Washington Position Group Breakdown: Linebackers
June 11, 2025
Welcome to another edition of our Position Group Breakdown series, which is our annual effort to do an in-depth analysis of each of Washington’s position groups for the coming season, after the roster is settled post-free agency and post-draft. Today I’ll be covering the linebacker group.
Departures
Mykal Walker (6’3” / 242): Got minimal time last season. Had 21 total tackles and 2 fumble recoveries. Signed a 1 year, $1.79M contract with the Arizona Cardinals.
Arrivals
Kam Arnold (6’1” / 228): Undrafted free agent signee from Boston College. Signed through 2027.
Ale Kaho (6’2” / 230): Undrafted free agent signee from UCLA. Signed through 2027.
Cain Medrano (6’3” / 222): Washington’s 4th round pick from UCLA. Signed through 2028.
Returnees
Nick Bellore (6’1” / 250): Bellore was a 2011 undrafted free agent out of Central Michigan. He was originally signed to Washington’s practice squad on September 2, 2024, but was elevated to the active roster two weeks later. Played in 16 games, mostly on special teams, and made 21 tackles, including 11 solo. Signed through 2026.
Frankie Luvu (6’3” / 235): Luvu was a 2018 undrafted free agent from Washington St. who signed with Washington in the 2024 offseason for 3 years, $31M, including $19.125M in total guarantees. He was a revelation last season, somewhat unexpectedly becoming a star and earning Second-Team All-Pro honors. Luvu played in all 17 games and made 99 total tackles, including 54 solo and 12 for loss, 8 sacks, and 1 interception. Luvu was invaluable at outside linebacker last season for Washington. Signed through 2026.
Jordan Magee (6’1” / 228): Magee was a 5th round pick out of Temple for Washington last year. He only played in 8 games in 2024 due to a preseason knee injury, and made 9 total tackles, including 7 solo. Signed through 2027.
Bobby Wagner (6’0” / 242): Wagner was a 2nd round pick by the Seahawks in 2012. He’s a future Hall of Famer whose resume includes six First-Team All-Pro selections, five Second-Team All-Pro selections, and ten Pro Bowls. He earned Pro Bowl and Second-Team All-Pro selections last year in Washington. He played in all 17 games in 2024, and made a team-leading 132 tackles, which was ranked 18th in the NFL, including 75 solo and 10 for loss, and 2 sacks. Signed through 2025.
Analysis
Guaranteed starters
These are two of the most obvious starters on the roster. Bobby Wagner is the unchallenged starter at middle linebacker in Washington’s 4 – 3 system, and is the defensive signal caller and leader. Considering that he’s turning 35 year old later this month, how many more seasons he has left in him is something of an open question. London Fletcher looked like a shell of himself towards the end of his career; let’s hope that doesn’t happen to Wagner. For now, though, there’s no reason to think that at a minimum, he won’t be able to duplicate last season’s result. Wagner is never going accumulate big sack numbers, which is a weakness for Washington, but his worthiness as a team leader, as well as his tackle numbers, shouldn’t be undervalued. Washington certainly has a plus-level starter in the middle.
Frankie Luvu is the other guaranteed starter. Luvu has played both the strongside and weakside position in his career, and is fairly versatile in that regard. I suspect that he’ll be on the strongside this coming season, simply due to Washington’s roster construction. That having been said, a scenario in which he’s on the weakside in 2025 isn’t too far-fetched. Luvu exceeded every expectation last year, coming into Washington as a solid but unspectacular veteran and finishing the season having earned Second-Team All-Pro honors for the first time in his career. He’ll be 29 years old in September, so he should have several seasons of his prime left. His 8 sacks last year was the best of his career, and the team needs him to do even better this coming season. They also need him to become more of an asset in the run game, which is the primary function at the strongside position. There’s no reason to think that he can’t repeat last year’s success.
Other possible starters
Newsflash: Washington will need another start at outside linebacker, most likely at the strongside position. The problem is that there isn’t an obvious answer here. One of last year’s fifth round picks, Jordan Magee, may be the leading contender by default considering the competition. I’m not necessarily sold on the idea of a fifth round pick who missed half of his rookie season due to injury and had all of 9 tackles in 1 start, but that may be Washington’s reality. Medrano is primarily known as a strongside linebacker, but, like Luvu, also has experience at the weakside position. On the other hand, Magee is known as a weakside player. It’s either Magee on the weakside, rookie fourth round pick Cain Medrano on whichever side for which he shows the most promise, with Luvu going to whichever spot is left. The alternative is that Washington goes with some sort of hybrid player like safety Dominique Hampton, with Luvu on the strongside.
Because I’d like to believe that Washington actually wants to find a true linebacker for the third spot, not some sort of hybrid player, I’m going to do with the second year player, Magee, over the rookie.
Probable backups
Washington had 5 linebackers on the roster to start the 2024 season. Working under the assumption that they’ll probably to do same again, that leaves room on the active roster for probably two backups. We’ll start by giving the loser of the Medrano – Magee battle for the remaining starting spot one of the backup roster spots. That would leave one spot for Kam Arnold, Nick Bellore, and Ale Kaho to fight over. Bellore spent most of his time on the field last season on special teams and is proven in that regard. Kaho and Arnold are both undrafted rookie free agents who will have to prove that they can have more value to the team than a proven NFL veteran – that certain is possible, but it strikes me as unlikely. Therefore, I’m going to go with Bellore here for the final spot.
Practice squad
Washington needs linebackers pretty badly, so I suspect that the team will keep both Arnold and Kaho on the practice squad, which would mean that no one is cut.
So there it is, folks, my official projection: Starters are Wagner in the middle, Luvu on the strongside, and Magee at the weakside; backups are Medrano and Bellore; practice squad players are Arnold and Kaho.
Am I right or wrong here? Let me know in the comment section.