Cole Taylor tops HERO Sports' 2026 FCS linebacker rankings, deep field emerges

Cole Taylor and Rohan Davy sit at the front of the linebacker conversation because both can change a season on third down, in run support, and in the chase for playoff positioning. Taylor topped HERO Sports’ 2026 returning-linebacker rankings after a 2025 surge that produced 107 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, three quarterback hurries and two interceptions. He did it while logging more than 830 snaps and earning Second Team All-Big Sky honors, then carried that form into a Montana State defense that helped deliver a 35-32 win over North Dakota State for the national championship.

That matters because Montana State did not just win a title, it brought back the kind of defensive core that can distort a whole bracket. HERO Sports’ preview says the Bobcats returned their top three tacklers and all of their top linebackers and safeties for 2026, which makes Taylor more than a stat line. He is the center of a defense built to survive pressure, clean up runs in space, and erase possessions on passing downs.

Davy gives the rankings its most dramatic leap. Rhode Island said he went from 10 tackles in 2024 to 101 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and 11 sacks in 2025, one of the sharpest year-to-year jumps in the subdivision. His best-known performance came in a 47-14 loss at Western Michigan on Sept. 27, 2025, when he posted a career-high 12 tackles. That same game also showed how much havoc Rhode Island’s front can create, with Moses Meus finishing with 19 tackles, the most by a Rams player since 2010.

The depth behind those two names is what makes the list feel like a conference-race map, not just a ranking. Sean Line at Harvard, Porter Connors at UC Davis, Carter Glassmyer at Richmond and Steve Zayachkowsky at Charleston Southern give the top 30 a wide footprint across the Ivy League, Big Sky, CAA and beyond. Jake Dalmado at Southeastern and Geno Calgaro at Stony Brook add more moving parts to a list that also includes South Dakota State twice, along with South Dakota, Chattanooga, Yale, Elon and Cal Poly.

HERO Sports built the rankings from production, postseason accolades, PFF grades, system fit and FCS knowledge, while excluding 2026 FBS-to-FCS and non-D1-to-FCS transfers. That approach keeps the focus on returning impact players, and it explains why this linebacker group feels so loaded. With 128 teams and 13 conferences in the subdivision this season, the stars most likely to become household FCS names by October are the ones already showing they can wreck a game before the offense ever settles in.