I put out my first draft guide in 1979. This year will be No. 35. That first guide was a full six years before the first NFL scouting combine. Back then, there were no online prospect guides and no recruiting rankings to track talent down to the high school level, and the draft looked something like this. For me, evaluating prospects was all about getting as much tape as I could find (there was no ESPN GamePlan), and making hundreds and hundreds of phone calls (no cellphones, either!) to coaches, scouts and front-office folks who would listen and to evaluators at every level. You couldn't watch a verified 40-yard dash time on live TV; instead, you had to triangulate and weed out truth from fiction. It wasn't easy.
Mel Kiper's all-time draft grades
• Top 10 QBs »
• Top 10 RBs »
• Top 10 WR/TEs »
• Top 10 OLs
• Top 10 DE/DTs »
• Top 10 LBs »
• Top 10 S/CBs »
• Top 10 K/Ps »
But all this time, I've kept the same 10-point grading scale, so even as the athletes changed, we can compare today where players stood among their prospect peers over a generation.
So, some parameters for what you see below:
1. The ranking is based on the final draft grade before the draft, and it goes back to 1979, my first draft guide. It's clear to me now I graded a little easier when I was younger. I didn't have the point of reference I do today.
2. The grades do not reflect NFL performance. (You'll see.) I printed these grades and simply went back through every book. I have to live with the busts.
3. There are some ties on grades, so I had to break those ties without a great deal of science. But again, I didn't break ties based on NFL production.
Here are my top 10 all-time linebackers based on draft grades.
1. Hugh Green, Pittsburgh (No. 7 pick, 1981)
Grade: 9.9
I had Green listed at just 220 pounds, but he was incredibly quick. For some perspective on his size, Green played defensive end for Pitt, and finished his college career with 53 sacks. He wasn't just a defensive phenomenon, either -- everyone knew who Green was. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting to George Rogers, and did so as a miniature defensive end. This is a guy who would simply throw himself at bigger offensive players, and I was always impressed with his durability, given his playing style. (Ricky Jackson was another great player on that Pitt team.) Green was a linebacker in the NFL, went to two Pro Bowls and survived 11 NFL seasons. Not bad for a guy who was smaller than many of the QBs he chased.
2. E.J. Junior, Alabama (No. 5 pick, 1981)
Grade: 9.8
A picture-perfect tackler, Junior set the tone for Bear Bryant's defenses and could cover both running backs and tight ends effectively. You could move him around at linebacker, and NFL teams did during 13 seasons. He went to a pair of Pro Bowls, and you could argue that he was the best linebacker in the NFL during the 1984 season.
3. LaVar Arrington, Penn State (No. 2 pick, 2000)
Grade: 9.8
What an athlete. Arrington was a 6-foot-3, 250-pound linebacker at the college level who a few years before was the best high school running back in Pennsylvania, and was getting scholarship offers from good programs to play college hoops. If you didn't see Arrington at his best, you might call him a bust. But he really wasn't. The inventor of "The LaVar Leap" was extremely effective early in his career with the Redskins, going to three straight Pro Bowls from 2001 to 2003. By his fifth season, injuries had become an issue; the torn Achilles in 2006 was the final straw.
4. Brian Bosworth, Oklahoma (No. 1 pick, supplemental, 1987)
Grade: 9.7
He's remembered as a flop at the professional level, and at Oklahoma for being tied to a culture of excess and steroid use that shamed the program, so it's easy to say Bosworth was a giant miscalculation in a scouting sense, but the guy could play. A two-time All-American, he twice won the Butkus Award (as the nation's top linebacker) and left little doubt that he was the best at his position in the country. I don't think his NFL career wasn't a spectacular failure in terms of performance; rather, Bosworth just was a physical wreck and couldn't pass an NFL physical by his mid-20s.
