Who are the top 5 linebackers in the NFL? Personally I think they rank like this:
1. Patrick Willis, San Francisco 49ers
2. DeMarcus Ware, Dallas Cowboys
3. Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers
4. Ray Lewis, Baltimore Ravens
5. Brian Urlacher, Chicago Bears
Brian Urlacher for the Chicago Bears has experience on his side.  He has been playing the game for a lot of years.  He is good in the pass coverage, but because of his age he has considerably slowed down his game.  He cannot run or read plays as good as he could have back in his day, but he still is one of the best linebackers in the league.
Ray Lewis from the Baltimore Ravens is my favorite athlete ever.  He is a lot like Urlacher in the fact that he is good in pass covering but Ray Lewis can still run and hit like he did when he was a rookie.
Clay Matthews from the Green Bay Packers is a great linebacker.  He is very aggressive and has good hands for a linebacker.  He can stop the run by himself and his large frame.
DeMarcus Ware from the Dallas Cowboys is a very good run defender.  He had over 16 sacks in the 2010 season.  He is very aggressive and knows and understands the different offenses so that he can react to that specific offense.
Patrick Willis from the San Francisco 49ers is the best in the league.  He is very aggressive and knows how to control lineman.  He understands the concept of leverage and getting underneath the pads to move offensive lineman.  He is the best at it.  He knows how to go hard when he blitzes and only few can stop this monster from getting to their quarterback.

Who do you think is the best in the NFL?