Colts' defense. He has incredible range, plays the run very well and is a sure tackler. He struggles in coverage though and that could be exposed even further in 2021 with no Walker in the fold.
PFF is rather low on Okereke based on his grades the last two seasons (49.6 in 2020). He was much better last season than his PFF grade indicates. In fact, Okereke's play was a big reason Walker saw his role reduced last season before ultimately being allowed to walk in free agency.
He's a high-ceiling linebacker that is only getting better.
Behind those two there remains a bunch of question marks, especially with Walker out of the picture.
It appears as though Zaire Franklin has the inside track on the starting inside linebacker job, while Matthew Adams will battle with Franklin to hold down that job inside when the Colts are in base.
After the top two though, this is a relatively thin group, so it's a bit surprising to see the Colts inside PFF's top 5 overall.
Have thoughts on the Colts' ranking in PFF's linebacker units rankings? Drop a line in the comments section below!
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