This is gonna be a good one: Who was the best NU DE over the last 25 years?

[lou v]

We've got six worthy candidates for defensive end. This is going to be a battle.

First, read the WildcatReport story: Who was the best Northwestern defensive end over the last 25 years?

Then, cast your vote here.

 

[ThatkidfromHolland]

You have Wooton best year in “1997”.

 

[lou v]

You have Wooton best year in “1997”.

Thanks for the edit! Just fixed it.

 

[chariots]

To me it isn't that close. Cumulatively Gaziano's career was the best. I have a project replicating the Approximate Value calculation that pro-football-reference uses for the NFL. The college data begins in 2000. Gaziano has the highest AV in that period regardless of position of all Northwestern players.

 

[DkeCat]

To me it isn't that close. Cumulatively Gaziano's career was the best. I have a project replicating the Approximate Value calculation that pro-football-reference uses for the NFL. The college data begins in 2000. Gaziano has the highest AV in that period regardless of position of all Northwestern players.

Can you share?

 

[chariots]

I will try to get it organized and accessible. Its 100,000 players totaling 250,000 seasons and includes as much as I could find about each player. An enormous dataset.

If you want just a portion of it, say Northwestern players only, I can prioritize that.

 

[CatManTrue]

To me it isn't that close. Cumulatively Gaziano's career was the best. I have a project replicating the Approximate Value calculation that pro-football-reference uses for the NFL. The college data begins in 2000. Gaziano has the highest AV in that period regardless of position of all Northwestern players.

What? Higher than JJTBC, Baz, and Thorson? I find that hard to believe.

 

[chariots]

Approximate value starts by figuring out how many points are allocated to all of your offensive players and separately how many points for your defensive players on the basis of how efficient those units were (points per drive with a small adjustment). Then it divides the pie up.

Jackson and Thorson played on inefficient offenses so they were receiving slices of a smaller pie.

Joe Gaziano 45.28 (FR 4.51, SO 11.59, JR 12.99, SR 16.19)
Brett Basanez 43.01 (FR 8.04, SO 7.74, JR 11.48, SR 15.75)
Clayton Thorson 37.19 (FR 6.07, SO 12.27, JR 10.15, SR 8.70)
Justin Jackson 34.56 (FR 8.72, SO 6.80, JR 9.71, SR 10.76)

 

[CatManTrue]

Yikes. Talk about analytics in a vacuum.
Assuming that all coordinators are equal - or at least equally efficient - is a big stretch. It’s early and I love Gaz but there’s no way he contributed to more wins over his four year than those other three players. Although he certainly contributed.

Jackson’s success in spite of the system he played in was incredible. I think he’d win a “Best Player of the past 25 Years” slide easily.

 

[NUCat320]

Watch a replay of the Gator Bowl win. Watch how #94 was everywhere. Then remember that he was a g-d true freshman at the time. For me, Dean-o impacted the game on every play. One of my favorites.

 

[ricko654321]

We've got six worthy candidates for defensive end. This is going to be a battle.

First, read the WildcatReport story: Who was the best Northwestern defensive end over the last 25 years?

Then, cast your vote here.

I went with Wootton, but could make an argument for Gaz and possibly even Lowry. Dailey (and to some extent Ifeadi) would be in conversation if it were "best pass rusher" but I think Wootton Gaz and to a slightly lesser extent Lowry were better all-around DEs in both pass rushing and run defense. A shame Corey's NFL career was plagued by injuries.

 

[BarefootCat]

I loved watching Casey Dailey and thought he was phenomenal. But like many of the guys on those amazing teams, it’s hard to pick him as individually ‘the best of the last 25 years’ because they were surrounded by so many great players. Was Dailey good because he played with Rice and Ray and Fitz and Ismaeli? Or were all those guys good because they played with Dailey? Yes and Yes.

 

[CatManTrue]

I loved watching Casey Dailey and thought he was phenomenal. But like many of the guys on those amazing teams, it’s hard to pick him as individually ‘the best of the last 25 years’ because they were surrounded by so many great players. Was Dailey good because he played with Rice and Ray and Fitz and Ismaeli? Or were all those guys good because they played with Dailey? Yes and Yes.

It was also a different era offensively in 95, although good fundamental defense hasn’t changed much. And given it was built on speed rather than size, I think the 95 defense would have fared admirably against the spread. I don’t know if Fitz would ever be on the field on 3rd-and-long.

Corey Wootton would have dominated in any era. He was a massive human being who moved like a gazelle... if not for that awful knee injury in the Alamo Bowl he would have left early and been a high draft pick. I’m a big fan of the other players but it was really special to watch him emerge in 2008.

 

[eastbaycat99]

I think Wootton as a junior was the best of a good bunch. It is a shame the Alamo Bowl injury made him somewhat less dominating his final year.

One thing that has been frustrating about being a Cat fan is the way a number of the best players in purple have either been hobbled or not played the fourth year: Wootton, now Slater, Persa, Matt Harris, Cam Green all come to mind. Jeremy Larkin, to me, looked like he was ready to be one of the best running backs.
Gaziano and Lowry were relatively healthy their whole careers; in judging who was best in 25 years, deciding whether a single season or an entire body of work probably makes a big difference in who you choose.

 

[rogerkim]

This was the hardest one yet for me to pick in this series. So hard to pick against any of these guys, because they were all so good and were all big factors in their respective teams’ successes during their careers.

But ultimately, I went with which DE I felt truly dominated and was the one guy that opposing OCs had to gameplay against. For me, that was Wootton. He was simply a beast: big, long, strong, and quick. But he wasn’t just a pass-rusher, either. I don’t think he really had any gaps in his game, whether dropping back into coverage, run defense, even special teams. He was just an elite athlete.

I almost picked Dailey, but as with so many on the 95-96 teams, it’s hard to isolate one player from his teammates. Barefootcat summed it very well in his post. The DL does better when playing with a good LB and DB crew, and vice-versa. And just like the 85 Bears and Singletary, I believe everyone on the 95-96 defense was elevated by Fitz and his mind for the game.

I‘ve really enjoyed this trip down memory lane, reminiscing about all these NU greats. What a great series!