Top five linebackers in college football for 2019

#3 Isaiah Simmons, Clemson

Isaiah Simmons is a safety/linebacker hybrid at 6’4”, 225 pounds. The athletic freak will probably be tagged as a SAM or star linebacker, but wherever you fill him in, he will wreak havoc.

Last season he recorded 88 tackles, nine of them for loss, two sacks, three fumbles forced, six PBUs and a pick-six. Simmons has the quick acceleration to track ball-carriers down from behind coming off the backside of run plays and can bend almost like a pass rusher to react to ball-carriers changing directions.

While he is a tough task in the box, he also played a ton of big nickel, where he shows the athletic tools to carry guys down the seam or run with them on deep corner or out routes. In coverage he has the length to redirect receivers and reach around those guys to disrupt them at the catch point.

On 59 targets in coverage over the last two years, Simmons has given up just one touchdown. In addition to that, he is a dangerous blitzer from the slot and was even utilized as a QB spy at times. The one thing that really needs work is his tackling form, as he needs to wrap up with his arms a lot more to cut down on his misses.