5. Cornelius Bennett, Alabama (No. 2 pick, 1987)
Grade: 9.7
A complete linebacker, Bennett today would be considered an ideal pass-rushing OLB in a 3-4 scheme. At 6-3, 242 pounds, he had great quickness off the edge, could counter and collapse inside, back up in coverage and effectively play the run. He was supposed to be a Colt, but ended up dealt to Buffalo in a three-way deal that landed Eric Dickerson in Indianapolis. With 206 games played, 71½ sacks, 31 forced fumbles and 1,048 tackles, he had a fantastic NFL career.
6. Derrick Thomas, Alabama (No. 4 pick, 1989)
Grade: 9.7
The perfect pass-rushing OLB prospect, Thomas was absolutely unstoppable at Alabama. In 1988, he piled up an absurd 27 sacks for the Crimson Tide. He had it all. Thomas possessed great balance, and used his hands well to keep blockers from getting him engaged. He could line up on either side of the formation, and did so often with the Chiefs to maximize matchups. Plus, he had a great nose for the ball, and forced 41 fumbles in his NFL career to go with 126½ sacks. It seems almost unfathomable that his NFL record of seven sacks in a single game will ever be broken.
7. Wilber Marshall, Florida (No. 11 pick, 1984)
Grade: 9.7
A complete player at Florida, Marshall was a tackling machine, but did a lot of it in the backfield. He would shoot gaps and pile up tackles for losses and sacks. Overall, he had great instincts for the position. Success followed him in the NFL. He was an All-Pro alongside Mike Singletary on the Bears' dominating defenses of the mid-1980s, then went to the Redskins as a free agent -- a big deal in an era when free agents rarely went anywhere -- and played five seasons for the Redskins without missing a game. He played 179 NFL games and piled up more than 1,000 tackles.
8. Marvin Jones, Florida State (No. 4 pick, 1993)
Grade: 9.7
The perfect middle linebacker prospect, Jones could diagnose, attack gaps and take on blocks. He had great instincts for the position and was an All-American even as a sophomore. In 1992, he was given the extraordinary honor of winning both the Butkus Award and Lombardi Award (as the nation's top lineman) in the same season. He had a very good NFL career -- all of it with the Jets -- and didn't miss a game in his final six seasons. Maybe best of all is Jones' nickname, the one he held since college: "Shade Tree."
9. Kevin Hardy, Illinois (No. 2 pick, 1996)
Grade: 9.7
Some saw low sack totals for Hardy during his time at Jacksonville and consider him a disappointment, but he really wasn't. Hardy was a complete linebacker, capable of doing everything. He could get sacks (he had 10½ in an All-Pro 1999 season), but also could set the edge and make tackles against the run. Hardy was a valuable guy to have in virtually any system, which is why the Bengals made him a middle linebacker later in his career. He was the player Jacksonville drafted; I'm just not sure that's what everyone expected.
10. Billy Ray Smith, Arkansas (No. 5 pick, 1983)
Grade: 9.6
He started 47 straight games at Arkansas, and left as the career tackles-for-loss leader. San Diego drafted him and put him on the inside, and he did a pretty good job. In his fourth season, the Chargers moved him outside and he racked up 11 sacks. A good pro, not a great one, Smith played 10 NFL seasons, all for the Chargers. I remember his dad playing defensive tackle for the Baltimore Colts when I was growing up.
Next best linebackers
• Broderick Thomas (Nebraska, 1989): Thomas was never a star in the pros, but he played in 144 straight NFL games.
• Junior Seau (USC, 1990): A sad ending, but an NFL legend. Seau was the quintessential middle linebacker.
• Carl Banks (Michigan State, 1984): Had a long NFL career, mainly with the Giants.
• Quentin Coryatt (Texas A&M, 1992): Though a pro disappointment given his draft slot (No. 2 overall pick), Coryatt was a feared hitter in the college game.
• Lamar Lathon (Houston, 1990): A great college pass-rusher, he finally delivered a Pro-Bowl season at age 29.