{"id":856985,"date":"2026-04-06T14:59:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T14:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/856985\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T14:59:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T14:59:31","slug":"lions-hosted-michigan-linebacker-for-a-visit-ahead-of-2026-nfl-draft-one-of-the-most-instinctive-linebackers-in-the-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/856985\/","title":{"rendered":"Lions hosted Michigan linebacker for a visit ahead of 2026 NFL Draft, &#8216;One of the most instinctive linebackers in the class&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 NFL Draft is 18 days away, and the Detroit Lions are continuing to get their visits in. This time, they took a look at a player who isn\u2019t too far away at all. Lions hosted Michigan linebacker Jimmy Rolder for a visit Rolder is coming off a big season with a team-leading 73 [\u2026]<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"3931\" height=\"2621\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/69620-usatsi_24130818.jpg\" class=\"attachment-1280 size-1280 wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"  data-hero=\"atoz-hero\" decoding=\"async\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMichigan Wolverines linebacker Jimmy Rolder (30) celebrates a play in the second half against the Fresno State Bulldogs.<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u00a9 Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports  <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 2026 NFL Draft is 18 days away, and the Detroit Lions are continuing to get their visits in. This time, they took a look at a player who isn\u2019t too far away at all. <\/p>\n<p>Lions hosted Michigan linebacker Jimmy Rolder for a visit<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">In addition to visiting the Bears, Bills and Bucs (prior reported here), Michigan LB Jimmy Rolder has also visited the Denver Broncos &amp; Detroit Lions and has had a private workout with the Saints, per source. <\/p>\n<p>One of the most instinctive LBs in the class continues to generate\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ryan Fowler (@_RyanFowler_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/_RyanFowler_\/status\/2040536687013507325?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rolder is coming off a big season with a team-leading 73 tackles, nine tackles for loss, three pass breakups, an interception, and two sacks. The two things that might really draw the Lions to Rolder are that he is one of the surest tacklers in the draft. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2025, Pro Football Focus gave him an 88.8 tackle grade. That was seventh in the nation among linebackers who played a minnium 400 snaps. He missed just four tackles all season. The other thing is that he\u2019s a strong run defender. PFF graded him out at 80.0 in the department. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rolder has some ability to play the weak-side linebacker role because he did show some pass-rush ability at Michigan, and he was decent in coverage. The Lions would probably have to spend some time with him and continue to grow him as a player since previous to 2025, Michigan predominantly used him as a special teamer. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s likely why he\u2019s expected to be a late-day three pick at this point, but as Ryan Fowler points out in the above tweet, there\u2019s a lot of interest in him right now. He\u2019s a potential sleeper pick for sure.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/USATSI_24780046-scaled.jpg\" class=\"attachment-768 size-768\" alt=\"Florida DT Caleb Banks\" itemprop=\"image\" loading=\"lazy\"  style=\"object-position:52% 29%\" \/>\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"query-card__category is-style-eyebrow\">Detroit Lions News<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NFL Draft is 18 days away, and the Detroit Lions are continuing to get their visits&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":856986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[4955,146,113,153,2506,7,147,580,71,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-856985","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-lions","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-detroit","10":"tag-detroit-lions","11":"tag-detroit-lions-news","12":"tag-detroitlions","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-lions","15":"tag-michigan-football","16":"tag-michigan-wolverines","17":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116358360806138909","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}