How tall are nfl linebackers

Many are even under So why is it that we are spoon fed that a middle linebacker needs to be over and should bulk up to or more to be successful in the NFL?

Maybe we should ask Jonathan Vilma, one of the top free agents this year, if being over pounds is important. I mean, at there is no way he would get picked on day one. Stop believing everything the media and "draft experts" throw at you, and look at things for yourself. You may be surprised at what you find.

Enjoy our content? Join our newsletter to get the latest in sports news delivered straight to your inbox! The clubs had good reason to bid for his services. He went to work at the railroad, but continued playing for independent teams.

In the weeks before the Allegheny-Pittsburgh contest, he took a leave of absence from the job to take part in a six-game tour of the East with the Chicago Athletic Association, which used the expense-money method to attract players.

The pay-to-play model had arrived. The payments, however, were not high enough to induce dramatic change. In the early s, without the developmental pipeline that exists today, pro football players still came from virtually anywhere.

For many, their strength came from hard labor, not football-specific training or college play. The six Nesser brothers, known for their overpowering play, averaged more than pounds in an era where the average professional lineman weighed Jim Thorpe, 6 feet 1 inch tall and about pounds, combined speed with bruising power as a halfback. Joe Carr formed the Columbus Panhandles in , with the Nesser brothers as the nucleus.

Jim Thorpe — the Olympics decathlon and pentathlon gold medalist — became an even bigger attraction for the fledgling sport than the Nessers. He also played professional baseball. In , both the Panhandles and Bulldogs became charter members of the team American Professional Football Association, which changed its name to the National Football League in The league appointed Thorpe as its first president.

Carr became its second in and held the position for 18 years; as one of his first actions, he established a standard player contract modeled on the one used in baseball. The formation of the league would be looked back on as a seminal moment for pro football, of course, but also for players.

Over time, the league would provide a structure for player recruitment and development, as well as the rules and conditions that would shape how the game is played and who plays it.

By , college football had begun to demonstrate its superiority as a source for pro players, completing a shift that had begun with Thorpe in College graduates, however, were not flocking to the new league, and many saw it as a step down from college football. AP Photo. Grange knew the league wanted him as a gate attraction, so he retained an agent — theater owner C.

Pyle — and negotiated a deal with the Chicago Bears late in the season for 50 percent of the receipts on an day, game barnstorming tour. But signings like those of Grange, Nevers and Friedman were notable in that they remained a relative rarity.

In its early days, the league was regional and unstable, with a steady churn of teams and low pay. Even in , some standouts preferred to play with independent teams in the towns in which they worked rather than moving to join the NFL.

And many college players eschewed pro play altogether, using their educations to move into higher-paying professions. In , the first NFL draft began to formalize the path from college to the pros. He took a job as a foam rubber salesman instead. University of Chicago star Jay Berwanger won the first Heisman Trophy and was the first overall pick in the draft, but he chose a job selling foam rubber over playing in the NFL; he would later launch a successful manufacturing business.

The first draft was only partially successful, but it established a method for bringing college players into the game and one for distributing talent fairly among teams.

That would become invaluable as the league matured. It further distinguished itself from the college game by adopting its own set of rules — many of which boosted the offense — and improving the quality of play on the field.

As the league improved, so did its level of talent. The path to the NFL became clearer as independent pro clubs disappeared. The NFL became the premier place to play. The years during and immediately after World War II brought two big player-related developments.

One expanded the talent pool; the other changed the type of talent that teams would seek. African American players returned to the NFL.

In the s though the early s, most players were similar in size because substitutions were mostly prohibited.

A comparison of Pro Bowl rosters shows linebackers declined in average weight from roughly pounds to since The high school heights of the group range from 5-foot to 6-foot-4 with the weights ranging from to pounds. The average size of the future top linebacker in this sample is 6-foot A shorter linebacker can be an outstanding run defender and might have an advantage over a taller linebacker in that area. He can then play off the block and make the tackle. Not necessarily. Ideally, their yard dash should be 4.

In order for the scheme to be effective these two players must be able to continually pressure the quarterback.