Defensive Leaders 2013

[Kaiser_Soze]

I thought I'd get this thread up to track some of the many outstanding white defenders that are playing this year.

Here are the 2013 statistical leaders so far...

tackles:
(I'll probably whittle this down to a top 20 eventually but the field's a bit too crowded right now)

Justin Cherocci jr Central Mich 31t
Mason Monhein so Illinois 30t
Jake Doughty sr Utah State 30t
Justin Anderson sr ULL 29t
Joey Nichol jr Air Force 29t
Ben Russell so Ohio 27t 2s
Tyler Matakevich so Temple 27t
Nick Kwiatkoski so West Virginia 27t
Clay Honeycutt jr Texas A & M 25t
Zack Ryan fr Ball State 25t
Jack Tyler sr VT 25t
Thomas Holloway sr Army 25t
Sam Scofield jr Tulane 25t
Steele Divitto sr Boston College 25t
Jonathan Truman jr Kansas 25t
Greg Heban sr Indiana 24t
Dan Fox sr Notre Dame 24t
Luke Wollet sr Kent St 24t
Chris Borland sr Wisconsin 24t
Mike Olson sr Wake Forest 24t
Ben Weaver fr Boise St 23t
Zach Vigil jr Utah St 23t
Ben Ingle so Ball State 22t
Damon Magazu sr East Carolina 22t
Matt Dellinger so Kent St 22t
Mitchell Osborne jr Tulsa 22t
Sean Sylvia jr Boston College 22t
Glenn Carson sr Penn State 22t
Cole Farrand jr Maryland 21t
John Lowdermilk jr Iowa 21t
Addison Gillam fr Colorado 21t

sacks:

(Here's everyone with at least two sacks. notice Nico Caponi tops both the tackles and the sacks list right now. That's a kind we're going to have to keep an eye on)

Nico Caponi sr Akron 5t 3s
Pat O'Connor so Eastern Michigan 18t, 3s
Nick Mangieri so Indiana 10t 2.5s
Tyler Roberts so Troy 14t 2.5s
Joey Gautney jr ULM 9t, 2.5s
Sam Holl sr Baylor 13t 2.5s
Morgan Breslin sr USC 3t 2s
Trent Murphy sr Stanford 8t 2s
Ryan Mueller jr Kansas State 17t 2s
Alex Page sr South Alabama 10t 2s
Kyle Woestmann jr Vanderbilt 14t 2s
Zach Thompson sr Wake Forest 13t, 2s
Brennen Beyer jr Michigan 8t 2s
Jimmy Stewart so Vanderbilt 3t 2s
Michael Kutzler jr Rice 15t, 2s
Justin Cherocci jr Central Mich 31t 2s
Hunter Matt so Eastern Michigan 11t 2s
Marc Millan jr Idaho 24t 2s
Jack Tyler sr VT 25t 2s
Ben Russell so Ohio 27t 2s
Tyler Hoover sr Michigan State 9t 2s
Anthony Chickillo jr Miami 10t 2s
Tyler Scott sr Northwestern 10t 2s



interceptions:

(Both Collin Ellis and Vinnie Sunseri have returned their two ints for touchdowns. Incredible)

Collin Ellis jr Northwestern 4t 2int
Vinnie Sunseri jr Alabama 8t 2int
a bunch of others with one...

I'll put together some more in depth profiles on some of the standouts and players with pro potential in the coming weeks.

 

[celticdb15]

Good thread!

Ex-N.F.L. scout Greg Gabriel looks at 3 Michigan State prospects; compares Max Bullough to Luke Kuechly.

Plenty of praise for Wisconsin nose guard and N.F.L. prospect Beau Allen after he dominated A.S.U. last week.

ESPN.com, via The Associated Press: Stanford's Trent Murphy growing into N.F.L. prospect. (*Then again we sall thought Chase Thomas was a sure pick..)

The Daily Progress: 6' 7" Virginia defensive tackle Brent Urban catching the eye of N.F.L. scouts.

