Inside the Patriots Draft Room: Finding the Final Pieces to Reclaim the Lombardi Trophy

Inside Linebackers

With an injury-riddled linebacker corps last season the Patriots had no choice but to play some second-level defenders out of position and in roles they weren’t comfortable playing. The only way to limit those occurrences is to add quality depth behind the starters. Inside linebacker is a need for New England, but with the players who fit what Bill Belichick looks for in an inside linebacker, the Patriots can wait until the later rounds of the draft to add someone at the position.

Highly-valued skills:

weight, arm length, vertical jump (93 graded)

1. Quentin Poling (Ohio) 57.1%

2. Malik Jefferson (Texas) 42.8%

3. Genard Avery (Memphis) 28.5%

4. Nick DeLuca (North Dakota State) 14.2%

5. Micah Kiser (Virginia) 7.1%

Fell below the minimum threshold in one category, but still finished with a positive score:

1. Matthew Thomas (Florida State) 42.8%

2. Joel Iyiegbuniwe (Western Kentucky) 35.7%

3. Chequan Burkett (Central Florida) 21.4%

3. Jordan Williams (East Carolina) 21.4%

3. Petera Wilson, Jr. (Tulsa) 21.4%