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Ranking the top five inside linebackers Alabama will face during the 2022 season.

5.] Mike Jones Jr. (Jr.), LSU, Nov. 5, Baton Rouge.

2021 season: Clemson transfer appeared in all 13 games, making five starts. Recorded 34 total tackles, including 2.5 for loss and a sack. In a start against Alabama, Jones recorded five tackles, including 1.5 for loss, a sack and a quarterback hurry.

Of note: Start against Alabama last season was the first of five in a row to end Jones' junior campaign. Opened the game at an outside spot, joining Micah Baskerville in flanking mike Damone Clark. With Clark off to the NFL, Jones might be asked to run the show from the middle of the defense in 2022.

4.] Troy Brown (Sr.), Ole Miss, Nov. 12, Oxford.

2021 season: After recording 66 tackles, including seven for loss, in 11 starts at Central Michigan, Brown picked up first-team All-MAC honors for the third straight year.

Of note: The Rebels lost a pair of productive inside linebackers from a season ago, as Chance Campbell was tabbed by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft and Mark Robinson was taken a round later by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Top reserve MoMo Sanogo also moved on, transferring to Louisville. Brown proved capable both on the ball and off while at CMU, excelling against the run and pass (six pass breakups in 2021).

3.] Anfernee Orji (Sr.), Vanderbilt, Sept. 24, Tuscaloosa.

2021 season: In making 12 starts, Orji led the Commodores in tackles (93) and tackles for loss (13). Posted at least one TFL in six of eight SEC games a season ago.

Of note: Among the few positives Vandy fans can point to for the upcoming season is the returning inside duo of Orji and Ethan Barr, who led all SEC linebackers in interceptions a year ago. Between them, Orji and Barr produced 178 stops in 2021. Impressive totals considering neither was an every down guy at the end of the season.

2.] Jeremy Banks (Sr.), Tennessee, Oct. 15, Knoxville.

2021 season: Banks ranked second in the SEC in tackles, finishing with a team-high 128 stops. Also posted 11.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, three pass breakups and an interception. In the Vols' 52-24 loss at Alabama, Banks racked up a game-high 12 tackles.

Of note: Thrust into the starting lineup following multiple transfers -- including Henry To'o To'o to Alabama -- Banks, who began his UT career at running back, returns to give the Vols an emerging three down player inside. Expect a more polished version of the linebacker we saw a year ago, when Banks' eyes and aggressive nature sometimes got him out of position.

1.] Bumper Pool (Sr.), Arkansas, Oct. 1, Fayetteville.

2021 season: A second-team All-SEC selection for the second year in a row after surpassing the 100-tackle mark for the second season in a row, Pool recorded seven tackles in the Razorbacks' 42-35 loss at Alabama.

Of note: Grant Morgan and Hayden Henry are no longer around, leaving Pool as the surviving member of the Hogs' three-headed tackling machine. Still, with Alabama transfer Drew Sanders offering versatility at the linebacker level, don't expect much of a drop-off where production from that area of the defense is concerned.

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Contact Travis Reier by personal message or on Twitter (@travisreier ).

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