The Big Ten is full of absolute studs on the defensive end. There are numerous defensive players that have come from the Big Ten that have had hall of fame careers in the NFL. This year is no different and from defensive ends to safeties, there are multiple players that can make an impact on their respective teams. This list consists of the top five defensive players in the Big Ten for the 2021 season and it is based on individuals performance’s from stats, draft projection, and experience.

5. George Karlaftis, Purdue - Defensive End

George Karlaftis could be higher on this list, however, due to an injury in 2020 he only played in two games. As a freshman in 2019, Karlaftis was a stud. He had 54 total tackles, 17 for a loss along with 7.5 sacks. In both of his collegiate years, he has been named to the Second-team All-Big Ten team. He is an explosive athlete and is quick off the line. He uses his 6 foot 4 inch frame to be able to attack blockers. 

4. Micah McFadden, Indiana - Linebacker

Coming in at number five on the list is Micah McFadden who is the anchor of the Indiana defensive. In 2021, McFadden will be a senior and he should continue being the playmaker he has been since a sophomore. In the 2020 season, only eight games were played due to COVID-19 and McFadden had 59 total tackles. 10.5 of those tackles were for a loss which included 6 sacks. McFadden was named a third-team All-American in 2020 showing his worth.

3. Taiwan Mullen, Indiana - Defensive Back

Taiwan Mullen is the definition of a lockdown corner and is one of the best corners not just in the conference but in the nation. In 2020 he had a breakout year where he was named as a First-team All-American team and First-team All-Big Ten. His stats show how good he is. Mullen had 37 tackles, three interceptions, and four pass deflections. He plays physically and uses his body to hit hard. Mullen is another talent that Indiana has that could help them have a successful year. 

2. Haskell Garrett, Ohio State - Defensive Tackle

Haskell Garrett is not the only number one on my list but Pro Football Focus ranks him as the number one returning interior defensive lineman. In 2020 he was named First-team All-American by CBS Sports and he should reach similar stature this year. His stats don’t pop off the stat sheet but it is the pressure he creates that forces hurry-ups allowing for offensive breakdowns. The Buckeyes will need Garrett to be dominant in order for them to accomplish their hopes on a Big Ten and national title. 

1. Brandon Joseph, Northwestern - Safety

Brandon Joseph was the Big Ten’s best safety last year and lockdowns many team’s passing attacks. Joseph gathered plenty of accolades which included All-America First, All-Big Ten First Team, and Big Ten Newcomer of the Year. Joseph filled up the stat sheet and he should only improve as he was a freshman last year. He had 46 total tackles and six interceptions in just eight games. Joseph will only get better and he is surrounded by great coaching in Patty Fitzgerald. Joseph will use his ball-tracking skills and great hand to impact the Wildcats in 2021.

References: https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/

Writer

-By: Justin Howard

The NFL’s annual trade deadline has passed, marking the unofficial midpoint of the 2020 season. With eight weeks finished, here’s what I believe the esteemed All-Pro team would look like if the season ended right now. We finish with defense and special teams.

DEFENSE

Edge Rusher: TJ Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers

2nd Team: B. Graham, PHI

Being the best player on the league’s best defense has to earn you some recognition right? After recording 27.5 sacks over the last two seasons and still flying under the radar, Watt has exploded onto the national scene this year. He already has 6.5 sacks this year, but even that doesn’t tell the entire story of his impact. Watt always seems to be around when his team needs a big stop.

Edge Rusher: Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns

2nd Team: Z. Smith, GB

After missing most of last season due to a lengthy suspension, Myles Garrett has not skipped a beat. He’s tied with the next man on this list for the league lead in sacks (9.0) and he also has four forced fumbles to his name already.

Interior DL: Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams

2nd Team: D. Buckner, IND

Although TJ Watt is right there with him in the race, Aaron Donald may be poised to take home his third career DPOY award (T-1st all-time). The one-man wrecking crew continues to eat up offensive lines every week. As an interior lineman, he ranks first in the NFL in sacks and has also racked up 22 pressures.

Interior DL: Stephon Tuitt, Pittsburgh Steelers

2nd Team: C. Jones, KC

Tuitt is having the best season of his career, nearly breaking his career-high in sacks after just seven games. He’s overtaken Cameron Heyward as the Steelers best interior lineman.

Linebacker: Fred Warner, San Francisco 49ers

2nd Team: R.Smith, CHI

You have to watch Warner play to truly appreciate how good he is. He’s tied for fourth in the league in total tackles and has the #2 overall grade at his position according to PFF. Aaron Rodgers went as far as to call him the best linebacker in the game.

