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At the end of the 2015 NFL season, who was the best 4-3 strong-side linebacker in the game? We're not talking about who made the Pro Bowl or even who got the All-Pro votes. Who was really, truly, the best? Forget reputation and how much money each player makes. We want cold, hard analysis that comes from watching the games and grading the players.

That's what the B/R NFL 1000 is for, and it's back for another year.

The B/R 1000 metric is based heavily on scouting each player and grading the key criteria for each position. The criteria are weighted according to importance.

Potential and career accomplishments are not taken into consideration.

We judged 4-3 strong-side linebackers on pass rush (20 points), run defense (20), coverage (20), tackling (30) and the overall value of the position relative to the other spots on the field (eight points). The maximum score for this position is 98.

In the case of ties, our analysts asked, "Which player would I rather have on my team?" and set the rankings accordingly.

Subjective? Yes, but ties are no fun.

A team of experienced evaluators (Dan Bazal, Luke Easterling, Cian Fahey, Adam Heisler, Duke Manyweather, Matt Miller and Marshal Miller) scouted each player with these key criteria in mind. The following scouting reports and grades are the work of months of film study.

Players' heights, weights, seasons played and sack totals from NFL.com. All other statistics from Pro Football Focus.