49ers HOFer Patrick Willis Named NFL's Top Linebacker of Past 25 Years

Willis was a five-tool linebacker.

Oct 6, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers former linebacker Patrick Willis gestures after speaking to the crowd during halftime against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Jim Harbaugh once called Patrick Willis the Willie Mays of linebackers.

Willis could do everything well. He was a five-tool linebacker, as Harbaugh put it. He could make plays in the backfield, he could run sideline to sideline, he could force turnovers, he could cover and he could blitz. The complete player.

That's why Pro Football Focus says Patrick Willis was the NFL's best linebacker of the past 25 years -- even better than Ray Lewis.

"Willis finished his NFL career with the highest PFF overall grade ever for the position (94.3) and is the only linebacker to rank in the top five in career PFF overall grade, career PFF run-defense grade (94.5), career PFF coverage grade (94.1) and career missed tackle rate (5%)," writes PFF analyst Jonathon Macri.

"He was never worse than a top-three-graded linebacker overall for six straight seasons, from 2008 to 2013, and was No. 1 in that regard twice."

Not only is Willis the best linebacker of the past 25 years, he's the best linebacker in 49ers franchise history and the best player they've had since the Yorks became the owners roughly 25 years ago. He was even better than Frank Gore who is an all-time great. Gore never was as dominant as Willis. Almost no one was.

The second-best linebacker of the past 20 years according to PFF is Ray Lewis, who started in playing 1996, well before PFF started grading players. So this ranking could be biased in favor of Willis.

Still, Willis was more gifted than Lewis ever was.