- Jordyn Brooks leads the way: Miami’s LB1 returned to his 2021 level of production, putting together an outstanding season as the league’s leading tackler.
- Jack Campbell remains in the upper echelon of tacklers: Campbell set a career high in tackles this year and has finished in the top 90th percentile of linebacker tacklers for every year of his NFL career.
- 2026 NFL Draft season is here: Try the best-in-class PFF Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2026’s top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.
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It’s easy at the end of each NFL season to look at where players ranked in fantasy football, but understanding why they finished where they did is often more important when projecting for the future.
For the linebacker position, tackles are a huge part of IDP success. Knowing which linebackers created more tackles for themselves while identifying those who delivered as expected, or fell short, can help us better determine draft targets next season.
All linebacker-expected tackle figures are derived from combing through each player’s profile and situation. After we dive into their alignments, run and pass splits, coverage types and snaps played, we then compare their efficiency to the larger pool of their peers.
Starting at the top, these are the linebackers who performed above expectations in 2025 when it came to tackling, with a combination of familiar names and a lot of new names appearing on this list after the position went through many changes this year.
Top Performers
Players of note:
Blake Cashman, Minnesota Vikings: Cashman has been consistently efficient over the past three seasons, although he took his tackle production to another level this season, despite playing just 13 games. His per-game production as a tackler was on par with that of Jordyn Brooks.
Cedric Gray, Tennessee Titans: Gray played just under 50 defensive snaps as a rookie, but he was incredibly efficient on that limited workload. It was still too small a sample to get excited about. However, this year, he delivered efficiently on a much larger sample size as a full-time starter. Gray’s efficiency was among the best in the league. He dominated the Titans‘ tackle share, as teammate Cody Barton came in dead last in the metric.
Payton Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers: IDP managers will likely have bittersweet feelings about Wilson once again after he finished among the top linebackers in tackles versus expected, ranking in the 95th percentile for the second straight year. The frustration stems from Wilson’s efficiency in a limited role, as he could arguably be one of IDP’s best linebackers in a full-time role. Patrick Queen, the Steelers’ lone full-time linebacker, consistently comes in near the bottom of the league in this metric.
Devin White, Las Vegas Raiders: White has often finished no better than the 30th percentile in tackles versus expected, as he’s historically left a lot of meat on the bone in that department. But a fresh start on a new defense in 2025 led to a complete turnaround. White is a pending free agent now, and after the Raiders fired their head coach this year, he could be on a new team in 2026, where the potential for regression is higher.
Carson Schwesinger, Cleveland Browns: Potential Defensive Rookie of the Year Carson Schwesinger endured a slower start in terms of his tackle production but ramped up into a standout. Schwesinger had just two games with double-digit tackles through his first eight games before rattling off seven consecutive games with at least 10 tackles and delivering on the promise of being a high-end IDP coming out of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Nick Bolton, Kansas City Chiefs: Bolton returned to form in 2025 after a relatively unproductive 2024 season and an injury-plagued 2023 campaign. His 93rd-percentile mark this season was much more in line with his 2021 and 2022 seasons. His return to elite tackling form is a great sign for his IDP potential, and it helped him deliver an LB1 season once again.
Foyesade Oluokun, Jacksonville Jaguars: Oluokun bounced back, as expected, thanks to a change at defensive coordinator and a return to normalcy in terms of his role. Oluokun finished in the top 95th percentile in tackles versus expected from 2021-2023, before falling out in 2024, so it was great to see him return to form in 2025. Perhaps he’ll deliver on that for one more season.
Roquan Smith, Baltimore Ravens: Smith is the only linebacker to place in the top 90th percentile in tackles versus expected every year since 2021, when this data was first collected. Smith is arguably the most solid and consistent IDP option at any position in recent years, which is why he’s regularly drafted as a top IDP every year and will be again in 2026.
Tremaine Edmunds, Chicago Bears: Edmunds engineered arguably the best turnaround from 2024, when he finished dead last in tackles versus expected. He has typically been below average in that regard since 2021, but he had a much better season in 2025. Edmunds could regress to his norm in 2026, but it’s at least promising to see him break out of that inefficient territory, even if just for a season.
Average Producers
Players of note:
Nate Landman, Los Angeles Rams: Landman is one of the better examples of IDP production not necessarily lining up with this metric. Landman was a top-10 IDP linebacker in 2025, although much of his production came from non-tackles, and that is highlighted here with his average rank. Landman may regress and make fewer big plays in 2026, so he’ll need his tackle production to more closely resemble what it was in 2024 (92nd percentile).
Barrett Carter, Cincinnati Bengals: Carter ended up being one of the more surprising IDPs this season, at least in terms of becoming relevant for almost the full season after the Bengals moved on from Germaine Pratt, demoted/traded Logan Wilson and then played Carter over higher-drafted rookie Demetrius Knight Jr. There was nothing special about Carter’s production this season, but if he remains in a full-time role, he’ll have a decent chance to improve
Christian Rozeboom, Carolina Panthers: Rozeboom began the 2025 season as Carolina’s lone full-time linebacker, although the team decided to change that coming out of the first month of the season, moving Rozeboom to a part-time role before he returned to seeing significant work after Trevin Wallace got hurt in Week 16. Rozeboom played in ideal circumstances in the Panthers‘ zone-heavy defense, which allowed for a great tackle rate (15%). But that situation also led to his expected tackle numbers being much higher, which kept his scoring in this metric closer to average.
Underperformers
Players of note:
Daiyan Henley, Los Angeles Chargers: Henley’s IDP managers are not surprised to see him here among the league’s underachievers, as he was consistently frustrating throughout the year, ultimately finishing with just three outings of double-digit tackles across 16 games played. Henley’s tackle numbers were disappointing, which led to his standing in the bottom 10th percentile this year after a strong 93rd-percentile showing in 2024.
Edgerrin Cooper, Green Bay Packers: Cooper drastically fell from his 89th-percentile showing in 2024 as a rookie while playing in a part-time role for the large majority of the season. With a full-time role in 2025, Cooper was expected to come close to a similar rate of tackles and push for LB1-type production. Unfortunately, that was far from the case this season, as he hit a bit of a sophomore slump and was mostly disappointing.
Zaire Franklin, Indianapolis Colts: Arguably one of the biggest IDP disappointments in 2025, Franklin went from a legitimate LB1 contender each season to finishing as just the LB26 overall, despite playing all 16 games during the fantasy season. Franklin went through a major defensive scheme change once Lou Anaroumo arrived as the Colts’ new defensive coordinator. Even taking into account the more man-heavy scheme, Franklin still finished below expectations in the tackle column for the second year in a row. And this year, that expected total was much lower than his 170.1 figure last year, so it was significantly more noticeable for IDP.
While there are several surprising players at the bottom of the list this year, two-thirds (67%) of those in the bottom 15th percentile this year were also in the bottom 15th percentile last year. The players in this group generally finished the year with negative marks in tackles versus expected and are potentially ones to avoid in IDP if the cost is ever too high to acquire them, as has been the case with Frankie Luvu and Quincy Williams in previous seasons.
Repeat underperformers in the bottom 15th percentile:
Interested IDP managers can view the full list of positional rankings in tackles versus expected for this season and dating back to 2021 here.
