Darius Leonard 3rd best LB in NFL?

[Lucky Colts Fan]

https://www.colts.com/news/darius-leonard-ranked-nfl-s-third-best-linebacker

 

That's pretty incredible to be considered the third-best linebacker in the entire league by some people after just the one rookie season.  

 

Some of the best off-the-ball linebackers in the game are getting up there in age and might retire soon (Luke Keuchly, Bobby Wagner, Telvin Smith).

 

Could Darius Leonard be the new face of linebackers in the NFL in the near future?  Could Leonard and Hooker be the Colts version of Ray Lewis/Ed Reed?  

[Yoshinator]

37 minutes ago, Lucky Colts Fan said:

https://www.colts.com/news/darius-leonard-ranked-nfl-s-third-best-linebacker

 

That's pretty incredible to be considered the third-best linebacker in the entire league by some people after just the one rookie season.  

 

Some of the best off-the-ball linebackers in the game are getting up there in age and might retire soon (Luke Keuchly, Bobby Wagner, Telvin Smith).

 

Could Darius Leonard be the new face of linebackers in the NFL in the near future?  Could Leonard and Hooker be the Colts version of Ray Lewis/Ed Reed?  

We now have 3 faces of the franchise with Luck, Nelson, and of course Leonard. Hilton and Ebron are honorable mention IMO. Each FA and draft, Ballard is putting big names on this team. Leonard is the face of the defense and its identity. I can't wait to see what he does this year!

[backshoulderfade]

By November, he will be considered number 1.

[shasta519]

Definitely should be in the top 5. I can’t really think of many that were better. And those guys are starting to get up there in age as well. 

[Four2itus]

Nelson and Leonard faces of the franchise over TY?

 

No. Perhaps in the future. 

[jmac_48]

1 hour ago, Four2itus said:

Nelson and Leonard faces of the franchise over TY?

 

No. Perhaps in the future. 

The Future is NOW!

[ColtsGermany]

47 minutes ago, jmac_48 said:

The Future is NOW!

Sounds like a nice mantra for the colts franchise. 

But i would consider TY a face of the franchise, too. 

[throwing BBZ]

Leonard is good.
 I do appreciate them including the facts that he gave up 93 completions at over 10 yards per last season.

 Obviously the game he was abused for 15 receptions bends the stats some, but is it fair to consider that offenses were able to attack him for 6 recptions and 60 yards per game? I mean wouldn't that also inflate your tackle numbers if opponents used you to further their game plan? 
 I expect his tackle numbers to go down by a wild guess of 40. We will see about his other stats.
 If that is closer to reality, i think he would fall more clearly in the pack with Hightower, Vander Esch, McKinney, Jaylon Smith, Mosley. Fine players one and all.

[EastStreet]

Athlon named him their #1 LB. Not sure if that was posted on the board, but here's the link.

https://athlonsports.com/nfl/nfl-linebacker-rankings

 

It's going to be really interesting this year. The upgrades on our O will likely mean our opponents will be playing from behind more than last year... which means teams will be passing against us more. Then, the level of QBs we'll be facing this season is much, much better.... which means teams will be passing against us more... lol. So more passing against our defense X2.

 

On D, we've added a veteran pass rusher, and drafted a raw but promising pass rusher. We also added a quality CB in the draft. I really like the thought of Desir, Moore, and RYS in nickel together. I wish we would have upgraded iDL, but even without and interior beast, I think the DEs will give us much more pressure/sacks than last year. That combined with a pretty solid DB group, screams to me that teams will be attacking our middle even more. 

 

So I think targets vs Leonard and Walker will get a pretty decent increase. What I like though, is both will be in their second year of Flus's defense. Things started slowing down for both the second half of the season.

[runthepost]

Wagner, Luke and Von Miller are the only line backers better than Darius to me.