http://www.6magazineonline.com

by: CJ Oates

During the past two college football seasons we have been blessed to see some great defensive linemen who have dominated college football. Last season you have the man-child, Ndamukong Suh, who almost won the Big 12 title game by himself (12 tackles, 7 for losses, 4½ sacks in a 13-12 loss) and the prestigious Heisman Trophy, where he finished fourth. Not only that but he won just about every award from the AP Player of the Year to the Outland Trophy.

After Suh, you have former Oklahoma Sooner, Gerald McCoy, who was less glamorized with awards, but still had a great career at Oklahoma. In his senior season, he helped the Sooners go from the 68th ranked defense in the nation to being 8th behind his 34 tackles (20 of those being for a loss or no gain). The third ranked defensive tackle last year was Dan Williams out of Tennessee. He was not that highly touted until Monte Kiffin came aboard and helped improve his work ethic. He made enough strides in his final campaign to garner a first round selection.

This past season the main defensive lineman that you constantly heard about would be none other than Nick Fairley. Fairley dominated the SEC this season with his 11½ sacks and 24 tackles for a loss. My most notable memories of Fairley this season were watching ESPN’s Top 10 Plays where you would see numerous body slams that players have taken. Unlike Suh, he was not able to garner recognition for the Heisman thanks to “some guy” named Cam Newton. Fairley however, did receive the MVP of the BCS National Championship game against Oregon. If you were to match him up to the top 3 defensive tackles from the 2010 NFL Draft, he would match-up well up against all three.

The comparison of Fairley against Suh is something a lot of people have been making this season. The connection really picked up steam towards the end of the season when Fairley showed that he was a force to be reckoned with. Both are great players, but Suh is a “once in a decade” prospect. You don’t find defensive players like Suh in every draft class. To be honest, Suh is more of a complete defensive tackle because he is versatile, has amazing quickness for a man of his stature, and his physicality is unrivaled amongst his peers. The thing that both players have that makes them special is their high motor which you cannot teach. Relating Fairley to McCoy would be a more realistic comparison. McCoy is a great player, but he does not play with the hunger that we see Fairley play with game after game. Unlike Suh and McCoy, Dan Williams is not even comparable to Fairley because of his playing style. Williams is more of a Vince Wilfork, “run-stopping”, defensive tackle while the other three have multifaceted abilities. With that being said, all four have an uncanny playing style, but I feel that Fairley is between Suh and McCoy.

comments

Related Posts