Ranking the top LB's units in the AFC West divison

1. San Diego Chargers:  (Shaun Phillips, Stephen Cooper, Donald Butler, Kevin Burnett, Shawne Merriman, Brandon Siler, Larry English, Brandon Lang and Jyles Tucker) This is the best line-backing unit in the AFC West hands down. The main question this off-season is will Shawne Merriman be traded? That question probably won’t be answered until training camp starts. Shaun Phillips is one the NFL’s most physical outside linebackers. He knows how to get to the quarterback in the Chargers 3-4 defense. Last year was probably one of his down years as he still manage to have 7 sacks along with 7 force fumbles. Phillips struggle was due to the main fact All-Pro DT Jamal Williams missed the whole season with a knee injury. ILB Donald Butler has a chance to see some serious playing time this season. He has too much talent to be sitting on the sideline. MLB Stephen Cooper had a good 2009 season with a 102 tackles and 3 force fumbles. MLB Brandon Siler also contributed last season with 67 tackles, 2 sacks and a force fumble. MLB Kevin Burnett had 66 tackles and 2.5 sacks. The Chargers were expecting more production Burnett after signing him to a hefty free agent contract last season. Merriman started to produce more towards the end of last season. Merriman was coming off a torn ACL before last season. During the early part of last season you could tell Merriman was struggling with trying to adjust to his new surgically repaired knee. When healthy Merriman is one of the NFL’s best pass rusher. He possess good size and speed and is powerful.  If Merriman is traded or released the Chargers have OLB’s Jyles Tucker and second year player Larry English. English had 2 sacks in his rookie season. Look for him to get better with time and experience. Tucker is a solid pro who has good athleticism.

2. Denver Broncos:  (D.J. Williams, Elvis Dumervil, Wesley Woodyard, Mario Haggan, Robert Ayers, Darrell Reid, Jarvis Moss, Akin Ayodele, and Spencer Larsen) The linebacker position is the strongest position on the Broncos defense. There is plenty of talent in the line-backing unit and there is also a lot of underachievers in this group. D.J. Williams is the heart and soul of the Broncos defense. Each year he puts up 100 plus tackles and is always around the ball. Elvis Dumervil was the MVP of the Broncos defense last season and finished the season with 17 sacks. Wesley Woodyard is a solid underrated MLB who has speed. He needs to add more bulk to his lean frame. He did struggle to get off blocks last season. OLB Mario Haggan has decent talent, but needs to make more plays on the field. He did have 63 tackles and 3 force fumbles last season. Robert Ayers and Jarvis Moss both have the talent to play both DE/OLB position. But they just haven’t produce yet in the NFL. This might be their last season in a Broncos uniform. They are already called busts by many scouts and coaches so far at this point in their early career. Darrell Reid had a decent last season with 4 sacks.  Akin Ayodele was a solid off-season acquisition. He will add depth and could challenge to play one of the MLB positions opposite D.J. Williams.

3. Oakland Raiders:   (Rolondo McClain, Kamerion Wimbley, Travis Goethel, Ricky Brown, Trevor Scott,  and Thomas Howard) MLB McClain has big shoes to fill in Oakland. The Raiders have had one of the worst run defenses in the past 6 years. The Raiders haven’t had a true play-making linebacker since Greg Biekert and Eric Barton. McClain has good size and speed, but needs to improve his tackling and needs to get stronger. OLB Wimbley is a solid young linebacker who probably needed a fresh start after playing for the Browns the last three years. Wimbley had 6.5 sacks last season. He has good speed and knows how to get to the quarterback. OLB Trevor Scott seems to get better each year as he heads into his third season. Trevor Scott is now a 3 down weak side LB and usually plays on third downs. But he is too talented to come in on just third downs. He had 7 sacks last season look for that total to increase to 10-12 this season. MLB Travis Goethel is a rookie who had a great career at Arizona State. He is a tackling machine, but doesn’t have great speed. Look for him to play a lot of special teams this season. OLB Thomas Howard still needs to add more bulk. He plays too light and struggles getting off blocks. But he is one of the best pass coverage linebackers. OLB Ricky Brown returns froma  torn ACL he suffered in week 5 of last season. Raider’s coaches are high on him. I’m not, he looks to slow on the field. OLB Sam Williams is an Al Davis favorite, I don’t know why Al, he needs to get dropped off. Williams has some speed, but what good is having speed if you can’t make any plays on the field.

4. Kansas City Chiefs:   (Mike Vrabel, Andy Studebaker, Demorrio Williams, Derrick Johnson, Corey Mays, Jovan Belcher, and Tamba Hali) Old man Vrabel still won’t walk away from the game of football. He is a good leader on and off the field. He had a decent 2009 season with 53 tackles, 2 sacks, a touchdown and 2 force fumbles. At this point in his career he is a situational pass rusher. OLB Andy Studebaker showcased that he deserves an invitation to the Chiefs 2010 training camp with strong play at the end of last season. He had a couple of interceptions and return one pick for a touchdown. The Chiefs moved leaned OLB Demorrio Williams to ILB last season. He had 119 tackles. Williams is great in pursuit but he isn’t stout against the run. He struggles to wrap up sometimes. What a roller-coaster season it was for ILB Derrick Johnson last year. He was drafted in the first round a few years ago to be the starting ILB, but his production on the field began to slip and the Chiefs demoted him last season to the second string defense. But towards the end of last season he was inserted back into the starting ILB position and performed highly in the last couple of games where he had 3 interceptions and 2 returned for touchdowns. ILB Corey Mays had a decent 2009 season where he posted 85 tackles. Mays needs to make more plays on the field in 2010. OLB/DE Tamba Hali was the Chiefs best pass rusher with 8.5 sacks last season.