{"id":292887,"date":"2026-07-20T08:00:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T12:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=292887"},"modified":"2026-07-20T07:26:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T11:26:41","slug":"afc-west-linebackers-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/07\/20\/afc-west-linebackers-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Ranking the Top AFC West Linebackers For 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The AFC West<\/a> has a diverse list of linebackers, which is an extremely important position, especially with how differently each team can use players who play this position. Each team in this division will be tasked with containing one another’s offense, and whoever produces the best core of linebackers in 2026 will most likely be the best in the division. Now it’s time to rank the best linebackers in this division.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Best AFC West Linebackers for 2026<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

5. Alex Singleton, Denver Broncos<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Denver Broncos’ <\/a><\/span>right inside linebacker Alex Singleton<\/a> is ranked the fifth-best linebacker in the AFC West because, even though he hasn\u2019t had any major awards and highlights in his NFL career, he has had a long journey and worked his tail off to be in the position he\u2019s currently in and has certainly been a key player for the Broncos’ defense.<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-2, 240-pounder went undrafted out of Montana State in 2015 and, before signing with Denver in 2022, had stints with the Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings, the Canadian Football League team the Calgary Stampeders, and the Philadelphia Eagles. So far in the NFL, Singleton has accumulated 768 tackles, including 25 for loss, 5.0 sacks, five fumble recoveries, three forced fumbles, and three interceptions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the biggest concerns with how Singleton plays is his ability to cover, but otherwise, he is great for the Broncos and has had five seasons where he has tallied more than 100 tackles a season since he\u2019s been in the NFL. Singleton can help Denver in 2026 if he continues to make a lot of tackles and becomes an efficient run-stopper. It will benefit the Broncos even more if he improves his coverage skills, which would create a major burden for every other offense in the division.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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4. Nick Bolton, Kansas City Chiefs<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>‘ <\/span>middle linebacker Nick Bolton<\/a> is ranked number four on this list because he has accomplished a lot in his career, but similar to Singleton hasn\u2019t been recognized for much in terms of awards and highlights, even though he has a few that are included on his resume.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The 5-foot-11, 237-pounder was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team in 2021 and is a two-time Super Bowl Champion and has recorded 612 tackles, including 42 for loss, 21 pass deflections, 6.0 sacks, five interceptions, and three forced fumbles and fumble recoveries since joining Kansas City in 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bolton is arguably the reason why the Chiefs defeated the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII<\/a> after he scored a touchdown as a result of recovering Jalen Hurts\u2019<\/a> fumble, which ultimately gave his team the momentum to stay in the game. Not only has Bolton consistently racked up tackles as a player who has only had one season with less than 100 tackles, he\u2019s also able to force turnovers which he will need to do a lot especially if Kansas City wants to not only have one of the best defenses in the NFL, but also regain their spot as the kings of the AFC West while also being true Super Bowl contenders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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3. Denzel Perryman, Los Angeles Chargers\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Los Angeles Chargers’ <\/a><\/span>left inside linebacker Denzel Perryman<\/a> is ranked the third-best linebacker because, even though he\u2019s getting up there in age, he\u2019s a veteran who has found a way to stay relevant and consistently stay on a team\u2019s roster throughout his career.<\/span><\/p>\n

The biggest accolade the 5-foot-11, 240-pounder has as an NFL player is being named to the Pro Bowl in 2021. Still, he has also notched 764 tackles, including 57 for loss, 17 pass deflections, five interceptions, four forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries as he enters his twelfth season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perryman may not be as effective as he once was, but it helps that he has spent the majority of his career with the Chargers, dating back to when they played in San Diego, and can help the team in terms of slowing down its opponents’ key offensive players if he\u2019s able to play a full season, which he has yet to do. Perryman can also offer the many insights he\u2019s gained to the Chargers’ younger linebackers, which would be a great step in helping them continue developing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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2. Khalil Mack, Los Angeles Chargers<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The only team in the AFC West to not have a player on this list is the Las Vegas Raiders and that\u2019s because Chargers right outside linebacker Khalil Mack<\/a> will definitely go down in history as one of the greatest linebackers ever to play the game of football and is currently the second best linebacker in the division due to him not being as effective as he usually is for the past two seasons.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The 6-foot-3, 269-pounder was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team in 2014 and is a two-time Butkus Award winner, which is an award given to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels that he won in 2016 and 2018. To add on, Mack won NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2016, is part of the NFL\u2019s 2010s All-Decade Team, is a nine-time Pro Bowler, has been named First-team All-Pro three times, and also Second-team All-Pro once in 2020. Before settling in Los Angeles, Mack started his career with the Oakland Raiders and also played with the Chicago Bears, and at this point has logged 662 tackles, including 148 for loss, 113.0 sacks, 43 pass deflections, 36 forced fumbles, 13 fumble recoveries, and three interceptions.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that Mack will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame when his career is all said and done, but he needs to get back to being the beast he once was, and he even reinforced his ability to do so with the Chargers as he had a career-high 17.0 sacks in 2023. Mack dealt with some injuries last season but still managed to play the majority of the season, and he can definitely help Los Angeles, which already has a talented defense, become one of the best teams in the league if he\u2019s able to have a dominant season in 2026. If Mack plays how he has whenever he\u2019s gathered more than 15.0 sacks in a season, the Chargers have a legitimate shot to make their first Super Bowl in years, especially if their offense is just as efficient.<\/span><\/p>\n

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1. Nik Bonitto, Denver Broncos\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

As of right now, Broncos’ right outside linebacker Nik Bonitto<\/a> is the best at his position in the division because he has made major progress since being drafted out of Oklahoma in 2022, and most recently followed up what was his best season in 2024 with an even stronger finish in 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The 6-foot-3, 240-pounder was named Second-team All-Pro in 2024, is a two-time Pro Bowler, and won the Hispanic Pro Football Player of the Year in 2025. With Denver, Bonitto has amassed 138 tackles, including 44 for loss, 37.0 sacks, seven pass deflections, six forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and one interception.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the five seasons Bonitto has been in the NFL, there have only been two years when he\u2019s finished with more than 10.0 sacks, but that doesn\u2019t matter because he\u2019s done so in back-to-back seasons while he is also the best linebacker the Broncos have had since Von Miller<\/a>. Miller played a huge role in helping Denver win its last Super Bowl appearance. Furthermore, Bonitto definitely has the potential to outperform how he\u2019s played in previous seasons. Bonitto’s continued improvement would only elevate a Denver defense that was already one of the top defenses last season, giving the team an extremely high chance of winning its fourth championship in franchise history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The AFC West has a diverse list of linebackers, which is an extremely important position, especially with how differently each team can use players who play this position. Now it’s time to rank the best linebackers in this division.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5728,"featured_media":292967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,6431,33916],"tags":[9663,3451,358,7864,9156],"class_list":["post-292887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-nfl-teams","category-power-rankings","tag-alex-singleton","tag-denzel-perryman","tag-khalil-mack","tag-nick-bolton","tag-nik-bonitto"],"modified_by":"Sue Levine","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5728"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292887"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":292968,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292887\/revisions\/292968"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}