Sporting News says Jared Crick is the best player in college football

[carlfense]

Congrats Jared!

 

http://www.mockingthedraft.com/2010/5/30/1493732/sporting-news-says-jared-crick

In the Sporting News annual, the editors picked Nebraska junior defensive tackle Jared Crick as the best player in college football.

 

Obviously being the best player in college football doesn't always mean being the best draft-eligible player in the nation. But it's interesting, especially since TSN also names Crick a Heisman Trophy candidate.

 

"The most disruptive defender in the college game. Think Ndamukong Suh. He's that good," is how TSN described him.

 

High praise.

[zoogs]

Wow, Crick has a LOT to live up to this year.

[carlfense]

Wow, Crick has a LOT to live up to this year.

Yeah. I hope NU fans don't bad mouth him if he doesn't turn out to be Suh v.2

[Nexus]

The thing I like about Crick is that he's a lot like Suh. Not real vocal, but leads by example instead. He's humble and doesn't seem like the type to get caught up in media hype like this. Thing is, he probably has higher expectations of himself than we or the media do of him. That's the kind of guy you want on your team.

[gamecocks]

learning from the best defensive player from last year and still learning from one of the best defensive coaches in the game this season, will only help Crick. As long as other players along the line step up the way he did last year, I think he will have a very good season.

[GMoose]

Just think, if he does turn out to be as productive as even 2008 Suh...we'll be talking about the 2009 D-line as one of the best in history.

[t_husker]

this kind of thing is great for recruiting and (not that we need it) program prestige.

[Nexus]

Just think, if he does turn out to be as productive as even 2008 Suh...we'll be talking about the 2009 D-line as one of the best in history.

 

Actually Crick's 2009 stats is eerily similar to Suh's 2008 stats.

 

2009 Crick

73 Tackles

15 Tackles For Loss

9.5 Sacks

4 Pass Break-Ups

16 QB Hurries

2 Fumbles Recovered

1 Blocked Kick

 

2008 Suh

76 Tackles

19 Tackles For Loss

7.5 Sacks

2 Interceptions

3 Pass Break-Ups

7 QB Hurries

1 Forced Fumble

2 Blocked Kicks

[redout22]

Yeah Crick!!

[brophog]

Odd choice for player of the year, however, I thought for large portions of the year Crick actually played better than Suh.

 

His ceiling isn't as high as Suh's simply because he's not nearly as athletic as Suh is, but from a production standpoint Crick performed very well. Allen, more than Steinkuhler (or another DT) is more important to Crick's play simply because Crick needs a bit of space to operate in, and the more the line has to account for an edge rusher the more of that will be allotted to him.

 

One area where Crick will need to develop to become "the next Suh" is in understanding team defense. Suh was able to utilize his attention to help generate opportunities for others. That's one of the big, often underrated strengths of Suh's game is he had an awareness for what others were doing in the scheme and made himself available to make plays to help others.

 

For example: We didn't blitz much last year, but when we did it was often a simple Nickel Blitz. The Nickel shows strong at the pre-snap and comes off of the edge in a wide release. The DT stunts hard to the inside, and then the LB peels off of him into the B gap. The most important player in that blitz is that DT......he has to sell his inside stunt well to force the Guard to play underneath and protect that A gap. If he does that, and if the offensive team is in a man blocking scheme they are totally outmanned........3 potential rushers (N,LB,DE) vs 2 likely block (OT,RB). The RB will often take the Nickel simply because he's the immediate threat and if the DT/LB work well the LB will be hidden at the snap.

[JTrain]

wowza

 

[mmmtodd]

he may not be athletic as suh...but he has nfl size and body that suh and others can only dream about. If he continues to improve his technique theres no reason he cant be as successful as suh, just in his own way.

[irieboy8]

suh had a lot of pressure on him and he handled it really well.... it pushed him to be the best along with an internal motor to be the best... the kind i think drive the greats....

 

whether Crick has this i do not know... i just hope crick can channel this energy into a postive direction and positive way....

 

congrats though Jared thats a might big honor....

 

the question is this however

 

CrICK backed up SUH last year and shinned in the process

 

now who is gonna back up CRick this year and set him up for future glory.... money, chicks and beyond

[girlknowsfootball]

here's what I want to know... we got Kevin Williams and we're getting all these other commits, which is awesome,... but only 1 DL commit so far... Thats the position I thought would fill up first... where's all our DL recruits? What are they waiting for? 3 spots left... who takes them?

 

Todd Barr? Gerrand Johnson? Isaiah Norton? Brennan Scarlett? Anthony Chickillo? Jeremiah Rasco? Jordan Phillips? Others?

[Nexus]

here's what I want to know... we got Kevin Williams and we're getting all these other commits, which is awesome,... but only 1 DL commit so far... Thats the position I thought would fill up first... where's all our DL recruits? What are they waiting for? 3 spots left... who takes them?

 

Todd Barr? Gerrand Johnson? Isaiah Norton? Brennan Scarlett? Anthony Chickillo? Jeremiah Rasco? Jordan Phillips? Others?

 

I can't speak for everyone, but it could be that some recruits don't like the idea of trying to live up to the expectations from a school's fanbase who just witnessed one of the greatest DT's to ever play college football. From here on out, every DT that comes to Nebraska will be measured by Suh. "Who is gonna be the next Suh?" is the question the media and fans will ask in the years to come.

 

Some recruits might shy away from such a challenge. Yet they respect and even idolize him, but to come in behind him at the same place where he achieved his accomplishments can be a daunting task to try to live up to.