Renner's 2027 NFL Draft scouting series: Ranking top 10 linebackers, with Clemson's Sammy Brown leading way

The 2027 linebacker draft class comes with some injury and role concerns, but make no mistake there's a lot of talent to be had at the position. Cutting this one down to only 10 prospects was not an easy task as there were nearly a half-dozen prospects that I could have feasibly slotted into the back of this top 10.

The strength of the class is obviously the rising juniors, but there are also a couple of fourth-year linebackers in this top 10 who would have been in the league already if it weren't for injuries suffered last season. The No. 1 prospect in the class I don't see changing, though, as he could play his way into a top half of Round 1 selection.

Positional rankings:  IOL • S • LB • DT • TE • OT • RB • CB • EDGE • WR • QB

Note: ⭐️ represents each player's 247Sports star rating as a high school recruit

Class strength rating: 7.5/10

Sammy Brown

CLEM • LB • #47

6-2, 235 | Junior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: To be determined
• Early grade: Round 1

Brown has all the makings of a first-round linebacker and if it weren't for the loaded 2027 class he could end up in the top 10. Brown started by the end of his true freshman season in 2023 and became an All-ACC selection as a sophomore. He ticks every box you want to see for the position at a high level. He's fast, agile, strong, physical, and the surest tackler in the class. To have such a well-rounded game as a true sophomore on tape is a rarity.  

His athletic background is the stuff of legend. Alongside linebacker in high school he also rushed for 2,289 yards at running back and averaged 44.5 yards per attempt as a punter. His freshman year he won the Georgia class 1A 400m state championship (50.5 seconds) and he has a 100m PR of 10.7. He was also a two-time state champion wrestler. That's the kind of athletic profile that's very easy to bet on.

Xavier Atkins

AUBURN • LB • #17

6-0, 210 | Junior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Weakside linebacker
• Early grade: Early Day 2

To get by as a sub-220 pound linebacker you better be both a high-end athlete as well as overtly physical and Atkins fits both descriptions. Watching his explosiveness and short-area quicks on tape is breathtaking. It's like watching a cornerback move in the box. The physicality, however, is not like most corners. That shows especially as a blitzer where he finished with an eye-popping nine sacks last season. Atkins is coming into contact with bad intentions even if he's rarely the larger party involved.

Obviously, you'd rather Atkins come into the NFL in the 230-pound range, but there's not much I see on tape that makes me think he won't translate. He'll thrive in space and is a perfect weakside linebacker in today's NFL.  

He was one of many Longhorns who could have been a top-100 pick last spring but opted to return for a potential national title run this season.

Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa

ND • LB • #27

6-3, 230 | Junior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Hybrid rusher
• Early grade: Early Day 2

KVA has already shown a modern hybrid linebacker skill set and would have been in real contention for the top spot on this list if it weren't for a torn ACL he suffered last November. What really separates him is his ability to take on blocks. So much so that he got legitimate reps rushing the passer off the edge in Notre Dame's defense and was effective. His ability to rush at a high level on one play then cover a tight end in man coverage on the next will be invaluable in
the NFL.

I wouldn't worry too much about him being part of a linebacker rotation also at Notre Dame as teammates Drayk Bowen and Jaylen Sneed at the position are both draftable prospects as well with seniority over the rising junior.

Tony Rojas

PSU • LB • #13

6-2, 230 | Senior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Do-it-all middle linebacker
• Early grade: Day 2

It's a shame that Rojas tore his ACL in practice last September or else we might be talking about him at his first NFL training camp. Rojas looked like a top 75 pick through four games before the injury with incredible playmaking range for a prototypically sized linebacker. On-campus testing at Penn State clocked him running a 4.37 40-yard dash in the spring of his sophomore year. Rojas is yet another linebacker on this list with a high school-impressive resume on the flip side of the ball. He ran for 2,239 yards and 35 scores his final season at Fairfax High School in Virginia where he was the Gatorade Player of the Year. When he's gotten the ball in his hands in college, it's shown.

There's always an unknown coming back from such a big injury, but if he's even the same guy he was last year you can put him down safely as a Day 2 pick.

Suntarine Perkins

MISS • LB • #4

6-2, 220 | Senior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: To be determined
• Early grade: Day 2

Perkins remains one of the weirdest evaluations I can remember, but he simply flashes too many impressive traits for me to have him any lower. He's a 216-pound edge rusher. And not a "run around unathletic tackles" edge rusher, but rather a "full bore set the edge in the run game" edge rusher. I can't remember seeing anything quite like it since I started scouting over a decade ago.

I don't want you to think his pass-rush ability is the only reason he's No. 5 on this list, though. Perkins' role changed significantly this past fall and he finally dropped into coverage more than he rushed the passer (248 snaps vs. 213). What I saw on those snaps was one of the best athletes in the entire linebacker class in space. He has speed to run with slot receivers and can easily develop into a plus coverage linebacker in the NFL with some seasoning. It will take some squinting and creativity to get his role right in the NFL, but there's no doubt in my mind he can be an impact player.

