What Makes Myles Jack the Best Linebacker in the 2016 Draft Class

Despite all the debate that swirls around the NFL draft every year, there should be one thing that everyone can agree on in 2016: Myles Jack should be the first linebacker off the board.

Jack surprised many when he declared for the NFL draft in October after he tore his meniscus. While people expected him to turn pro, the timing of his announcement—which came in the middle of the season, immediately after his injury—was unexpected.

But given Jack’s physical talents, technique and awareness on the field, it should be no surprise when he turns out to be the best linebacker in this class.

The UCLA product has speed to chase down plays from sideline to sideline. His athleticism makes it hard for opponents to evade him in the open field. He has good form and isn’t likely to miss many tackles.

He is also comfortable in coverage. He has the speed to cover a lot of space and keep up with running backs and tight ends. Here, he recognizes the play and closes in to make the tackle before the first-down marker:

The linebacker makes plays on the ball, too. He had three interceptions and 18 passes defensed in his first two seasons at UCLA, according to Sports-Reference.com.

Jack is so athletic that he worked as a two-way player for the Bruins, taking a significant number of snaps at running back. He ran for 380 yards and 10 touchdowns in his first two years in college while averaging 5.7 yards per carry.

And on this play against Washington, he shows that he is more than just a big goal-line back:

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LB @MylesJack came earlier, RB @MylesJack landed in Indy tonight. pic.twitter.com/5GtCjiWodJ

— JohnThornton (@JohnThornton) February 25, 2016"

But the things that make Jack such a great prospect are his technique and field awareness. He isn’t just a great physical specimen (6'1", 245 lbs). He has excellent instincts and an uncommonly polished approach to the game for a player coming out of college.

His ability to read where the ball is designed to go during a play allows him to stop plays before they have a chance to develop. He often recognizes the direction a run is going early and gets to the hole before the ball-carrier.

The result is a lot of plays that get strung out to the sideline. His teammates are able to rally to the ball, and the ball is stopped for little or no gain.

Combine Jack’s play recognition with his speed, and he is often able to get to runners before they’re even out of the backfield. He notched 15 tackles for loss over his first two seasons with the Bruins, including eight as a true freshman.

At this point, the only reason teams should have any concern about Jack is his injury. He did not participate fully in drills at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. He only did the bench press, in which he completed 19 reps, as he continued his recovery.

However, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reported Thursday that Jack has been cleared to fully participate in practice.

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Draft news: #UCLA star LB Myles Jack (torn meniscus) flew to LA Monday & was fully cleared by the UCLA surgeon. Ready to amp up training

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 10, 2016"

Now that he’s recovered fully from his injury, any team looking for help at linebacker should have Jack at the top of its draft board. There are other great prospects at linebacker in this draft, but Jack should be the No. 1 option.

Notre Dame’s Jaylon Smith is a tremendous prospect who is likely to go in the first round. NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock has him ranked as the top linebacker in the class.

But Smith has issues where Jack does not. He isn’t as sound in his technique. He’ll sometimes look for the big hit rather than the sure tackle.

NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein’s assessment of Smith reads: “Too passive in his approach preferring to wait on plays rather than racing downhill to own them.”

Jack doesn’t have a problem pursuing the ball. He finds where it’s going and attacks it. One NFC executive told Zierlein, “I would stick [Jack] at 'Will' and just let him be a free-running chaser. He has the speed to get to everything, and his cover talent will set him apart."

Smith is also coming off a major knee injury of his own. He tore his ACL and MCL during Notre Dame’s Fiesta Bowl loss to Ohio State.

The injury is obviously not his fault, but even Mayock said that teams are worried about it.

“I've texted and talked to at least five different teams… None of them will get specific, but the one common denominator is every team's told me it's bad, on the knee,” Mayock said on NFL Network.

Rapoport reported that teams expect Smith to be out for all of 2016 and possibly longer.

Smith may eventually return from his injury as good as ever. Those teams could be worked up about nothing. Regardless, he is going to need time to get healthy. A team looking for an immediate difference-maker, however, would get one in Jack.

Reggie Ragland could be the first linebacker off the board. The Alabama product may be the best run-stopping linebacker in the draft. He was part of a Crimson Tide defense that gave up fewer rushing yards than any other team in the country.

Yet Ragland could have been a product of his environment. He led the Crimson Tide with 102 total tackles, according to Sports-Reference.com, but Zierlein pointed out that an “outstanding defensive front allowed him to roam unblocked for much of the year.”

There’s reason to think that his numbers and his draft stock have been inflated because he was playing in one of the best front sevens in college football. It’s hard not to look good in a defense like that.

Alabama’s front kept opposing running backs from getting into open space often. Ragland got to play between the hashes a lot because of that, so his speed wasn’t really tested.

He ran a 4.72-second 40-yard dash at the combine. That’s not terrible, but it isn’t great, either. He will definitely be tested in coverage and against faster NFL running backs.

Compared to Ragland, Jack wins in terms of speed and versatility. He flies to the ball in open space and can drop back to defend the pass, stay close to the line and play the run or rush the quarterback off the edge.

Other possible first-rounders at linebacker are Georgia’s Leonard Floyd and Ohio State’s Darron Lee.

Floyd is tall and athletic (6'6", 244 lbs), but he is thin and can’t shed blocks well as a result. While Jack makes plays at the line or in the backfield, Floyd has to chase ball-carriers down after getting pushed back at the snap. Lee (6'1", 232 lbs) is smaller than Jack and has been known to miss tackles.

Jack has proven himself in every area NFL teams want their linebackers to excel. He does many of those things better than most other linebackers in the draft.

He has the size and the speed to be a great playmaker in the league. There are other great linebackers in this class who deserve first-round consideration, but none of them should be taken before Jack.