2018 NFL Draft Profile: Linebacker Christian Sam

Linebacker Christian Sam declared after his junior season as he led the Pac-12 in tackles last season. Sam hopes to hear his name at the NFL Draft.

After a stellar statistical campaign at linebacker for the Sun Devils in 2017, former ASU linebacker Christian Sam heads into this year’s NFL Draft with a profile that should garner him as a player who can hear his name called this weekend in Dallas.

With a 127 total tackles and three sacks, Sam is as CBS Sports describes him a “run and chase linebacker” who can make plays as a roaming defender who specializes in stopping the run.

Sam’s stellar season that saw him earn All Pac-12 Honorable Mention honors as scouts have been complimentary of his athleticism on tape.

Although there have been questions of how athletic Sam really is due to his subpar combine times, the Allen, Texas native still had the most bench press reps at the combine this year.

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As for teams that may be interested in Sam’s services, there are quite a few options especially since the six-foot-two linebacker projects to be a backup linebacker at the next level.

One team that may be interested in Sam are the Buffalo Bills who still lack linebacker depth even after selecting linebacker Tremaine Edmunds with the 16th overall selection.

Outside of their new starting trio of Edmunds, Matt Milano and Lorenzo Alexander, the Bills still need a little more athleticism and explosiveness behind the starting three.

In addition to the Bills, the Dallas Cowboys are another potential destination for the former Sun Devil.

Even with the selection of Leighton Vander Esch in the first round, the Cowboys will be a team looking to add some stability and even more athleticism in the front four.

Sam’s aggressive and tackling nature is the type of play style that defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli would love to add to a defense that was at times sub-par in 2017.

A third and final team to add to the list of potential landing spots for Sam is the Pittsburgh Steelers who with the loss of Ryan Shazier for the foreseeable future will need to at least add some sort of depth to their linebacking core.

And given how much the Steelers do enjoy a tackling machine like Sam, there seems to be a natural fit for the 237-pound linebacker.

Given how late in the NFL draft Sam is projected to go, there is no definitive or likely team that can swipe the linebackers services.

Although it may seem as if ASU football may not be accomplishing too much with their best linebacker being a projected fifth or sixth round pick, the potential of that reality still outweighs last year’s draft for the Sun Devils that saw only kicker Zane Gonzalez get picked in the seventh round.

Next: 2018 NFL Draft Profile: Offensive Guard Sam Jones

Sam may not be the most standout linebacker in this years draft, but ASU’s former leading tackler deserves to be selected in the 2018 NFL draft.

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