Darry Beckwith

6’1, 235 pounds | Louisiana State | Middle linebacker

Strengths: An experienced player, Beckwith’s strength is his instincts. He reads and reacts to plays as well as any senior middle linebacker in the nation. Can play in the middle or the weak side. Does a nice job maintaining his gap responsibility. Decent tackler in the open field. Can thump when he wants to. Closes quickly.

Deceptively good in zone coverage due to his instincts. Reads quarterbacks well. Does well covering tight ends. Good backpedal for a linebacker.

Weaknesses: Beckwith’s biggest liability is his lack of great lateral quickness. He could be best as a 3-4 inside linebacker where he can concentrate on controlling a gap instead of playing sideline-to-sideline. Doesn’t get a lot of pressure on the quarterback and is rarely a threat to blitz. Doesn’t play as fast as he’ll time. Good but not athleticism.

Final word: Beckwith is a solid but unspectacular player who is fundamentally sound and instinctual. He’s a better all-around linebacker than a lot of linebackers because of his ability to cover passes and play either middle or weak-side linebacker. Struggled with a knee injury during his senior year, but was still named an all-conference second-team player.

Round projection: 4