U. of San Diego star Blake Oliaro has gone from being a freshman safety to an athletic, 6'5, 255 lb. defensive end.

 

[celticdb15]

Ex-N.F.L. scout Greg Gabriel looks at 3 Michigan State prospects; compares Max Bullough to Luke Kuechly.

Plenty of praise for Wisconsin nose guard and N.F.L. prospect Beau Allen after he dominated A.S.U. last week.

 

[Leonardfan]

I think Bullough compares more to Laurinitis. Keuchly is on the Urlacher/Dan Morgan (when he was healthy) level

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

the best athletes play ... unless, of course, the best athlete on the team is a White cornerback. case in point, Utah's resident WSTD, Mike Honeycutt.

Honeycutt's 4.40 speed in the 40 (the fastest on the team, unless i missed someone) is only good enough to have earned him special team duties during his first three seasons on the team. "weird," huh?

this year, Honeycutt is getting some reps as a nickleback, but you'd think his outstanding physical tools would equate to more on-field action. but then again, thinking like that would be rational ... and the Caste System ain't got no time fo' that!

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

i'm unfortunately stuck at home on this lovely Friday night, but i've been watching the BYU-Utah State game to fill the time. at any rate, Utah State has a sophomore linebacker who is a BEAST.

i've never heard his name before, but keep an eye out for Kyler Fackrell. Fackrell is long, fast, instinctive, and has simply been terrorizing the Cougars.

entering tonight's contest, he has 6 tackles-for-loss, 4 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery in 5 games. those numbers will certainly improve, as he's been in the backfield a LOT this evening.

despite the lack of hype around this youngster (and barring injury, of course), i can see Kyler being a future first-round pick. he is that kind of total package. you heard it here first.

as an aside, the disappointingly dark Utah State Aggies' other best defensive player is yet another "deceptively fast" (even according to his own collegiate profile) White linebacker. leading tackler is senior middle linebacker Jake Doughty is very active. and he's physical, as well. but as a "short" (he's 6-0 tall), White linebacker, he likely won't be a high priority target for NFL "talent" "evaluators."

*********************

edited to add: the ESPN commentators just credited Fackrell with 10 first-half tackles. impressive!

 

[dwid]

any relation to Reed Doughty, the safety for the Redskins? who is pretty good but constantly hated on

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

any relation to Reed Doughty, the safety for the Redskins? who is pretty good but constantly hated on

i don't think so, but i could be wrong.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Oregon's poly quarterback gets all the hype, but the Ducks have several elite White talents who deserve acclaim.

one such athlete is defensive lineman, Taylor Hart. the long-armed, 6-foot-6, 287-pounder has completely disrupted opposing offenses despite virtual silence from the media hype machine. check out his stats through 6 games: 25 total tackles, 2 tackles-for-loss, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 2 pass deflections.

with his versatility (can play d-end in a 3-4, or d-tackle in a 4-3) and athletic ability, his name will likely be called early in the 2014 NFL Draft.

**************************

Temple's sophomore linebacker Tyler Matakevich currently leads the nation in solo tackles, with an eye-popping 65 through 6 games. he also averages 13.7 total tackles per game, good for 3rd in the country.

at 6-foot-1, 220-pounds and with terrific range, young Tyler Matakevich would seem to be the total package.

 

[Leonardfan]

Sunseri is out for the year after suffering a knee injury while playing kickoff coverage :icon_rolleyes:

 

[Freethinker]

Sunseri is out for the year after suffering a knee injury while playing kickoff coverage :icon_rolleyes:

Don't they have White walk-ons for that? :frusty:

 

[celticdb15]

The Leaf Chronicle takes an in-depth look at 'dominant' Louisiana-Lafayette senior linebacker Justin Anderson. (16tackles last week)

http://www.ragincajuns.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=3269

"He always has something to prove,” said UL linebacker Andrew ****rt, who came into the Cajun program at the same time as Anderson in 2009.
“You listen to these guys talk that ‘he’s not athletic,’ and this and that, and, to me, that (doesn’t) make any sense. You wouldn’t be around the ball making plays like he does if you’re not athletic. So people that doubt him (are wrong), I would think.”