Myles Graham

FLA • LB • #5

6-1, 228 | Junior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Weakside linebacker
• Early grade: Early Day 3

Graham is my kind of undersized linebacker. By that I mean that if I never checked his weight (228 pounds), I'd have never noticed he was slight for the position. The physical part of the position comes very easily to him and what really sets him apart is his ability to play through blocks not just around them. You'll see him making plays on ball carriers with offensive linemen still trying to secure him, but it doesn't seem to faze Graham. He's not an elite athlete for being undersized, but is more than good enough. My biggest worry is his hesitancy to consistently attack what he sees. It's rare to see him going full bore downhill unless he's a specified blitzer. If that can be improved -- which it should for a rising junior -- he can work his way into the Day 2 conversation.

Whit Weeks

LSU • LB • #40

6-2, 225 | Senior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Versatile linebacker
• Early grade: Early Day 3

Weeks is another linebacker prospect on this list who comes with the unfortunate injury tag. After a big sophomore campaign, Weeks looked destined to be one of the top prospects in the 2026 draft. In the Texas Bowl vs. Baylor that season, however, Weeks dislocated his ankle and fractured his tibia/fibula. While he returned for the start of 2025, Weeks broke a bone in right ankle again vs. Ole Miss, missed four games, and was a shell of himself in the 50 snaps he
played the last two weeks of the season. A healthy Weeks is a spark plug and playmaker at the second level of the defense, but it's worth wondering if his right ankle will get back to that form this season.

Fred Johnson

SC • LB

6-3, 244 | Junior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Do-it-all middle linebacker
• Early grade: Early Day 3

Johnson is easily the biggest project of anyone on this list. That's not the biggest deal as he's also one of the youngest as a 20-year-old rising true junior. He's a box ticker from a physical perspective with size, length, speed, and some pop behind him. In today's NIL world I'd guess he's a couple years away from being a true prospect, but the tools are there to push for the top 50 if his consistency improves.

Cade Uluave

BYU • LB • #4

6-1, 235 | Senior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Heat-seeking missile
• Early grade: Early Day 3

Uluave reminds me a bit of Blake Cashman in that he's going to have some obvious limitations because of his frame, but my lord does he bring it regardless. He's got elite closing ability and lays his body on the line snap after snap. If you let him loose as a run-and-chase weakside linebacker, he's going to make some incredible plays on the opposite side of the line of
scrimmage. He's also capable of getting completely taken out of the play when a lineman engages him cleanly, unfortunately. Like Cashman, he won't be for everyone, but don't be surprised if he carves out a nice NFL future regardless.

Jordan Hall

MICHST • LB • #5

6-3, 249 | Senior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Two-down linebacker
• Early grade: Early Day 3

Size still very much matters when it comes to playing linebacker in the NFL and no one in this class has it quite like Hall does. He is brute at the second level of the defense. What impresses me the most about his tape is how good of a finisher he still is in space at that size. You expect a nearly 250-pounder to be able to lay the boom between the tackles, but not mirror quarterbacks out on the move as well as he does. He has a missed-tackle rate under 10% over the past two seasons. 

His size plays well between the tackles where he excels at sticking ball carriers on contact. His ceiling may be limited in coverage, but he can be a quality option in zone.

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Mike Renner

Three names to watch

Note: These aren't necessarily the next three players in my rankings, but rather three prospects who caught my eye for one reason or another.

Ray Coney, Texas A&M

Coney was arguably the most productive linebacker on this entire list a season ago. The caveat being that it came at Tulsa rather than in the SEC. That marks the second time in two seasons Coney has transferred as his career started at East Tennessee State. He's a very well-rounded linebacker on tape who'll get his chance to prove he can be that guy once again against the top competition in college football.

Arion Carter, Tennessee

I can almost guarantee that Carter is going to be drafted among the top 10 linebackers when he declares. Prospects with his size and athletic ability tend not to last long come April. I just need to see more from a processing and playmaking perspective to really get on board with a top 100 selection. It doesn't help that he'll be suspended for the first two games of this season after accepting a flight from an NFL agent as Carter had previously declared for the draft in January before returning to school.

Ben Roberts, Texas Tech

Jacob Rodriguez was an afterthought as a prospect at this point a year ago before winning the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation's top defensive player and becoming a second-round draft pick. Could Rodriguez's longtime running mate see a similar rise? Roberts possesses a more prototypical frame than Rodriguez although not nearly the same quick twitch. It will be his fourth year as a starter which will always help in the eyes of NFL evaluators.

Class superlatives

• Most NFL-ready: Sammy Brown (Clemson)
• Most versatile: Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (Notre Dame)
• Best tackler: Sammy Brown (Clemson)
• Biggest hitter: Cade Uluave (BYU)
• Strongest: Bray Hubbard (Alabama)
• Most athletic: Xavier Atkins (Auburn)
• Top non-Power-4: Kolbe Fields (Louisiana Tech)
• If only they were bigger: Suntarine Perkins (Ole Miss)
• Most experienced: Ben Roberts (Texas Tech) - 2,225 snaps