FanNation - The Republic of Sport

PhillyFan83: BEAT L.A. said 12/30, 01:00 AM
I don't wanna be a homer here, but Dan Conner is the defensive player of the year for the big ten. He may be the best defensive player in the country. Conner won the Bendarik Award beating out Glen Dorsey ( could easily be the #1 pick in the draft) and James Lauranitis ( also a top pick in the draft). Conner is the anchor of a Penn State defense ranked 2nd in the big ten and 4th in college football. Conner led the Big Ten in solo tackles with 66 and total tackles with 136. He had 11 more total tackles than Adam Kadela who is second in total tackles. Conner also was third in assisted tackles. He had 6.5 sacks which was good for 10th in the big ten and 3rd for linebackers. If you watched Penn State games throughout the year , you would know how big of a force Conner is. You rarely ever see him miss a tackle or a sack. An underrated part of his game is in the passing game. He defends well with the running backs and tight ends. He has 3 interceptions. Like I said, I don't want to be a homer, but to me Conner is the best defensive player in the Big Ten. Just more proof that Penn State is linebacker U of college football.

PhillyFan83: BEAT L.A. said 12/30, 06:07 PM
Okay.. well you said "i agree with you man that Dan Conner is the best in the big ten." So you pretty much said that Conner is the best in the Big Ten and you are agreeing with me. But I'll argue anyway against Evans. I actually thought you would pick Lauranitis.

Conner is first in tackles for the Big Ten. Evans isn't even in the top 50.

Evans had 12.5 total sacks against Conner's 6.5 but at DE Evans is pressuring the QB on every pass play, while Conner gets about 4 sack oppurtunites a game.

If you watch the players both play, Evans will have a sack a game and a few tackles here and there. Conner will have about 10 tackles, possibly a sack, and rarely gets outplayed.

Conner has a bigger impact on his team. Conner has had 2 games where he wasn't bad, but not himself. The two were against Michigan and Ohio State. In both of those games : Penn State lost, Mike Hart and Chris Wells ran all over the impact. Evans is a good player and has good potential. But Conner is a Bendarik Award winning player who can be great in the NFL. But like i said, in your first statement, you pretty much agreed with me.

PhillyFan83: BEAT L.A. said 12/31, 11:06 AM
Okay.. once again you didn't state Evans as the best defensive player in the big ten. You said he is the best defensive end. While he may be, Conner is a step above him and is the best defensive player. Evans is strong and can get to the QB. That is his strength on defense. But he has trouble stoping the run on some games and had some injury problems this year. I forget to mention that Conner was a first team All-American. Conner is a multipule threat on defense who can stop the run, pressure the QB, and play good coverage without having an weakness what so ever.