As a lifelong fan of the Chicago Bears and a former linebacker myself, it should go without saying that I absolutely love me some solid linebacker play. And nowhere in the NFL right now is there a more prolific linebacker taking the field each weekend than in Indianapolis.

At the eight game mark of the 2023 season, Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin has already eclipsed the 100-tackle mark, which makes him only the second player since 1987 to reach 100 tackles eight games into the season, according to JJ Stankevitz of Colts.com. Franklin joins recent Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Zach Thomas on that list, but that's not the name, or the record, that Franklin could be within reach of.

Zaire Franklin is currently averaging 12.75 tackles per game, which would not only allow him to easily break his own franchise record for tackles (166, set last year), but it also puts him on pace to position himself at the top of the 200 Club. The list of players who have recorded 200 tackles in a single season is not a long one. Hardy Nickerson recorded 214 tackles in 1993, which topped the two previous highest totals set by Jessie Tuggle, who recorded 201 and 207 tackles in 1990 and 1991 respectively. If Franklin continues at this pace and manages to play all seventeen games, he'd end the season with 217 tackles.

As is the case with all records in the modern NFL, it's worth noting that Zaire Franklin does have the benefit of an extra regular season game on the schedule. Hardy Nickerson and Jessie Tuggle each played only sixteen games when they topped the 200-tackle mark.