CFB51 All-Big Ten Team - Linebacker #1

[ELA]

FIRST TEAM

		OFFENSE
QB		Dwayne Haskins		Ohio State
RB		Jonathan Taylor		Wisconsin
RB		Reggie Corbin		Illinois
WR		Rondale Moore		Purdue
WR		Tyler Johnson		Minnesota
TE		T.J. Hockeson		Iowa
T		Isaiah Prince		Ohio State
G		Beau Benzschawel		Wisconsin
C		Tyler Biadasz		Wisconsin
G		Michael Dieter		Wisconsin
T		Ryan Bates		Penn State
	.		.
DL		Chase Winovich		Michigan
DL		Kenny Willikes		Michigan State
DL		Dre'Mont Jones		Ohio State
DL		A.J. Epenesa		Iowa

SECOND TEAM

		OFFENSE
QB		David Blough		Purdue
RB		Karan Higdon		Michigan
RB		Devine Ozigbo		Nebraska
WR		Parris Campbell		Ohio State
WR		Stanley Morgan		Nebraska
TE		Noah Fant		Iowa
T		David Edwards		Wisconsin
G		Ross Reynolds		Iowa
C		Kirk Barron		Purdue
G		Ben Bredeson		Michigan
T		Matt McCann		Purdue
	.		.
DL		Joe Gaziano		Northwestern
DL		Chase Young		Ohio State
DL		Carter Coughlin		Minnesota

[MrNubbz]

Took Edwards he lead in solo tackles,Watson was 4 behind him

[ELA]

Devin Bush was the lone unanimous all Big Ten linebacker.  Michigan looked lost defensively without him.  Those two facts we're enough for me.

[MrNubbz]

Start to finish Edwards had the better season IMO.Gary was out also with some injuries thrown in so a lot was missed for UM

[ELA]

Start to finish Edwards had the better season IMO.Gary was out also with some injuries thrown in so a lot was missed for UM

Gary's injuries had nothing to do with it, Bush may have been Michigan's best defender.  Gary wasn't in the top half of their defense.

[MrNubbz]

And Bush isn't in the top twenty of Conference solo tackles.After Edwards wins this round I'm voting for Watson 

[ELA]

Individual defensive stats are a useless metric.

[MrNubbz]

At a position responsible for most of the tackles?Put that thing out you'll burn your fingers

[ELA]

Take a look at where Defensive MVPs finish in tackles.  Even just linebackers.  The last three linebackers to win NFL Defensive POTY finished #65, #11 and #99 in the league in tackles.

[847badgerfan]

You really can't go wrong with any of these, but I went with Edwards. The UW DLine was in shambles this year due to injury, and he was the machine that kept the defense respectable. He was everywhere and without him, UW would have been watching bowl games instead of practicing for one.

[MrNubbz]

Take a look at where Defensive MVPs finish in tackles.  Even just linebackers.  The last three linebackers to win NFL Defensive POTY finished #65, #11 and #99 in the league in tackles.

Well for most of the season Bush was surrounded by superior talent(sans the last two contests).So he had that going for him.And CFB has a much greater range of talent on the field.Some kids are Sunday bound and many/most are not.I'm saying the talent around directly affects a player both good & bad.Do you think Edwards/Watson wouldn't have been as effective playing for Don Brown?Just sayin'

[ELA]

Edwards is good.  He might be my second pick.  But my eyes said Bush was best, how terrible UM defense looked without him did nothing but confirm that to me, and he's the lone player that both coaches and the media thought was first team cemented that.  Individual stats do nothing to sway me, as they never do with defensive players.  Frequently playing opposite the best player is better for stats than actually being the best player.

[MaximumSam]

I thought Bush's absence was extremely noticeable against Florida. I went with him.

[847badgerfan]

Bush had a helluva line and secondary to work with.