Football

Williams Blog: First Team All-Big 12 Defense

By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com PublisherFollow Chris on Twitter @ChrisMWilliams

Last week, I gave you my unofficial First Team All-Big 12 Offense. Today, it’s time for the defense to shine.

DL: Frank Alexander, Oklahoma
DL: Kheeston Randall, Texas
DL: Dominique Hamilton, Missouri
DL: Brad Madison, Missouri
LB: Jake Knott, Iowa State
LB: Travis Lewis, Oklahoma
LB: Keenan Robinson, Texas
CB: Coryell Judie, Texas A&M
CB: Leonard Johnson, Iowa State
S: Blake Gideon, Texas
S: Cody Davis, Texas Tech

Defensive Player of the Year: Brad Madison, DE Missouri

Some notes…

– I thought about taking Texas A&M cornerback Coryell Judie as my preseason Defensive Player of the Year. The problem is, history shows that it is tough for defensive backs to win this award. In the 15 years that this award has been given out, only four times has a defensive back been crowned. I ended up going with Madison for two reasons. First first is simple. He’s nasty. Madison was second-team All-Big 12 last year after recording 7.5 sacks. But Missouri’s defensive line will be stout this year. Teams can’t only key on him. A guy has to consider Oklahoma linebacker Travis Lewis for this preseason honor too.

– Picking four deserving defensive linemen for this list was a tough thing to do.

– I had no problem putting Iowa State’s Jake Knott on this team. He’s a future pro. If you go off of what a guy has done and not strictly potential, Knott is a no-brainer on the first team.

@cyclonefanatic