Linebacker: Bobby Wagner, Seattle Seahawks

2nd Team: B. Martinez, NYG

Although the Seahawks defense has been abysmal, Wagner continues to do his thing in the middle. He is neck-and-neck with Warner in the tackle department and has two sacks as well. He remains the best blitzing linebacker in the NFL.

Linebacker: Lavonte David, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2nd Team: K. Wright, SEA

One of the most underrated players of the 2010s continues to shine without enough recognition. He and second-year running mate Devin White have turned this defense into one of the more formidable units in the NFL.

Cornerback: Jaire Alexander, Green Bay Packers

2nd Team: J. Bradberry, NYG

Alexander has taken the leap to shutdown corner status this season. Don’t believe me? Ask Will Fuller, Calvin Ridley, and Mike Evans, three of the receivers that Alexander has put in the torture chamber this season. He has just one pick, and that number isn’t likely to rise now that QBs will start looking the other way when they see #23.

Cornerback: Marlon Humphrey, Baltimore Ravens

2nd Team: D. Slay, PHI

Humphrey may just be the best cornerback in the league right now. He’s yet to allow a receiver into the end zone this season, but his most impressive stat isn’t even a coverage stat. He’s mastered Charles Tillman’s famed “peanut punch” en route to four forced fumbles in just seven games. At this pace, he will finish the year with nine, good for second all-time behind Tillman himself.

Safety: Budda Baker, Arizona Cardinals

2nd Team: M. Fitzpatrick, PIT

After being rewarded with a mega-contract in the offseason, many wondered why the Cardinals would even consider giving Baker that type of money. Turns out he’s been this good, we just didn’t notice. He’s already up to 59 tackles and three takeaways in just six games. 

Safety: Jessie Bates, Cincinnati Bengals

2nd Team: R. McLeod, PHI

There is only one stat needed to make Bates’ case for first-team All-Pro. According to Pro Football Reference, opposing QBs have a 13.5 passer rating when throwing the ball his way. For comparison, QBs would have a 39.6 mark if they decided to chuck the ball into the stands on every play.

Defensive Back: Xavien Howard, Miami Dolphins

2nd Team: C. Davis, TB

Howard is back and healthy, already leading the league with four interceptions. Thanks in part to his contributions, the Dolphins defense has allowed fewer points than any other unit in 2020.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kicker: Justin Tucker, Baltimore Ravens

The soon to be 5x first-team All-Pro has missed just one kick this season. He’s 14/15 on field goals and a sterling 23/23 on extra points.

Punter: Jack Fox, Detroit Lions

As a rookie, Fox leads the league with a monster mark of 53.2 yards per punt. 

Returner: Jakeem Grant, Miami Dolphins

How good has the 5’7 speedster been this season? The distance between him and second place in punt return yards (50) is more than the distance between second and sixth place (47 yards). His 14.2 yards per return are good for third in the league.

*Statistics are taken from Pro Football Reference and StatMuse

-By: Micah Jimoh

They say “Defense wins championships”, and it’s proven true even in this past decade of offensive-minded football. But out of all the defenses to win championships in the 2010s, which was the best? Let’s rank.

10. 2012 Baltimore Ravens

Although they had some impressive performances in the playoffs, the 2012 Baltimore Ravens won the title on the strength of Joe Flacco’s arm. 17th in total defense and 13th in points allowed, the Ravens D was really an average unit for much of the year. In the divisional round, they let up 35 points to the Denver Broncos and another 31 to the 49ers in the Super Bowl. Of course, they came through when it mattered most, stopping San Francisco four straight times with the season on the line.

9. 2018 New England Patriots

Although they were seventh in points allowed, the Patriots bend-but-don’t-break unit ranked 21st in total defense. They allowed a whopping 59 points in their first two playoff games, including 31 points to the Chiefs in the second half of the AFCCG. Three impressive rushing performances are what really sparked their Super Bowl run, but credit must be given to the defense for shutting down a prolific Rams offense in Super Bowl LIII. 

8. 2014 New England Patriots

The Patriots capitalized on one year of Darrelle Revis, finishing that year with the eighth-ranked scoring defense. Three times that season they kept their opponent in single digits, and they did it once again in the AFC Championship. Their signature moment that year (and one of the most significant moments in sports history) came when UFA rookie Malcolm Butler sealed the Super Bowl with an incredible goal-line interception.

7. 2019 Kansas City Chiefs

If this unit had shown up the year before, the Chiefs could’ve been on this list multiple times just like the Patriots. After an abysmal performance throughout the 2018 season, Kansas City made sweeping changes. They began by replacing Dee Ford with Frank Clark, adding Tyrann Mathieu, and picking up 2x champion defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. The results were immediate: they finished seventh in scoring defense and eighth in passing yards allowed.

