NFL Draft 2021: Micah Parsons set to be the frst LB taken

The position of linebacker is one of the harder positions to project when looking at it from draft betting purposes.

You have guys like Georgia’s Azeez Ojulari who lined up on the line as more of an edge rusher in company with Penn State’s Micah Parsons and Notre Dame’s Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah to line up in the second level.

Ojulari was incredibly productive and made is presence known all season long, particularly in the team’s contest over Alabama. While Alabama walked away with the win, people definitely came away knowing the hard-to-pronounce name.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure if it matters, as Parsons is the -400 favorite to be the first linebacker taken and I don’t think there’s any possibility of someone of this group jumping Parsons.

As prospects, I do really like Ojulari +600, Owusu-Koramoah +700. Ojulari is a menace off the edge and just making his presence felt.

Owusu-Koramoah is a linebacker whose skill set fits today’s NFL perfectly. He thrives in coverage and packs a punch when coming up to defend the run.

Owusu-Koramoah is perhaps most well-known for the game against Clemson this past season when he intercepted a toss intended for running back Travis Etienne that he took to the house for a touchdown, helping cash all of the Notre Dame ML bets out there, including for this bettor. 

Of all of the players on this lift, my personal favorite is Zaven Collins at Tulsa +1000. Collins almost single-handily helped Tulsa defeat Southern Methodist University on their way to a top-25 ranking.

While there’s no way Collins overtakes Parsons, I enjoyed watching Collins. He’s another guy that can really do it all. He can line up on the line of scrimmage, shoot the gap on run defense, and has good enough footwork to drop back into coverage and has shown his ability to follow the quarterback’s eyes to get in position for interceptions.

Kentucky’s Jamin Davis is tied with Collins at +1000. After that, there’s quite a drop off, with Missouri’s Nick Bolton and Joseph Ossia at Texas being tied with odds of +6600. Ohio State’s Baron Browning and LSU’s Jabril Cox rounding out the odds at +15000.

Like I said, this is a position group I will be staying far away from, as -400 juice is far too much for me.  I will be interested just from a fan of many of these players as to where they fall.