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#3 Overall, Bobby Wagner: Free Agent Linebacker, #1 Defensive Lineman/Linebacker: Interior Lineman
2025 Pre-Season Rank #2, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #3, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #3, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #6, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #10, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #18. Peak: 2016-20
Bobby Wagner is currently a Free Agent, and we aren’t sure if he will ever play another snap in the National Football League.
If that is the case, it should not matter, as the longtime Middle Linebacker can retire as one of the most explosive tackling machines that ever lived.
A Super Bowl Champion with the Seattle Seahawks, Wagner earned nine Pro Bowls in Seattle, with a tenth as a Washington Commander. Recording 15 picks, Wagner is currently third overall in Combined Tackles with an even 2,000, and is only 59 behind Ray Lewis, meaning that if he finds work this year, he can grab the official all-time lead.
As great as he was in the interior, Wagner’s versatility saw him record 39.5 Sacks and 15 Interceptions. Regardless of whether he plays again, his legacy is complete, whether or not his name has transcended football. The Pro Football Hall of Fame voters will recognize Wagner for his overall career, and he should be a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee based on the patterns we have seen so far.
#8 Overall, Von Miller, Dallas Cowboys, #3 Defensive Lineman/Linebackers: Pass Rushers
2025 Pre-Season Rank #6, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #7, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #4, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #7, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #8, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #10. Peak Period: 2011-12/2014-16.
A Defensive Rookie of the Year, Super Bowl winner, and Super Bowl MVP for the Denver Broncos, Miller has all the statistical requirements the Hall looks for and the name recognition that fits the word "Fame.” Over the last four seasons, Miller served as a pass-rushing specialist for the Buffalo Bills and Washington Commanders, and now he begins the season in his home state, wearing the blue star of the Dallas Cowboys.
As for how much Miller has left in the tank, he generated nine sacks last season in his specialized role, moving him to ninth on the official list and three away from tying Michael Strahan for sixth. Only one Tackle for Loss gives him sole possession of fourth in that all-time list.
The only thing that we think could delay him is if some of the members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame might want him to pay penance for his past suspensions (one for substance abuse and one for domestic violence), though they did generate a lot of press considering his high profile. Honestly, they might not even discuss it.
Modern Positional Average
Defensive Lineman/Linebackers/Interior Linemen:
Here are the five Defensive Lineman/Linebackers/Interior Linemen who have entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame and played within the last 25 years. They comprise our baseline:
Ray Lewis (2018), Luke Kuechly (2026), Zach Thomas (2022), Brian Urlacher (2018) & Patrick Willis (2024)
Much like with what he had in exterior linemen, we have a convoluted system where we try to look at the interior run-stuffers, while recognizing that the front seven varies depending on scheme and player.
Before our new system, we looked at the Modern Inductees regardless of the year they were inducted, but now that we're looking at the last quarter-century, Mills is out, and with the arrival of Luke Kuechly, the average stats at this position have changed dramatically.
Here are the statistical averages that we are using based on the last group of Defensive Lineman/Linebackers/Interior Linemen to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame:
- Games Played: 164.8
- Approximate Value: 147.8
- Approximate Value per Games Played: 0.8968
- Games Started: 163
- Approximate Value per Games Started: 0.9068
- Approximate Value per Five-Year Peak: 78.6
- Approximate Value’s Best Five Results: 84.2
- Top Five Defensive Player of the Year Finishes**: 8.4
- Pro Bowls: 8.2
- First Team All-Pros*: 5.2
- Interceptions: 19.2
- Interceptions Five-Year Peak: 9.4
- Quarterback Sacks: 27.3
- Quarterback Sacks Five-Year Peak: 15.4
- Tackles for Loss: 97.6
- Tackles for Loss Five-Year Peak: 53.4
- Forced Fumbles: 13.8
- Combined Tackles: 1,493.2
- Combined Tackles Five-Year Peak: 710.2
- Top Five Combined Tackles Finishes: 16.0
- Super Bowl Wins: 1.0
- Super Bowl Appearances: 0.4
*This is an aggregate of the Top Five finishes (5th = 1, 4th = 2, 3rd = 3, 2nd = 4th, 1st = 5)
**This is a reminder that the All-Pros we use are from the AP.
#14 Overall, Calais Campbell, Baltimore Ravens, Defensive End, #6 Defensive Lineman/Linebacker: Pass Rusher
2025 Pre-Seasn Rank #14, 2024 Pre-Season Rank #19, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #19, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #26 2021 Pre-Season Rank #28, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #36. Peak Period: 2014-18
Longevity, talent, and class.
40-year-old Calais Campbell remains a solid Defensive End in the National Football League, and in 2026, he joins the Baltimore Ravens for a second time, and will likely provide solid production.
“The Mayor of Sacksonville” went to six Pro Bowls in a seven-year period (2014-20), which includes his last two in his first run in Arizona, all three of his seasons as a Jacksonville Jaguar, and his first in Baltimore. Campbell, who won the 2019 Walter Payton Man of the Year and the 2023 Alan Page Award, was also honored with a 2010s All-Decade Selection.
Campbell also has a statistical Hall of Fame resume with 110.5 Sacks and 196 Tackles for Loss, making him the active leader in that stat. The Hall of Fame loves character guys, but they don’t get a pass unless they show what their goods are on the gridiron. Calais Campbell did just that.
