homerHAWKeye777
Well-Known Member
I cannot help but be struck by the ESPN blog lauding Ryan Kerrigan. I watched plenty of Purdue football through the past few seasons and I appreciate that Kerrigan was basically a 1-man wrecking crew. However, part of what propped up his stats was that the Purdue D just "let him loose." While often that ended up leading to sacks and/or TFLs ... it also led to many opportunities where the secondary was exposed because the QB's vision wasn't constrained by having passing lanes taken away (part of why D-linemen are schooled to get their hands up if they cannot get to the QB).
Another stat that is just as telling is that while Kerrigan alone accounted for nearly 10 yards per game lost by the opposing O ... the Purdue D also allowed 43 TDs through the regular season. Compare that to the 22 TDs allowed by the Hawkeye D through the regular season. You're looking there at a 2-1 ratio!
Of course, why compare Purdue to Iowa? Well, of course because so many folks bash on Clayborn due to his significant drop in production. While Clayborn and the Iowa D was much maligned after the closure of the regular season, few folks in the media seem to have pieced together the facts.
- The Iowa D gave up very few scores through the season despite contending with considerable adversity. In past years, such adversity would have knocked Iowa further down the "statistical" ladder.
- Clayborn still managed to account for 52 tackles. Not all of those were TFLs or sack ... but it still illustrates that he was getting in on plays. And you don't get in on plays without putting in the work. What's more, Iowa plays a disciplined brand of D where they don't just "unleash" their D-linemen. Matt Roth said as much after his career at Iowa. Roth alluded that he could have put up much more impressive sack/TFL numbers, however it would have come at the cost of not taking care of his DL-responsibilities.
- Despite the seemingly poor sack production, Iowa still ranked 5th in the Big 10 in sacks ... totalling 22 total sacks. It should be noted that 3 of the Big 10 teams ranked ahead of Iowa totalled but 23 total sacks. Thus, the margin between 2nd and 5th was tiny.
- Clayborn's 2010 production is better than the "normal" productivity of an Iowa D-lineman during seasons of adversity and still nearly on par with "normal" productivity during relatively adversity-free (on the D) seasons.
Anyhow, while many folks may end up crying "foul" if Clayborn ends up getting picked ahead of Kerrigan, I, for one, will not. Kerrigan was definitely an impressive player. However, Clayborn was an impressive player too. Furthermore, Clayborn was impressive while also executing within a system that required more discipline.
Sorry for the rant. I'm just getting irritated watching some of what the talking heads say and/or write when talking about D-linemen in the draft (particularly concerning Clayborn).
Another stat that is just as telling is that while Kerrigan alone accounted for nearly 10 yards per game lost by the opposing O ... the Purdue D also allowed 43 TDs through the regular season. Compare that to the 22 TDs allowed by the Hawkeye D through the regular season. You're looking there at a 2-1 ratio!
Of course, why compare Purdue to Iowa? Well, of course because so many folks bash on Clayborn due to his significant drop in production. While Clayborn and the Iowa D was much maligned after the closure of the regular season, few folks in the media seem to have pieced together the facts.
- The Iowa D gave up very few scores through the season despite contending with considerable adversity. In past years, such adversity would have knocked Iowa further down the "statistical" ladder.
- Clayborn still managed to account for 52 tackles. Not all of those were TFLs or sack ... but it still illustrates that he was getting in on plays. And you don't get in on plays without putting in the work. What's more, Iowa plays a disciplined brand of D where they don't just "unleash" their D-linemen. Matt Roth said as much after his career at Iowa. Roth alluded that he could have put up much more impressive sack/TFL numbers, however it would have come at the cost of not taking care of his DL-responsibilities.
- Despite the seemingly poor sack production, Iowa still ranked 5th in the Big 10 in sacks ... totalling 22 total sacks. It should be noted that 3 of the Big 10 teams ranked ahead of Iowa totalled but 23 total sacks. Thus, the margin between 2nd and 5th was tiny.
- Clayborn's 2010 production is better than the "normal" productivity of an Iowa D-lineman during seasons of adversity and still nearly on par with "normal" productivity during relatively adversity-free (on the D) seasons.
Anyhow, while many folks may end up crying "foul" if Clayborn ends up getting picked ahead of Kerrigan, I, for one, will not. Kerrigan was definitely an impressive player. However, Clayborn was an impressive player too. Furthermore, Clayborn was impressive while also executing within a system that required more discipline.
Sorry for the rant. I'm just getting irritated watching some of what the talking heads say and/or write when talking about D-linemen in the draft (particularly concerning Clayborn).
