Top 10 linebackers in the 2019 NFL Draft

#3 Mack Wilson, Alabama

In a weird way all those great linebackers for Alabama in recent years first put their name on the radar with a big hit on special teams and after Reuben Foster and Rashaan Evans, Wilson delivered a monster hit on kickoff coverage against Texas A&M as a freshman in 2016.

The former five-star recruit was sought after by multiple SEC schools but decided to stay in his home state Alabama. He saw some action as a freshman on defense, special teams and even offense, but it was his sophomore year that he started making a name for himself. When Wilson finally looked healthy during the CFP in 2017 he made his mark on them, recording 18 combined tackles, two sacks and a pick-six.

At 6’2”, 240 pounds, Wilson has the ability to read the play flat-footed and then shoot out of his stance like a missile. He has a way of getting through traffic and like those other great Tide linebackers, he arrives at the target with some thump. Wilson has no problem going through the chest of a guard on his way to the guy with the ball and his tackling numbers only aren’t higher because he let his teammate clean up once he has made the play. His game revolves largely around speed to scrape over the top on run plays the opposite way or take away angles to bounce it to the outside.

Wilson brings the short-area burst to the table that enables him to undercut hook routes and he has the speed to carry tight ends down the seams even when lining up at the line of scrimmage. He takes away a bunch of dig and deep crossing routes with the depth he gets on some of his drops if he feels or sees someone come in behind him and he sealed the shutdown win over LSU last year with a pick on an inside post route in the end-zone that way.

The Bama backer has rare ball-skills for the position, making several impressive catches for turnovers. Wilson is fluid and athletic enough to work over the top of picks and take away easy yardage to the intended receiver. That also enables him to take away multiple receivers in one play. Despite fighting through a banged up foot in ‘17, Wilson recorded six INTs and seven more passes defended since the start of that season.

The soft-handed hard hitter does a good job recognizing where there’s space in the protection for him to come through on a delayed blitz, as he reads the protection and influences the throw as the quarterback can’t step into it or gets hit while releasing the ball, even if Wilson can’t finish it for a sack. Even when he is accounted for the dynamic linebacker has a nice spin move to get past centers and guards and while he didn’t blitz as much as the first two guys, he has been very effective rushing the passer.

Wilson had a phenomenal run in the 2017 playoff, but he didn’t build on that success quite the way I would have liked him to last season. The area of his game that really needs improvement is the quickness he recognizes plays, as he allows blockers to put hands on him at times before he really knows where he wants to go and right now his speed bails him out a lot.

When he does see an opening to run through and blow things up he will do that, but to me it feels like his eyes are more in the backfield instead of on the offensive line and while this worked for him usually at Alabama, he won’t have a dominant defensive tackle like Quinnen Williams in front of him drawing double-teams going forward.

While he can be a big hitter, Wilson doesn’t always stop forward momentum and drives ball-carriers backwards, but rather that guy can still gain a couple of yards churning his legs against him. He also shoots past some guys when he tries to blow somebody up in the backfield without breaking down.

Altogether I think Wilson can be an outstanding three-down player when you look at his speed, physicality and ball skills, but his instincts have to lead him to pull the trigger more quickly at times. He will have to become a more sound tackler (having missed 11 of 59 attempts last season) and make more impact plays closer to the line of scrimmage, but he is someone you can develop.