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Stanford's nearly-all-White front seven put on quite a show against the dynamic passing attack of the Sean Mannion-led Orego State Beavers.

the White pass rushers of the Cardinal didn't allow the gifted Mannion time to dissect the secondary with his surgeon-like skill, as Stanford sacked Mannion 8 times in the game. 7 of the sacks were by White men:

Trent Murphy had 2.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1 pass breakup, and 8 total tackles (4 solo). Josh Mauro had 1 sack, 3 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, and 8 total tackles (3 solo). Kevin Anderson had 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 5 total tackles (3 solo). Ben Gardner chipped in with 1 sack and 2 solo tackles, and Blake Lueders added 1 more sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.

it was a completely dominating performance by the defensive White men up front for Stanford.

 

[Freethinker]

Stanford's nearly-all-White front seven put on quite a show against the dynamic passing attack of the Sean Mannion-led Orego State Beavers.

the White pass rushers of the Cardinal didn't allow the gifted Mannion time to dissect the secondary with his surgeon-like skill, as Stanford sacked Mannion 8 times in the game. 7 of the sacks were by White men:

Trent Murphy had 2.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1 pass breakup, and 8 total tackles (4 solo). Josh Mauro had 1 sack, 3 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, and 8 total tackles (3 solo). Kevin Anderson had 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 5 total tackles (3 solo). Ben Gardner chipped in with 1 sack and 2 solo tackles, and Blake Lueders added 1 more sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.

it was a completely dominating performance by the defensive White men up front for Stanford.

Trent Murphy is 3rd in sacks with 9.5, only 1/2 a sack behind the co-leaders. His NFL stock must be rapidly rising...

 

[Leonardfan]

Bad news as Stanford DE Ben Gardner is out for the rest of the year. Hopefully he will be healthy enough for the NFL Draft process.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Utah State's gifted young linebacker Kyler Fackrell just intercepted a pass on the 1-yard line and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown. what a talent this kid is!

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

so i'm watching the Boise State-Colorado State game, and it appears that CSU only has one White starter on defense, linebacker Max Morgan.

does it surprise anyone that he is the best defensive player on the team?

Morgan leads the team in total tackles (75) and solo tackles (46), he has broken up 4 passes, forced 1 fumble, and returned 1 fumble 73 yards for a touchdown.

too bad there aren't more White athletes in Colorado like this one, since apparently Colorado is a primarily black-populated state judging by the recruits Colorado State signs ...

 

[Leonardfan]

Haven't heard of Eddie Lackey but it appears he is the key to the Baylor defense: http://www.wacotrib.com/sports/bayl...cle_cabd57fb-b6cf-56d7-b377-57eab4507fb2.html

It looks like he is adept at playing the pass - hopefully he gets a shot at the next level.

 

[Deadlift]

Linebackers

James Morris (Iowa), Steele Divitto (Boston College), Chris Borland (Wisconsin), Max Bullough (Michigan State), Glenn Carson (Penn State), Mike Olson (Wake Forest) and some other draft-eligible linebackers are fine football players, but I'm concerned about what the upcoming Draft will bring.

 

[Leonardfan]

James Morris (Iowa), Steele Divitto (Boston College), Chris Borland (Wisconsin), Max Bullough (Michigan State), Glenn Carson (Penn State), Mike Olson (Wake Forest) and some other draft-eligible linebackers are fine football players, but I'm concerned about what the upcoming Draft will bring.

Morris, Borland and Bullough should all be drafted. I know Borland accepted an invite to the senior bowl. I think Morris and Bullough are just as deserving.

 

[Deadlift]

Morris, Borland and Bullough should all be drafted. I know Borland accepted an invite to the senior bowl. I think Morris and Bullough are just as deserving.

I forgot to mention Andrew Wilson from MIZZOU! http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/481544/andrew-wilson


And, Collin Ellis (JR) is a fun player to watch at Northwestern. http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/500405/collin-ellis

http://www.nusports.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/collin_ellis_648926.html