Will Clayborn break LeRoy Smith's Sack Record?

nickhawk

Well-Known Member
I believe the individual season sack record for the Hawks is 18, held by LeRoy Smith.

Will Clayborn have a realistic chance to get this record, or will he face too many double teams to have enough opportunities to get to the opposing QB.

I definitely think if he stays healthy, he is a legit 1st team All-American and will go down as one of the 2 best defensive lineman in Hawk History (the other being Jared DeVries).
 
I believe the individual season sack record for the Hawks is 18, held by LeRoy Smith.

Will Clayborn have a realistic chance to get this record, or will he face too many double teams to have enough opportunities to get to the opposing QB.

I definitely think if he stays healthy, he is a legit 1st team All-American and will go down as one of the 2 best defensive lineman in Hawk History (the other being Jared DeVries).

No. And I boldfaced why.
 
Clayborn most likely will not break the record due to too many Double teams but will cause havic and set up Binns and DL for lots of pressures and sacks
 
No.

Brashier's 5-2 scheme was a perfect match for Smith's skill set..... The way Parker runs this defense no one will come close to that number.....12, maybe 13 sacks will be the highwater mark.

Btw, when did Elliot takeover running the D, 93? 94?
 
If Clayborn faces a lot of double teams it means the other team is keeping their TE in for blocking, or Klug is going destroy teams. Really hard to double team two guys on the same side of the line. That is the thing about Iowa's line. Each guy is more than capable of beating single blocking.

I think the biggest factor could be Christian Ballard. If he learns to get off the ball a little quicker, get his pads lower, and can crush the pocket more in 2010, then all bets are off for opposing teams.

The other thing is that Iowa has the best back-ups they have had in years on the D-line.
 
Last edited:
If Clayborn faces a lot of double teams it means the other team is keeping their TE in for blocking, or Klug is going destroy teams. Really hard to double team two guys on the same side of the line. That is the thing about Iowa's line. Each guy is more than capable of beating single blocking.

I think the biggest factor could be Christian Ballard. If he learns to get off the ball a little quicker, get his pads lower, and can crush the pocket more in 2010, then all bets are off for opposing teams.

The other thing is that Iowa has the best back-ups they have had in years on the D-line.

This is the quandry that opposing offenses will have to deal with. If teams want to neutralize our defensive front four, they will have to commit serious resources to stop them. You can make a case for needing a double-team on each and every on of them, which is why opposing OC's are already sprouting gray hairs just thinking about the 2010 Iowa D. If you want to stop our D-line you will use up at least 7 blockers to contain 4 guys, leaving the rest of our D plenty of clean air to operate in. If you try to block them one on one, you risk our D-lineman running around your backfield like it's their personal playground. These guys are going to be such a treat to watch this year!
 
This is the quandry that opposing offenses will have to deal with. If teams want to neutralize our defensive front four, they will have to commit serious resources to stop them. You can make a case for needing a double-team on each and every on of them, which is why opposing OC's are already sprouting gray hairs just thinking about the 2010 Iowa D. If you want to stop our D-line you will use up at least 7 blockers to contain 4 guys, leaving the rest of our D plenty of clean air to operate in. If you try to block them one on one, you risk our D-lineman running around your backfield like it's their personal playground. These guys are going to be such a treat to watch this year!

With the OL/TE(s) trying to stop the front four will open Sash up to be free to read the qb's signals. Career INT, IMO, is a more reasonable Hawkeye record to be broken.
 
Will be tough Clayborn with lots of double teams for sure, but he will cause lots of havoc I am sure.
 
Clayborn is a beast and will make his presence known. And felt. You don't have always have to get sacks to make that presence known either. A QB hurry often times leads to a better result for the defense than the sack. Hurries lead to fumbles and interceptions.

Our DL is going to key the entire defense. With those expected to be dominant, the LBs are going to be fine and the secondary should be able to be ball hawkers.
 
I just cannot wait to see what this Dline will do this year. What a nightmare for opposing coordinators. Pick your poison boys!
 
Leroy Smith... Iowa's defensive version of Shonne Greene. Really a man ahead of his time if you think about it. I know the knee injury in the Holiday Bowl pretty much ended his career but if he were playing today? He'd be a top 10 pick for a 3-4 team.
As for Clayborn? I could see an average of 1 per game this year but not 18.
 
I see a lot of 3 step drops out of opposing qb's this coming year. OC's aren't going to let them stand back there and get punished. It'll be play action or 1,2,3 ball is out. That being said, what's the record for tackles for loss? Cause I can see this front 4 putting a lot of guys on their butts behind the line of scrimmage.
 
He got 11.5 sacks or something like that last year so he should be able to duplicate somewhere around those numbers but teh only way he gets 18+ is if he has a crazy 4 or 5 sack game early in the season. I think as a defense overall the Hawks have a good shot at getting close to 30 sacks just with the front 4. I'm so glad that i'm cheering for this unit rather than going against it and even more glad I don't have to gameplan around them.
 
I see a lot of 3 step drops out of opposing qb's this coming year. OC's aren't going to let them stand back there and get punished. It'll be play action or 1,2,3 ball is out. That being said, what's the record for tackles for loss? Cause I can see this front 4 putting a lot of guys on their butts behind the line of scrimmage.

That, along with a lot of screen passes will be used to keep the d-line in check. Also, if the two new linebackers aren't as good as last year (which is likely), Parker may have to use the d-line more conservatively instead of letting them pin their ears back.
 
That, along with a lot of screen passes will be used to keep the d-line in check. Also, if the two new linebackers aren't as good as last year (which is likely), Parker may have to use the d-line more conservatively instead of letting them pin their ears back.

Two schools of thought here. Play them more conservatively or have them pin their ears back to dictate what the offense can do. Sometimes it is easier to mask a weakness with a dominant unit, than to try to compensate for a weakness by having that unit help out.
 
Two schools of thought here. Play them more conservatively or have them pin their ears back to dictate what the offense can do. Sometimes it is easier to mask a weakness with a dominant unit, than to try to compensate for a weakness by having that unit help out.

I hear that. My thought was that last year the d-line felt comfortable taking risks because they knew that had some all-conference LBs behind them. I hope the new guys can give them that feeling.
 
Devries was double and triple teamed for most of his career.

Hell it took 3 Michigan Wolverines holding him too slow him down.

He's Probably the best interior lineman i've watched play at Iowa besides watching Eric Steinbach.


I think this years unit is the most balanced in Iowa's history tho. Major league production

this year, and we had better sit back and enjoy the ride as iowa Fans, cause this unit has

6 pro prospects including 2 back ups who will have a shot at the pro's.
 

Latest posts

Top