Wow there is a whole lot on here, so I’ll work on dispelling myths and pointing out ironies.
Irony #1 being there are only three Big 10 teams in the top 10 combined offenses. Yet the better teams are the one’s with the better Defenses. I agree with the old adage that defense win championships.
Irony #2 PSU is in the top 10 on O and D as is Texas, TT & OU, annnnddddd they are probably the best teams day in day out proving it takes more than O. In my opinion and mine only, Texas, and TT both play better D than they are given credit for, but past that the other Big 12 D's, OU included are terrible. I have no clue what you're getting at here.
Green is explosive enough and you'll note the better backs in the NFL are typically very powerful guys who can run a little, not speed burners per se. They also last 3-5 years and burn out because they take too many hits. Most of them (besides Barber this year) have to split carries or else they can't finish a season.With that said come scouting combine time, I wont be surprised to find out Greene is faster that Hunter & Washington, not saying he is, but it won't surprise me.
Which brings me to my favorite subject. I love the Big 12 and SEC and have for years. I really miss Jamelle Holloway and Marcus Dupree and I say this to show I am NOT a hater. However this myth about the "speed" and athleticism of the Big 12 and SEC being far superior to the Big 10 just slays me. The BIG 12 is a far advanced conference right now on O, I'll agree. They are clearly a better conference right now, but to keep up this other mantra a person has to close their eyes to a lot of facts.
The Big 10 has waaaaayyyyy more NFL players than the Big 12 with one less team.What does this have to do with anything They have put countless Lbers in the NFL (#1 for outside Lbers per conference I believe)congrats? so they are routinely adept at covering Wr's in the flat, middle and deep outs with said Lbers. They also have plenty of Sfty's and corners in the NFL and they aren’t some Neanderthal behemoths that can't run. How can you make that correlation? You could argue at the same time because the offenses are so bad in the Big 10, it made the defensive players look great and they go to the NFL.
I follow the NFL Pro days and scouting combines very closely. Every year about the time for the ISU game everyone talks about how much faster ISU will be than us, and how much faster the Big 12 is as a whole. Guess what, they aren't. Alvin Bowen was not faster than Mike Humpal and his shuttle and Pro agility times weren't close. OU has had many Lbers and Db's run way slower times than what Iowa's guys have run. LSU had an Lber Ali Higsmith run a 4.96 and 3 Db's run between 4.56 to 4.58- forties while Charles Godfrey ran a 4.38 to 4.48 depending on whether you take Pro day or combine times. This actually is a good point, but you're taking a generalized statement backed up by a few cases. Lineup team vs. team top to bottom, then you have an argument.
The long-winded point being, no one knows how Greene would do in your conference, but the Big 12 being a speed league would have NO bearing whatsoever. Now Iowa getting behind would, but as limited as we can be offensively, if we don't turn it over 5 times we have enough team speed on D to hang with people "if" we can put some points on the board and control the clock, Hence why we run, and what would ultimately be Greene's downfall as some succinctly pointed out.
Sorry for the rant, I really enjoy reading stuff over here, as it is a nice change off pace from the Hawkeye report. That is just a pet peeve of mine.
Chad
