Fred Warner’s season ended early, but his standing at the top of the linebacker pecking order did not budge.
Even after a broken right ankle cut short his 2025 campaign in Week 6 and limited him to six games for the San Francisco 49ers, Warner was voted the NFL’s best off-ball linebacker by The Associated Press. A panel of eight AP pro football writers ranked the position entering the 2026 season, and Warner came out on top with 60 points.
He earned six of the eight first-place votes. Detroit’s Jack Campbell picked up the other two and finished second with 39 points. Philadelphia’s Zack Baun landed third, Carolina’s Devin Lloyd was fourth, and Miami’s Jordyn Brooks and Baltimore’s Roquan Smith tied for fifth.
Green Bay’s Zaire Franklin, Seattle’s Ernest Jones IV, Tennessee’s Cedric Gray, Kansas City’s Nick Bolton, Cleveland’s Carson Schwesinger and Bobby Wagner also received votes.
Warner’s résumé explains why he stayed No. 1 despite the injury. He was a first-team All-Pro from 2022 through 2024, and also in 2020, while serving as the centerpiece of San Francisco’s defense. He’s the kind of linebacker built for today’s game, equally comfortable in coverage and against the run.
The numbers back that up, too. Warner is the only player currently on an NFL roster with at least 10 career sacks, interceptions and forced fumbles. Over his last three healthy seasons, he piled up 393 tackles, seven interceptions, 28 passes defensed and nine forced fumbles.
Campbell’s rise was the biggest challenger to Warner’s throne. The Lions raised some eyebrows when they took him 18th overall in 2023 out of Iowa, but the pick has paid off quickly.
He has been a major part of Detroit’s defense since his rookie year, then took another leap in 2025, when he became a first-team All-Pro after posting at least 160 tackles and five sacks - the first player since at least 2000 to do that in a season. Detroit also locked him up earlier this offseason with an $81 million, four-year extension.
Baun kept building on his breakout. After helping the Eagles win the Super Bowl in 2024, he followed with another strong season and cemented his place among the league’s best linebackers.
He had struggled to get on the field as an edge rusher during his first four years in New Orleans, but in Philadelphia he has thrived in Vic Fangio’s defense. Last season he made his second straight Pro Bowl, was an All-Pro in 2024 and finished with 123 tackles, seven passes defensed, seven tackles for loss and 3 1/2 sacks.
Lloyd’s jump was just as eye-catching. The 2022 first-round pick out of Utah had a breakthrough year with Jacksonville last season, then turned that into a three-year, $45 million deal from Carolina in the offseason. His five interceptions were tied for the most by any linebacker in the last 12 seasons, and one of them went 99 yards for a touchdown after he picked off Patrick Mahomes.
Brooks was one of the few bright spots in Miami’s disappointing season, earning All-Pro honors for the first time. The former Seahawks first-round pick, who signed with the Dolphins in free agency before the 2024 season, led the NFL with 183 tackles last season, including 99 solo tackles.
Smith rounded out the top five in a tie. Since arriving in Baltimore in a midseason trade from Chicago in 2022, he has been a stabilizing force for the Ravens’ defense.
He has made the Pro Bowl in all three full seasons with Baltimore and was first-team All-Pro in 2023 and 2024. His six straight seasons with at least 130 tackles are tied for the second-longest streak in the NFL since at least 2000, behind only Bobby Wagner’s current 10-year run.
In Other News...
True Freshman Just Crashed BYUs Most Important Receiver Battle
BYUs wide receiver room is wide open heading into fall camp, and that has created a real path for true freshman Legend Glasker to matter right away. The early enrollee turned heads in spring practice, and offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick has already signaled that Glasker is expected to contribute this season after a receiver group lost several key pieces from last year.
Glasker is at least in line to back up on the two-deep, but the more interesting part is how quickly he has moved from newcomer to legitimate contender. He spent much of spring working with the second team before earning more first-team looks as camp went on, and with BYU still sorting out who can handle the physical demands of the Big 12, his development over the next few weeks could determine whether he stays a useful depth option or pushes all the way into the starting conversation. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Is Betting Big On One Of Its Riskiest Position Groups
BYUs receiver room is one of the bigger unknowns hanging over the upcoming season, and it is easy to see why. The Cougars are trying to piece together a pass-catching group with returning players, transfers and a freshman class that still has to prove it can handle the jump, all while adjusting to the loss of the most established targets from last year. Kalani Sitake has sounded cautious but encouraged about where things stand, which is about as much certainty as a staff can reasonably offer at this point.
The challenge now is turning that optimism into production before the season starts to ask real questions. BYU is counting on a mix of newcomers and holdovers to settle into roles quickly, and there is still time for more help to emerge from the young group or from other additions. For a team trying to build around an inexperienced position room, the margin for error is slim, and the next few weeks will tell a lot about how much faith the Cougars can really place in that part of the roster. [Read more 🡒]