Looking for Lessons
Two weeks remain in the NFL regular season. Most fantasy leagues are staging their playoff finals. As many fantasy gamers' roster management ends, this column reflects on the 2025 season for lessons for future application. This week's edition focuses on linebackers. Defensive linemen were featured last week, and the final edition of the season will address the defensive backfield.
A Top Tier of Two
Miami's Jordyn Brooks and Detroit's Jack Campbell constitute a tier of their own atop fantasy leaderboards in tackle-heavy and big-play formats alike. Brooks is no stranger to the leaderboard, finishing among the top five linebackers in 2021 and 2022 before a severe injury interrupted his career. Campbell, meanwhile, has taken a big step forward in his third NFL season.
The two linebackers' fantasy success includes interesting similarities. Through 16 weeks, Campbell leads the league in tackles made in run defense, according to Pro Football Focus (99 combined). Brooks ranks third (92). Each player has rushed the quarterback 79 times, per PFF, and enjoyed success doing so. The frequency ranks 15th in the league; however, Campbell's 5.0 quarterback sacks rank second at the position. Brooks's 3.5 sacks tie him for 7th place with 8 other off-ball linebackers.
Both players' teams endured defensive struggles in 2025. The Dolphins entered the season with arguably the league's weakest cornerback group. Miami is also thin at defensive tackle, which might have contributed to their decision to overdraft Kenneth Grant (13th overall) and press him into service as a rookie. General Manager Chris Grier lost his job, perhaps because he failed to equip defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver with the talent necessary to compete.
Throughout this season and last, the Lions' defense has been decimated by injury. Both starting defensive tackles suffered ACL tears. (Alim McNeil returned midyear, likely less than 100 percent.) This season's starting defensive backs have missed more games than they've played.
Stopping the Run
Through their Week 17 game on Christmas Day, the Lions are facing 26.8 rushing attempts per game, 14th most in the league. All but one team allowing more rushing attempts per game, including the Dolphins at 27.9, will miss the playoffs in 2025. Philadelphia, the exception, is allowing the lowest pass completion percentage in the league, hence encouraging more rushing attempts from the opposition.
Through 16 weeks of play, linebackers on non-playoff teams occupy more slots in the top 20 on the fantasy leaderboard this year than last. Just four of the top 20 fantasy linebackers will play on in January 2026, while eight did so last winter. Tampa Bay's Lavonte David will join them if his Buccaneers can beat the Panthers, and Roquan Smith's Ravens remain mathematically alive.
Of the aforementioned 14 linebackers eliminated from fantasy contention, 13 play for teams facing 26.8 or more rushing attempts per game. Losing teams are facing four-minute offenses, thereby gaining tackle opportunities for their linebackers.
In 2020, NFL teams combined to set an all-time low for rushing attempts in a season. The run game has been on the rebound since. Tackles in run defense have always constituted the plurality of a linebacker's fantasy points, but in 2020, run defense's fantasy value was at an all-time low as well. Fantasy analysis, including that found in this column, increased attention to pass defense. In 2025, prolific run defenders have also rebounded in fantasy value.
Differing Schematic Paths to Success
Jordyn Brooks, the third most prolific tackler in run defense, vaulted to the top of the fantasy linebackers' leaderboard due to his performance in pass defense. The Dolphins, with their substandard secondary, are playing conservatively in coverage and allowing the highest completion percentage to opposing quarterbacks. Miami relies heavily on zone coverage and two-high safety structures. Brooks's 3.5 sacks have been gravy.
The Lions, despite injuries and a new defensive coordinator, have used man coverage at similar rates in 2025, about a third of the time. The unit has been less aggressive up front due to injuries. Space-eating nose tackle D.J. Reader is leading the Lions' defensive tackles in snaps. No Detroit interior defender ranks in the top 100 in solo tackles in run defense per PFF. Their job is to keep their linebackers clean. Detroit linebackers' tackling hearkens back to 3-4 defenses of decades past.
The biggest driver of Campbell's statistical volume has been his total playing time. With 988 snaps coming into Week 17, only three linebackers have seen more action. The Lions have participated in several track meets, like their overtime thriller versus the Giants. That game was one of two in which Campbell played 82 defensive snaps.
Brooks has played 902 snaps so far, almost 10 percent less than Campbell. Brooks's efficiency as a statistical compiler has been remarkable, especially in pass defense. His formula for fantasy success in Seattle three and four years ago was similar – sit back in zone, allow short receptions, come up and make the tackle to limit gains.
Fantasy Takeaways
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