After their bye in Week 12, the Chiefs allowed only 10.4 PPG during the last five games of the regular season. With QB Patrick Mahomes back from injury, they won all five of those contests. In the Super Bowl, they outscored the 49ers 21-0 in the fourth quarter to win their first title in 50 years. 

6. 2016 New England Patriots

It was hard to put a top-ranked scoring defense this low, but the presence of an MVP runner-up QB did help this team a lot, to say the least. After holding the Brock Osweiler-led Texans to 16 points, the Patriots did an absolute number on the explosive Steelers offense in the AFCCG. Pittsburgh boasted both the best RB and WR in the game and got just 97 total yards out of them.

Although they were stellar in the second half, this unit does get penalized a bit for allowing their team to fall into a 25-point hole in the Super Bowl. We all know what happened after that...

5. 2017 Philadelphia Eagles

I was going to put them one rank higher, but a less than stellar performance in the Super Bowl pushed them down. Besides being carved up by Tom Brady in the big game, this defense was actually one of the better ones of the decade. Featuring the league’s closest DT to Aaron Donald, they led the league in sacks and boasted the #1 rushing defense, allowing under 80 yards per game on the ground. After losing their All-Pro QB to a freak injury, the Eagles tightened up even more on the defensive side, allowing just 12.5 PPG in the five games leading up to the Super Bowl. 

Even with their rising star MLB Jordan Hicks missing most of the year and their new #1 corner Ronald Darby missing half of the season, they still ranked fourth in total defense and scoring defense. The Eagles allowed 17 points total during their two games in the NFC playoff bracket.

4. 2010 Green Bay Packers

Before Aaron Rodgers set the league on fire, it was Dom Capers’ #2 ranked scoring defense that led this team to the postseason. Six different times this unit held their opponents to seven points or less, and only once in the regular season did an opponent break the 25 point mark.

They maintained their performance into the playoffs, holding the Eagles second-ranked offense to just 16 points. In the divisional round, they allowed just 21 points from the top-seeded Falcons in a 27-point blowout victory. In total, their defense gave up just 19 PPG in four playoff games, culminating in a Super Bowl victory over the Steelers.

LB Clay Matthews (first-team All-Pro), CBs Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams, and S Nick Collins were all selected to the Pro Bowl.

3. 2011 New York Giants

If this ranking took into account regular season only, this Giants squad would rank dead last on the list. They ranked 27th in yards allowed and 25th in points allowed-- not exactly a recipe for success in a year where points were being scored at a higher rate than ever before. After limping into the postseason with a 9-7 record, the Giants defense flipped the switch at a perfect time. First, they held the Atlanta Falcons to just two points in the wildcard round. The following week, they held the historically productive Packers offense to just 20 points. Finally, they held Alex Smith’s 49ers to just 17 in an OT game to move on to the Super Bowl. 

Tasked with shutting down another juggernaut in the Patriots, the Giants defense picked up a safety early and never looked back, holding Tom Brady’s offense to just 17 points. Eli Manning receives most of the historical credit for this run, but it was the Giants defense stepping up that allowed New York to collect their fourth Lombardi.

2. 2015 Denver Broncos

Just two seasons before, the Broncos were re-writing the record books… on offense. After that strategy crumbled when it mattered most, Denver went in a new direction and assembled one of the best defenses ever. Even with an obviously past-his-prime Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler at QB, Denver had no trouble locking up the AFC’s top seed.

The Broncos were stacked at every position, starting with their two elite pass rushers in Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware. Behind them were Brandon Marshall and Danny Trevathan, two exceptional coverage linebackers. Behind those two were Chris Harris and Aqib Talib, the starting corners in Denver’s “No Fly Zone” secondary. Together, they formed the #1 total defense and #4 scoring defense in the league that season.

The Broncos spent the 2015 postseason harassing elite QBs such as Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger, the ageless Tom Brady, and league MVP Cam Newton. They allowed just 44 points in three postseason games, including just ten in the Super Bowl. Von Miller won SB MVP honors with his 2.5-sack performance.

1. 2013 Seattle Seahawks

The 2013 Seattle Seahawks are not only the greatest defense of the decade, but one of the greatest in NFL history. Led by the imposing “Legion of Boom” secondary, Seattle held opponents to just 14.4 PPG and 172 passing yards per game. Featured in the LOB were three All-Pros in CB Richard Sherman, S Earl Thomas, and S Kam Chancellor (2nd team). Brandon Browner, the other starting corner, was no slouch either. Standing at 6’4 and 230 pounds, Browner was known for bullying receivers with his extreme physicality. After allowing just 32 points in two postseason games, the Seahawks nearly blanked the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl.

That Denver team was statistically the best offense in league history, averaging an otherworldly 37.9 PPG. They finished the game with eight.

Writer

-By: Micah Jimoh