Who are the top AFC South linebackers? Ranking the five best entering the 2026 season
The Best AFC South Linebackers For 2026
The AFC South is a division full of intrigue heading into this season.
Last season, the Jaguars and Texans made the playoffs with double-digit winning seasons. The Colts started the season 8-2 before losing seven straight to finish 8-9. The Titans lagged behind with a 3-14 record.
The division has a plethora of fascinating storylines heading into 2026, and each team’s play at linebacker will play a huge role in determining who succeeds and who fails.
There is a wide variety of talent at linebacker in the division this year. Some are up-and-coming breakout stars, some are veterans who have sustained their strong play, and others are rookies trying to make an impact in their first year.
The AFC South doesn’t have many household names or any returning All-Pro linebackers this season, but there is still plenty of talent in the middle of the field.
Here are the five best linebackers in the AFC South entering the 2026 season.
5. Ventrell Miller (Jacksonville)
Ventrell Miller played only 220 snaps and made two starts last season. He was behind one of the league’s top linebacker duos in Foyesade Oluokun and Devin Lloyd.
However, this offseason, the Jacksonville Jaguars declined the fifth-year option on Lloyd’s contract and let him walk in free agency. Now, with Lloyd in Carolina, Miller will step into a starting role for Jacksonville.
While salary cap constraints were a major reason Jacksonville let Lloyd leave, another was the play of Miller last season. The Jaguars felt confident moving on from one of the NFL’s best linebackers in 2025 because of what Miller showed in limited action.
Miller had 38 tackles, two forced fumbles and an interception last season. His 82.8 run-defense grade, according to Pro Football Focus, ranked second on the Jaguars.
Miller recorded 240 tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks during his career at the University of Florida, located just 73 miles from Jacksonville.
Now Miller will have the opportunity to step into a full-time starting role and prove he can produce on a larger scale.
4. C.J. Allen (Indianapolis)
Chris Ballard and the Indianapolis Colts’ front office likely never expected the team to be able to select C.J. Allen with the No. 53 overall pick in this year’s NFL draft.
Allen slipped in the draft because of a lingering knee injury he suffered late last season, despite being widely viewed as a first-round talent. Now he is fully healthy and was a full participant during Colts minicamp.
Last season at Georgia, Allen earned first-team All-SEC honors after recording 88 tackles, eight tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Pro Football Focus ranked him among the top 10 run defenders in the country.
Allen is expected to be a Day 1 starter for the Colts and could even wear the defense’s green dot, relaying the defensive play calls to his teammates.
If Allen stays healthy, he could end up being one of the biggest steals of this year’s draft and a key contributor to the Colts’ defense in 2026.
3. Azeez Al-Shaair (Houston)
Azeez Al-Shaair is coming off the first Pro Bowl appearance of his career in 2025.
The seven-year veteran had 103 tackles, nine pass breakups and two interceptions last season. He manned the middle of the Houston Texans’ No. 1-ranked total defense in 2025.
Al-Shaair’s strong play earned him a three-year, $54 million contract extension this offseason.
The strong season came after Al-Shaair was suspended for three games following a hit that injured Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence in December 2024. The controversial hit led to backlash from NFL fans online, and Al-Shaair later posted a lengthy apology to Lawrence on social media.
After a moment that could have caused many players’ careers to begin fading, the former undrafted free agent responded with the best season of his career and reenergized his NFL future. He enters next season with a much different reputation than he had a year ago.
2. Foyesade Oluokun (Jacksonville)
Foyesade Oluokun has been one of the NFL’s best tacklers throughout the 2020s, and he is still producing at a high level heading into his ninth NFL season. He is one of just five active NFL players to record at least 100 tackles in each of the past five seasons.
Last season, Oluokun had 143 tackles and five tackles for loss. He also ranked among the top 10 linebackers in pass coverage.
Oluokun was instrumental in the Jaguars’ top-ranked scoring defense.
He will have to shoulder an even heavier load next season with Lloyd departing and expectations rising in Jacksonville.
1. Cedric Gray (Tennessee)
Cedric Gray is coming off a breakout season with the Titans.
The former fourth-round pick had 159 tackles, seven tackles for loss and four pass breakups in his first season as a full-time starter. Gray ranked fourth in the NFL in tackles in 2025.
Pro Football Focus ranked Gray as the NFL’s seventh-best linebacker. His 92.7 run-defense grade was the second-highest in the league.
Gray played 96% of the defensive snaps in the 16 games he appeared in last season and recorded the most tackles in a single season by a Titans draft pick within his first two years since the franchise moved to Tennessee.
Gray was reliable, productive and durable for the Titans last season, and he is entering only his third year in the NFL. He is the best linebacker in the AFC South heading into 2026.
