Auburn May Have the Best Linebacker Duo in College Football

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The Auburn Tigers have one of the best linebacker rooms in the entire country.

The Auburn defense, led by defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin, has put an emphasis on building big-time linebacking rooms, and once again, Auburn is leading the way on multiple fronts.

Led by All-American Xavier Atkins and rising sophomore star Elijah Melendez, the linebacker duo has been astonishing so far through the first four games of the season.

And the grades back that up.

According to PFN's Cam Mellor, Atkins is the highest-graded linebacker in college football through four weeks with a ridiculous 95.0 grade.

Melendez isn't far behind.

His 91.5 grade ranks fifth nationally among linebackers, according to Mellor.

So Auburn currently has two of the five highest-graded linebackers in the country.

That's pretty impressive.

However, I think what's even more encouraging is how quickly Melendez has established himself alongside Atkins.

Melendez finished Auburn's season-opening win over Baylor with 12 tackles and was selected by Auburn's staff as one of its mainstay captains.

And apparently his teammates were pretty happy about that decision.

"You saw he was a captain today, selected by the staff, and when we announced him, the entire defense was cheering," Alex Golesh said after the game. "They respect him." He has been a captain every week since the Tigers head coach said this earlier in the season. 

That's probably as important as any PFN grade.

Because Melendez is only a sophomore.

And Golesh has already talked about pushing him to become even more of a leader.

"He works — just like Eric, man, Elijah's a worker," Golesh said following the Baylor game. "Physically, obviously, he's a complete freak show, but he's a worker. He does it the right way."

And then there's Atkins.

He's been one of the centerpieces of Auburn's defense, and through four weeks, PFF's grading has him playing linebacker better than anyone else in the country.

Auburn's defense certainly hasn't been perfect.

We've talked plenty about the missed tackles against Florida and Vanderbilt, although it's improving.

And linebacker continues to not look like a position Auburn needs to worry much about.

Atkins is playing like an All-American.

Melendez is already emerging as one of Auburn's defensive leaders.

And through four games, the numbers suggest Auburn might have one of the best linebacker duos anywhere in college football.

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