Stonebreaker Award: Week 7

After a multiple week hiatus, The Stonebreaker Award rankings are back. I've still been monitoring the defensive statistics still on a week to week basis, and with today's post, I'm going to reveal not only the top 25 defensive players in the land up to this point, but I'm also going to give you my top 5 team secondary rankings, with linebacker, defensive line, and total team rankings to follow in the next three weeks. Before I do this however, I'm going to peel back the curtain and define how I arrive at these rankings each week.

How it Works: I've been keeping track of six defensive categories; tackles, sacks, interceptions, tackles for a loss, passes broken up, and forced fumbles. To be in the rankings for the week, your team has to be in the consensus top 25( adding up the votes for both the AP, and ESPN polls). Your stats don't count if your team isn't ranked. For example, Texas players' stats count up until they fell out of the rankings, and now that they're ranked again, I pick up with their stats they had accumulated while ranked. I rank the top 25 in tackles, sacks, and ints each week, and the top 15 in forced fumbles, TFL's, and pass breakups. The total number of points players accumulate from when I rank these each week is their "score," and the players with the top 25 scores are in my top 25. So basically you could be having a great statistical year, but if your team craps the bed, you fall back. It's a flawed system, but college football knows all about flawed systems, so I'm comfortable with it. In theory, you should be playing in relevant games and be ranked in the top 25 if you and your team are that good.

Top 25:
1. Ahmad Black, S, Sr. Florida 334 points
2. Jeremy Beal, DE, Sr. Oklahoma (308)
3. Nick Fairley, DT, Jr. Auburn (301)
4. Wayne Daniels, DE, Sr. TCU (298)
5. Jamell Fleming, CB, Jr. Oklahoma (285)
6. Drake Nevis, DT, Sr. LSU (274)
7. Brandon Bair, DT, Sr. Oregon (251)
8. Dejon Gomes, S, Sr. Nebraska (239)
9. Janoris Jenkins, CB, Jr. Florida (223)
10. Lavonte David, LB, Jr. Nebraska (216)
11. Chimdi Chekwa, CB, Sr. Ohio St. (212)
12. Kelvin Sheppard, LB, Sr. LSU (209)
13. Jeremy Brown, CB, Soph. Florida (205)
14. Robert Lester, S, Soph. Alabama (201)
15. J.J. Watt, DE, Jr. Wisconsin (199)
16. Cliff Harris, CB, Soph. Oregon (192)
17. Travis Lewis, LB, Jr. Oklahoma (184)
18. Anthony Leon, S, Sr. Arkansas (183)
19. P.J. Smith, S, Soph. Nebraska (170)
20. Antoine Carter, DE, Sr. Auburn (167)
21. Jonathan Bostic, LB, Soph. Florida (164)
22. Mark Barron, S, Jr. Alabama (163)
22. Chaz Walker, LB, Jr. Utah (163)
24. Shea McClellin, DE, Jr. Boise St. (156)
25. Alfonso Dennard, CB, Jr. Nebraska (155)

Defensive Back Rankings

1. Florida: Despite the 4-3 record, most of the problems with the Gators come from the offensive side of the ball. In Black, Jenkins, and Jeremy Brown, Florida has 8 Ints, 11 breakups, and 60 tackles from Black.

2. Oklahoma: Jamell Fleming is number 5 overall, but the Sooners have two more DB's in the top 50 in Jonathan Nelson and Quinton Carter. Freshman Tony Jefferson has 37 tackles and 5 breakups as well.

3. Nebraska: Corner Prince Amukamara could be the next great NFL corner whom no one knows how to say his name, and he only has the 4th most points in his own defensive backfield. Gomes, Smith, and Dennard are all in the top 25 mainly because they've combined for 8 Ints and 6 breakups. Gomes also ranks high with 53 tackles and 2 forced fumbles.

4. Alabama: Robert Lester started hot with 4 Ints early, keeping him highly ranked, but preseason All-American Mark Barron has been creeping up the rankings each week. Barron leads the team in tackles with 47, and has contributed something in all 6 major categories. Dre Kirkpatrick also has played well, with 35 tackles and 3 ints.

5. Arkansas: I know they just gave up 900 points to Cam Newton and the boys on Saturday, but despite this performance, Arkansas' secondary has played well. Anthony Leon has 8 TFL's from the safety position, and Rudell Crim, Tramain Thomas, and Ramon Broadway all are in the top 75.

Lines of the Week:
Orie Lemon, Oklahoma St.: 17 Tackles
Travis Lewis, Oklahoma: 14 Tackles, 0.5 TFL's, 1 Bkup
Keith Tandy, West Virginia: 10 Tackles, 1 Int, 1 FF, 0.5 TFL's
Brad Madison, Missouri: 3 Tackles, 3 Sacks, 3 TFL's
Shaquelle Richardson, Arizona: 7 Tackles, 2 Int's, 3 Bkups