Wisconsin Badgers Draft Profile: ILB Leo Chenal

MADISON, Wis. – If Leo Chenal went to a bigger school, half of America would have considered offering him a scholarship. He rewarded Wisconsin for finding him right out of the gate with five tackles for loss in his college debut as a freshman.

On the strength of a 115-tackle season that included 18.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks, the Big Ten’s Linebacker of the Year left school a year early to pursue the NFL Draft. Chenal – who was also a first-team All-Big Ten and second-team All-American in 2021 – is thought to be one of the better inside linebackers available in this year’s draft.

BadgerBlitz takes a closer look at Chenal’s NFL profile.

At the NFL Scouting Combine, Chenal ran a 4.53 40-yard dash (seventh among 23 LBs), 40.5 inches in the vertical jump (second out of 26), and 10-8 in the board jump (tied-fifth out of 26). At Wisconsin’s Pro Day, Chenal ran a 3.94 in the 20-yard shuttle and 6.84 in the three-cone drill. He also did 34 reps on the bench press. All Chenal’s UW Pro Day results would have ranked him first at the NFL Scouting Combine.

At the Combine, Chenal measured at 6-2, 261 pounds, 31-inch arms, and 9 3/4-inch hands.

One look at Chenal and it’s obvious he screams toughness. From his “Death Row” ink on his forearms to his 6-2, 260-pound frame, Chenal looks like a force and plays like it. A physical playmaker, Chenal’s ability to read, diagnose and blowup plays as they develop. Over the final seven games of the 2021 regular season, Chenal averaged 11.6 tackles and recorded 15.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks.

Behind Wisconsin’s veteran defensive line (and an NFL-quality nose tackle in Keeanu Benton), Chenal’s size, motor, intelligence, and explosiveness to make plays. He's technically sound, knows how to use his hands to his advantage to shed linemen or fullbacks and can be elusive between the tackles. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the No.1 nationally against the run at 94.1 and sixth in overall defense at 91.5.

One of the biggest growths in Chenal’s game is his ability to develop into a pass-rushing linebacker. After having a 61.1 pass-rush grade by Pro Football Focus as a true freshman, Chenal graded out at 91.8 as a pass rusher his junior season, ranking second nationally among linebackers.

Most importantly, Chenal has immense leadership qualities. The middle linebacker in the 3-4 defense is the quarterback of the defense, required to make calls, adjustments, and changes in a split-second pre-snap. Not only did Chenal do that, he played with a passion that was infectious to his defense.

Here are some of the strengths NFL.com listed for Chenal

· Densely muscled, low-cut body type.

· Piled up the stats in impact categories.

· Pound-for-pound strength is hard to match.

· Iowa's Tyler Linderbaum had a tough time moving him.

· Booming punch drives blockers off their base.

· Base strength to sit and leverage the run gap.

· Relentless with unusual recovery balance to make unexpected tackles.

· Plows through A-gaps and running backs as blitzer.

· Tremendous stopping power as tackler.

· Recently engaged but married to football.

While Chenal will wow teams with physicality, the junior does fall short with top-end speed. He’s not a sideline-to-sideline guy and his size does limit his top-end speed and ability to cut and react with urgency. One draft site said that he shouldn’t be compared to an “oil tanker” but just having that phrase attached to your profile speaks volumes.

Chenal has improved as a pass rusher but still has work to do with his ability in pass coverage, especially when needing to move into the flat to cover tailbacks or tight ends. Chenal is usually at a disadvantage when he needs to turn and run to defend in coverage. While his tackle stats are eye-popping, Chenal has not delivered much in pass defense, registering one interception and one pass defensed in 29 career games. This past season, PFF graded Chenal pass coverage at 56.7, putting him at 590th among linebackers.

Here are some of the weaknesses for Chenal by NFL.com

· Tightly bound with limited lateral agility.

· Lacks speed and explosive burst in pursuit.

· More guessing than recognition of blocking schemes.

· Lacks desired instincts and discipline navigating through traffic.

· Still plenty of room for growth with technique.

· Fooled by misdirection and misses cut-back development.

· Below-average coverage option in man or zone on passing downs.

Linebackers have desirability from franchises in the first round. In last year’s NFL Draft, three linebackers were selected in each of the first two rounds. In 2020, four linebackers were selected in the first round.

Chenal’s draft grade has him slotted somewhere in the top 100 picks, likely a second or third-round selection. NFL Mock Draft Database lists Chenal as the No.62nd overall prospect and a projected second-round pick.

However, Chenal has previously appeared in two mock drafts (Athlon Sports and PFF) going to the New England Patriots with the No. 21 overall pick.

Chenal has also been projected to the New York Jets (second round) and New York Giants (third round) by the New York Post (Sporting News also sees Chenal to the Giants in the third round) and No.63 to the AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals by ESPN.

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